Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

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

by Holly Black

The intoxicating and bloodthirsty finale to the New York Times bestselling The Cruel Prince, nominated for the CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019, and New York Times bestseller The Wicked King, winner of the Best YA Fantasy category in the Goodreads Choice Awards

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, watching reality television, and doing odd jobs, including squaring up to a cannibalistic faerie.

When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking a favour, 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 break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.

Reviewed by abookishblether on

3 of 5 stars

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The Cruel Prince ★★★★★
The Wicked King ★★★★☆
The Queen of Nothing ★★★☆☆


I won't go into specific plot points in this book, but I will talk about what I liked and disliked briefly.

I really enjoyed Cardan and Jude's relationship for the most part. It was complicated, there were issues and it just really worked for me. The whole faerie world and its lore also was really enjoyable. I haven't read a series about fae before and I loved the setting a lot, especially the cruelty the fae loved to inflict on others. I also enjoyed how many different aspects there were to the plot, and how you could easily forget about one aspect only to be surprised with it later on.

Otherwise, I felt like this book should have been double its length. A lot of essential plot points happened off screen, or in the time between books two and three. This made the experience a lot less immersive and feel a bit cheap.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 April, 2019: Finished reading
  • 12 April, 2019: Reviewed