Carve their hearts. Take their power.

"No one alive remembers when the Wilds appeared. They were simply there, dense forests that consumed most of the human world. Full of beasts, and full of them..."

Val is a survivor. Every day she survives entering the Wilds surrounding Seattle, and as a child she somehow survived the Wilds' depths, found alone and covered in blood at its edge.

Like everyone, she knows of the vicious monsters and even more dangerous human-like wildlings who live within. But only heart gems carved from beasts of the Wilds allow humans to use magic. Every human except for Val, who has hidden magic of her own.

Then one day she wanders too far, and Rune finds her.

He's a wildling, more savage and beautiful than any beast, and he has a deal for her: Val will use her unique magic to help him take the unclaimed high throne of the Wilds.

In return, Rune will let her carve the heart gems of his enemies, something there's no shortage of. Enough heart gems to cure Val's sick guardian. Enough for the humans to protect themselves.

Val agrees, though she knows she can't trust him. Knows he has secret plans that will only hurt her.

But as they fight for the throne and a new danger threatens both the human world and the Wilds, Rune-cruel, kind, broken Rune-might be the only one she can trust.

Even if she can't, she'll still get the power she wants.

After all, there's more than one way to lose a heart.

The Cruel Prince meets Princess Mononoke in this savagely beautiful YA contemporary fantasy, the first book in the Savage Wilds series.