The Folk of Air series: Review

(The Cruel Prince #1, The Wicked King #2, The Queen of Nothing #3)

The Folk of Air series contains three books in which they unfold the life of main character Jude, as she strives to come into a position of power in Fairieland. As the novels progress, she goes into a position higher than before. Her quests to reach these heights were intriguing and were most definitely worth binging the series.

Before reading any synopsis, my initial prediction was that the first book would follow the ‘prince’ of said Fairieland, in which this prince becomes the king in the second, and lastly will follow the life of the king’s daughter in the last book. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not so. After reading the first and second novel, my leading thought was that the title of the stories were very vague. I found that there were very few scenes containing the ‘prince’ and instead focused more on the character Jude.

Before picking up the series, I was quite sceptical to read it as many expressed negative thoughts on the first and last book while enjoying the middle novel the most. However, I was surprised and instead thoroughly enjoyed the entire series! I can see where many perceived this idea as it may seem that more action is displayed in The Wicked King than in The Cruel Prince, but I realized that this was normal; there had to be an introduction to the characters and the setting in order to reach that level of conflict. By no means was the first story boring at all, it merely did not have the same degree of proceedings.

My favourite factor from the entire series was that the author managed to show Jude’s entire character development across the three novels. I found this intriguing as I could easily follow why the personality would make certain decisions, and even sympathized with her several times. This feature definitely furthered the enjoyment of reading the novel and assisted in creating a special bond with the characters.

The storyline, from the beginning to the end of the series, was captivating. It was definitely innovative, and thus had me hooked from page one! As soon as you think you know where the story will take you, the author locates more trials that steer the characters in the opposite direction.

Holly Black’s writing was spectacular! Her descriptions were vivid and fascinating, and made it easy to transform into the character’s lives. Her words were also, at times, filled with riddles that left me in suspense and longing for more. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of her work!