The Cruel Prince Versus Pride and Prejudice: Enemies to Lovers

Many people over the course of history have attempted to write about the complexity that is human relationships, and, let’s face it, more often than not, the authors tend to flop when it comes to romance. Specifically, enemies to lovers. 

Whenever I read a novel or watch a movie in this genre, I always roll my eyes. It’s usually just so ditsy and so heavily caked with unrealistic scenes that I’m forced to heavily sigh with annoyance. In the end, there’s never a real meaning behind the character’s transformation, and your time just feels wasted. Some characters, because of the way the author structured them, can’t be enemies to lovers without being realistic.

Today, we’re going to be exploring two different examples of enemies to lovers. One good and one bad. Because, as it turns out, even I, the toughest romance-hater there is, can enjoy an enemies to lovers novel. The author just has to stop ambushing their readers. 

Today’s Example:

Slightly objectionable content aside, The Cruel Prince got a lot of things right. The world is creative, the plot is intriguing and has plenty of twists, and the main character, Jude, has a sufficient internal conflict. She’s a human living in a faerie world, which means almost everyone hates her just because she’s mortal. 

But Jude wasn’t what I hated about this book. Cardan, the prince of Faerie, Jude’s intimate rival, was the problem for me. At first, his cruel and selfish actions towards Jude were understandable. It’s revealed he grew up with a rough background, and he was taking it out on the most vulnerable person he could get his hands on. This certainly doesn’t excuse all of the horrible things he has done, but I at least understood where he was coming from. Everything made sense. 

Until I reached the end. 

You find out that Cardan loves Jude. He’s only been trying to hurt her and her family because he hates himself for loving her. Confusing, right? But instead of shocking me, or making me suddenly forgive Cardan for all of his evil deeds, I felt…ambushed. The author had unexpectedly thrown all of the character’s true feelings at me and attacked my emotions all at once. I was left utterly bewildered.

Then it occurred to me that I might dislike The Cruel Prince because I generally hate romances. That would explain why so many other people adored it. But, like I said, I can enjoy a good romance, even enemies to lovers, if done well. 

Pride and Prejudice, a classic by Jane Austen, is done very well. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hate each other. Elizabeth, seeing how puffed-up he is, believes him to be prideful. When she calls him out for it, Mr. Darcy thinks the same of her. Though neither of them use swords or violence as was done in The Cruel Prince, they’re certainly rivals. 

Unlike in the Cruel Prince, Elizabeth’s and Mr. Darcy’s journey makes sense. Instead of revealing the character’s feelings all at once, you get small glimpses of each perspective starting as early as chapter five. Mr. Darcy will occasionally say something nice about Elizabeth behind her back, like when Darcy commented to Mr. Bingley that she was “rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes” or another time in chapter twelve when the narrator said: ‘She attracted him more than he liked’. This shows that, if they could just get past their negative presumptions about each other, they really could be lovers. And of course, the story is about them working through this prejudice.

How Pride and Prejudice Succeeded Where The Cruel Prince Failed

One of the most confusing aspects of the enemies-to-lovers nature of this book is that there’s not a single hint of Cardan’s affection given, accepting a strange piece of paper covered with angry scribbles of Jude’s name in Cardan’s handwriting that our protagonist discovers. But we, like Jude, just assume that small piece of evidence was showing how much Cardan hates her, not the opposite. I understand that the book was written from the main character’s point of view, and that it might’ve been unrealistic in that situation to have Jude overhear a conversation about Cardan’s true emotions, but there are still ways to tip off the reader. For example, Cardan could have done something selfless that Jude just waves away as unimportant, but later makes sense. That way you would’ve been able to see his true character from the start. A flimsy, confusing piece of paper just isn’t enough to let the reader know Cardan’s emotions and perspective on things. 

In contrast, Pride and Prejudice drops little comments or elements of foreshadowing, not in a vague physical form, but in a way that reveals the character’s true feelings. Your reader should be able to see a way for two ‘enemies’ to become lovers so they’re not overwhelmed when that shifting point comes. The author shouldn’t have to tell you: THIS IS AN ENEMIES-TO- LOVERS NOVEL ahead of time. I didn’t know what type of romance Pride and Prejudice was until I started reading it, yet I could pick up the theme right away because I was told about their real thoughts and emotions. We have to know the inner workings of each and every character, so we understand where they’re coming from. 

Whenever you twist a relationship out of the blue, indeed the very character’s themselves, you will only leave the reader confused. Not to mention, your story will be empty of authenticity, since people who go from being at each other’s throats to kissing is incredibly unrealistic, especially if that type of emotional change happens in one scene.

In order to write well crafted enemies-to-lovers, you have to show the feelings and emotions of each character ahead of time, before the big reveal. You have to know why they consider the other an enemy, and how that trait is the only thing stopping them from being lovers. Instead of ambushing your reader with the real truth about your characters, try showing their internal conflict right from the start. Otherwise, you may only succeed in leaving your readers confused, not at all affected by your story and left wondering why you didn’t just include the character’s true feelings from the start.

What do you think about romance? Did Jane Austen convert you? What enemies-to-lovers have you seen where they get it right? How was this article? Too sweet? Too sour? Just right?