I can’t even try to describe how beautiful this book was! The artwork is just exquisite, I’m so awed by the beautiful illustrations, the golden details and the gorgeous chapter divides. And it was so wonderfully written, with the same vibe as the original trilogy, but with a sweeter touch. It was simply the perfect addition to The Folk of the Air series! 

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is an illustrated novella that takes us back to the Elfhame universe, but this time from Cardan’s perspective and with added stories from his childhood before The Cruel Prince and all the way to adventures beyond The Queen of Nothing.

The character development that Cardan has undergone through the series is just amazing, and it’s so wonderfully described via these short stories. I loved how Holly Black managed to show that he wasn’t born cruel, but how his heart turned into stone because of the cruel things that happened to him. I really enjoyed to get the backstory to Cardan, and to understand his mixed feelings of hate, love, desire and longing, and the reasons for his actions in The Cruel Prince.

“A heart of stone can still be broken.”

All in all, this was the perfect addition to The Folk of the Air series and a book that made me so happy! Everything in this book had a beautiful fairytale kind of vibe to it and the illustrations by Rovina Cai were simply amazing and added so much to the story and to the overall luxury feeling of this book. I read it in one sitting with a goofy smile all over my face, ending it with a wish to immediately start rereading The Folk of the Air series all over again. If you enjoyed this series you will without a doubt love this book to pieces! 

This book has received some mixed reviews, but I honestly do not understand why. I loved this book and thought that it was a perfect finale to the trilogy. It was fast-paced (I finished it in one sitting) and it had action, twists and intrigues that kept you hooked until the very end. I actually think this was the best of all three books in the series, but that might be because I’ve had some mixed feelings about Jude and Cardan’s relationship previously.

The second book ended with Cardan, High King of Elfame, making Jude his Queen, only to exiling her and shoving her back into the human world. Now, even though they started off from a bad place, we eventually got to see them shedding their armor and opening up to each other, showing more affection and softer sides. In my review for the second book, I said that “I can’t see their relationship ever becoming a good one. There will always be this unhealthy undercurrent, a hint of violence and abuse, that you don’t want anyone ever get caught up in.” But I think I have to take that back now. The way the relationship evolved in this third book, with Cardan being vulnerable and admitting his true feelings changed all that.

All in all, this book wrapped up the series in a very satisfying way and made me like the characters even more than I did before. I definitely recommend it and even think that it might be my favorite book of all three in the series.

Rating:
5 stars

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Holly Black

The Wicked King picks up five months after the end of book one and the jaw-dropping revelation that Jude’s little brother Oak is the heir to Faerie, and we get to see how Cardan has developed as a ruler, after several months’ worth of practice. We also discover how Jude’s deception has affected their love/hate relationship thing they have going on, since she’s bound Cardan to her and made herself the power behind the throne. No ruler is ever safe in Elfhame, though. Jude can’t let her guard down for a minute, having to navigate Faerie politics and deal with enemies from without and within the kingdom. As if that wasn’t enough, Jude is constantly at odds with Cardan, who takes every measure to humiliate or defy her wishes. At the same time, there is a spark, an attraction neither of them can get away from.

A LOT happens in this book, much of which I simply cannot tell you without spoiling the whole plot. We get to see new parts of the faerie world that were only hinted at in the first book, like the Undersea. We are re-introduced to characters that I assumed were out of the story, in new unexpected ways. And there are upheaval of political alliances and feuds everywhere. The pace of the story is even faster than in the first book and the plot just draws you in completely. Holly Black makes an amazing job keeping her reader at suspense, and to always deliver the unexpected. The intrigue and power dynamics were so entrancing that I couldn’t put the book down until the very end. There were twists I never in a million years saw coming.

I have some mixed feelings about Jude and Cardan’s relationship though. It’s intriguing, for sure, but I don’t know if I want them to be a couple or not, which is a bit frustrating as a reader. I can’t see their relationship ever becoming a good one. There will always be this unhealthy undercurrent, a hint of violence and abuse, that you don’t want anyone ever get caught up in. Yet, some part of me want them to be together, to admit their feelings for each other. So, very mixed feelings for the book in that respect. Nevertheless, the book itself is so good and I truly recommend it and am now eagerly awaiting The Queen of Nothing. It’s simply impossible to not continue reading this series to see where Holly Black takes us and what more she will do to Jude until the end...

Rating:
​4 stars

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Holly Black

Dark, twisted and addictive! The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is a delightful read, with a fresh twist of a small mortal girl in faerie land as the main character.

The main character, Jude, was such a favorite of mine. She’s a complete bad ass, strong and fearless and never whining or feeling sorry for herself no matter what ill treatments and injustice she suffers. And she always tried to protect her twin sister Taryn. (Who I did not like at all, by the way, she is Jude’s complete opposite - selfish, weak and insincere.)

I also loved Prince Cardan from the start. You could really tell that there was a good heart in there somewhere, and that he was having a lot to deal with in his own life. I cannot wait to continue read more about him and learn more about his complex personality. He has so many more layers that I hope will be revealed as the series continues!

There is also a lot of fey politics, betrayal and deception going on… The story is very dark and twisted, with so much bad treatment of Jude that I sometimes had problems to distance myself from the bullying that it in fact was. But once you started to understand everything that Cardan was going through, it felt easier to see through the maliciousness.

Even though it’s a fantasy novel taking place in faerie land, that’s not really the main drive of the story. The big spark here is the sparring personalities and enemies-to-(potential)-lovers fighting between Jude and Cardan. I cannot wait to see how their strange relationship will evolve!
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Some parts of the story and some characters were a bit too predictable, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and I absolutely look forward to reading what comes next.

Rating:
​4 stars

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​Author info:
Holly Black