Review: The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3) by Holly Black

*This review contains slight spoilers.

The Queen of Nothing
(The Folk of the Air #3)

by Holly Black

November 19, 2019
308 pages

Goodreads      Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
The finale to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King, from award-winning author Holly Black.

After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watches her fair share of reality television, and does the odd job or two, including trying to convince a cannibalistic faerie from hunting her own in the mortal world.

When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking of a favor, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal.

When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.

Review

Some stories are just compulsively readable. Holly Black writes such tales and her latest, The Queen of Nothing, is really everything.

Elfhame was a world that was so easy to get back into I settled right back in. It was like no time had passed at all when in reality the pain of waiting for this last book was all too real. In The Queen of Nothing, the manipulations and deceits came back in full force. The power struggle reaches a peak where every moment was a do or die moment. The story was fast-paced and I enjoyed it very much.

Jude is still so totally the unapologetic Jude we met in The Cruel Prince and followed in The Wicked King. She wasted no time in getting back in on the Faerie action. After being away for some time Jude still maneuvered the courts and its deadly politics like an expert. I just love how she doesn’t show any weaknesses in the face of dangers and surprises. "Let me be feared and never again afraid." (p. 275).

Thinking back on his cool playboy facade from the very beginning Cardan is a completely different person in this final book. Every word he spoke and every step he took showed how much he cared for Jude and his people. He's neither cruel nor wicked. Cardan's transformation was gradual over the course of the series and is one of my favourite things.

I’m pretty sure I speak for every fan of The Folk of the Air series when I say seeing Jude and Cardan meet again has been what we've been waiting for since the ending of The Wicked King. Naturally it's a little underwhelming to learn that that shocking twist was actually really a huge misunderstanding. I wanted to laugh cry. Regardless, Jude and Cardan's love and hate relationship was worth every emotional minute I invested. I'm very satisfied with how they turned out.

I was very touched to see Jude and her twin mend their relationship. Jude's family having her back was the best. The interactions with the members of the Court of Shadows and surprising new allies were fun to witness too. Holly Black does a good job tying up loose ends but I'm holding out hope for a sequel series. Is that a hint I see in the final pages? ;)

Though it's a solid series ender, I wish Queen of Nothing was a lot longer than its 300 pages. With a lush world and dynamic characters The Folk of the Air series is a much desirable faerie-tale!!!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the copy I received.