This review is so overdue (I finished the series about four weeks ago) but here it finally it! I actually read the first book of The Folk of the Air series (The Cruel Prince) a while back, sometime in middle school, but the next book wasn’t out yet so I kind of forgot about it until I saw how popular it was on bookstagram, and I knew I had to re-read the series! The way this series review is going to work is I will have the book cover, the blurb, and my rating out of five stars for the individual book and then an overall rating at the end. I will try my very hardest not to include any spoilers, but since this is a series review, there may be some times that I need to discuss something with plot and such (also the blurbs are edited to give away as little as possible).
The Cruel Prince
The Bomb elbows me in the side. “We came up with your code name,” she mouths. I hadn’t even seen her come in past the locked doors. “What?”… I expect her to say The Liar. She gives me a tricksy grin, full of secrets. “What else? The Queen.”
Holly Black
Blurb: Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him—and face the consequences. In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
My thoughts on this book: To begin, I thought that this book was pretty good, in particular, I enjoyed reading about Jude, because her character was different than many other YA protagonists I have read. She was pretty controversial, and it was interesting to see her journey and how she had to claw her way to get what she wanted. One thing about Jude that bothered me was that she often went back and forth about what she wants and she was a little bit hypocritical. As for the story line, there were some plot lines that I thought were a little unnecessary like the whole thing with Locke, but other than that I enjoyed this book and it was a good start to the series.
The Wicked King
Fighting was chess, anticipating the move of ones opponent and countering before one got hit. But it was chess played with the whole body. Chess that left her bruised and tired and frustrated with the whole world, and with herself, too.
Holly Black
Blurb: Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine Jude even as his fascination with her remains undiminished. When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.
My thoughts on this book: I definitely enjoyed this book better than the first one, and it was probably my favorite out of the whole series, mostly because of all plot twists it had. This book really kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading it and I definitely stayed up to late to finish reading it. One thing that was a little iffy in this book however, was the plot line when Jude is under sea, I felt like that whole plot line was unnecessary, and didn’t really add a whole lot to the story / was page filler. Other than that however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The Queen of Nothing
As the pony kicks its way into the frigid air, I see the mountains below me, along with Madoc’s army. I look as my sisters, hurrying through the snow. My sisters, who, despite everything, came for me.
Holly Black
Blurb: Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril. Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics. And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity…
My thoughts on this book: I really enjoyed this book as well, probably my second favorite after The Wicked King. I enjoyed was seeing the enemies to lovers trope executed well, as well as seeing all the other relationships and ties that Jude had with people. I also loved that Jude doesn’t really change a lot through her journey but the way that she does change adds to the plot and overall story. Something that I didn’t really like as much was the ending. I thought it was a little obvious and underwhelming, and I wish Holly Black had done more with it, but I still appreciated the ending that we did get.
Overall Series Rating:
