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

by Holly Black

[lauriesbookshelf]

Review posted on https://lauriesbookshelf.com
On November 19, the final installment of the "the folk of the air" series by Holly Black was released. The queen of nothing was supposed to release in January 2020, but we got lucky and got it two months earlier. I immediately started this book, did I like it as much as I had hoped for? Note: this review contains spoilers for both The cruel prince and The wicked king.











After reading The wicked King with its huge cliffhanger, my expectations for The queen of nothing were really high. I loved this book, but I have some issues with it still. The writing was good, so was the world building. However, Some things could have been more exciting, mindblowing, nervewrecking and most off all wrapped up better.



At the start of The queen of nothing, Jude is in exile in the mortal world. Not long after that, something happened and we meet Grima Mog. Grima Mog will play a very important role later in the book. After that, something else happened and Jude is back in Faerie again. However, things fall a little flat from there.



The story turns kind of predictable and moreover, kind of shallow. There are a few battles to fight, but they seem very easy and quick. I mean, people win so quickly and where are the victims? Deaths? In this book there is a twist that seems stolen from a very famous fairytale and I am wondering where Holly Black's creativity has disappeared. Furthermore, what about character development? It felt all a little rushed. Cardan talks about letters written to Jude while she was in the mortal world, but those letters are briefly mentioned and therefore it feels kind of weird that Cardan turns from hater to lover real real quick. I heard those letters are printed in the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition, but this way, most readers don't get to read them. For these readers - including myself - this character development is poorly excecuted because those missing letters play a very crucial role in the story and in the relationship between Cardan and Jude. And then there was something else. What happened to one character who did something completely criminal? They seem to get away with it? Hmmmmmmmm. You see why The queen of nothing was quite underwhelming and not a 5 star read right?



When the end of the story came near, it felt all so poorly excecuted as well. The battle was superfast, just a few pages. Furthermore, the end seemed all positive and lovely, but for me it was a poor wrap-up, done way too quickly. I wished for more, I needed more, the story deserved more. For me, The wicked king is the best book in the entire series and a second book being a favorite is very rare. I loved the world of this series, but the finale could have been much mor explosive.







Have you read any book in this series yet?
This review was originally posted on Laurie's Bookshelf