The Folk of The Air Trilogy
August 23, 2020
The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black which includes
The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and the Queen of Nothing
was pretty amazing. Although it has some flaws, the pace and tone
of the book was completely enthralling. I literally couldn’t put
it down without some persuasion.
And I’m also VERY excited about the companion book coming out on
November (24!) called How the High King of Elfhame Learned to Hate
Stores. So yeah, I’m basically a fan now. But I would like to
point out that I’m not obsessed enough with this series to read
her older series set in the Faerie world following the life of
Kaye. When I finished the Gallagher Girls, I was so desperate for
more that I read every other YA book by Ally Carter AND went on
Wattpad to read fanfiction AND listened to the prequel only
available in audiobook format (!)
Undoubtedly one of the MAJOR reasons this series has such a huge
fanbase is because of Prince Cardan. The main character, Jude
Duarte who’s a mortal living in a world of faeries, is also
interesting but not nearly as much of a selling point. Jude and
Cardan have one of the most satisfying enemies-to-lovers stores
I’ve ever read. Cardan starts off seeming like SUCH a cruel prince
(pun intended :) that I immediately doubted if he was worthy of
being Jude’s love interest. It was obvious that’s how it would go
but I was just apprehensive because of how toxic it felt. I liked
this quote by him when he dismissed Taryn, who was warning Jude to
be more respectful to him (because he’s a prince and all), “Go
already. Stop boring us both.” His redemption arc is a little
doubtful but the fact that the reader wants it badly makes up for
however unrealistic it may be.
Their rivalry is pretty satisfying to read about though—especially
because the reader suspects that they have buried feelings for
each other. That’s another thing about this book—the characters
always act the way that would be most satisfying to the reader
(like in a fanfic, guilty pleasure sorta way), instead of acting
how real people in that situation would. For example, Prince
Cardan tells Jude, “Most of all, I hate you because I think of
you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop.” I’m not
complaining, but still.
Locke was just such an annoying character. It was obvious he
wasn’t endgame and clearly, he wasn’t that important to Jude
either, even though she didn’t realize it at the time. I mean, who
falls for a guy who says he likes you, “Because you’re like a
story that hasn’t happened yet. Because I want to see what you
will do. I want to be part of the unfolding of the tale.” I wish
Jude had gotten revenge on him but Taryn murdering him was pretty
good revenge too.
This series was quite similar to
the Court of Thorns and Roses
Series, even in the world building, but it was different enough to
make it stand out in its own merit. Go check it out! Also the
fanart is pretty amazing.