The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, 3)
A powerful curse forces the exiled Queen of Faerie to choose between ambition and humanity in this highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy from a #1 New York Times bestselling author.
He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne
Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.
Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan's betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her twin sister, Taryn, whose life is in peril.
Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict's bloody politics.
And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity . . .
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Readers say *The Queen of Nothing* delivers a satisfying conclusion to the Folk of the Air trilogy with rich world-building, political intrigue, and c...
I devoured it like the snake devoured knights that did not stole his hard. Bond to the book from page 1 till long after the very last page.
What a wonderful ending to a great tale. I enjoyed this series so much. I didn't want this to end. I love how the characters are written, Jude, Cardan and the Court of Shadows were my favorites. I think the other two books had a bit more action that I devoured though. Either way I enjoyed the ride and will miss the gang scheming great schemes.
Edit after reread Honestly after this re-read I have no clue what I would add. It was still amazing and I'm sad to leave the world. Jude is badass, Cardan is lovable, the court of shadows are still some of my favorites, Grima Mog is creepy and I love her.
It is interesting to see Suren as a child on Judes POV after reading the stolen heir and prisoner's throne.
Edit after reread Honestly after this re-read I have no clue what I would add. It was still amazing and I'm sad to leave the world. Jude is badass, Cardan is lovable, the court of shadows are still some of my favorites, Grima Mog is creepy and I love her.
It is interesting to see Suren as a child on Judes POV after reading the stolen heir and prisoner's throne.
Surprisingly, I found the third and final book in this trilogy was also the most interesting, strong, and enjoyable. It still has most of the tropes of YA, easy to read, light, but it is far better written with a well-developed plot, fun dialogue, character growth, and unique traits and motivations that actually make sense too.
2/5
Having been exiled to the human world by Cardan, after freeing him from his bargain and becoming his queen, Jude languishes doing odd jobs and missing Faerieland fiercely. When her treacherous twin sister Taryn comes to ask for a favor to save her life Jude gets trusted back into court and the war that is brewing. She will have to confront her father and her feelings for Cardan if she wants to survive and win.
I feel insane for rating this so low but I did not like it. I read it in a day but not because I was enthralled, I was frustrated and wanted to see if it got better. Jude is still an amazing main character, the short period of time in the book where she's in the human world running around doing errands and thinking about her situation were fantastic! You could feel her anger, her hurt, her tiredness. She got taken down a peg but she was still clever and determined. And then Taryn showed up and everything went to shit. I'm not a Taryn fan at all, her continued disregard for her twin sister angered me. So when she shows up demanding Jude pose as her at a murder trial, which could get her killed if she were to be discovered, without ever seeking forgiveness or being contrite in any way? I was furious. And then Jude agreed! Without asking for anything else! I understand she really wanted an excuse to go back, but come on. It upset me that afer all that betrayal to get Locke to marry her Taryn didn't even last 6 months married to him before murdering the guy. All because he was behaving exactly as he told her he would. And Locke getting murdered off screen? After all he did? I genuinely thought it was going to be a trick. I'm still confused by this plot.
We finally get Jude back to Faerieland and into Cardan's court and just when you think they're at last going to communicate in any way and sort their issues, or at least get on the same page, Jude gets kidnapped and spends a good chunk of the book away not doing much. Serious question, is Holly Black allergic to letting these two characters interact? I despise the miscommunication trope and this whole series had me at my limit with it. I understand that, at first, they hated each other and wouldn't interact much, but we're on book 3 and they're being set as the romantic endgame couple. I need more than just passion and heightened emotions.
My favorite part of this book was, once again, the Madoc/Jude familial relationship. The clashing emotions, loving and hating the other at the same time, a father and a daughter on opposite sides of the battlefield. So complex and full of interesting layers you could lean harder on. I actually felt a bit emotional when Madoc hesitated before almost killing Jude at the camp. You could feel how heartbreaking this was to both of them. This was my finally some good fucking food moment in this book.
The plot was all over the place. There's going to be a war between Madoc's faction and the High Court, led by Cardan. Both have plans and an army but the most important part of the whole thing lies, crucially, on the crown. Thus, Cardan breaks it and becomes a fucking gigantic snake. He just becomes a snake. Because there was a curse and a prophecy. I was confused but willing to give it a go. They then come up with a plan to deal with serpent!Cardan, which Jude subverts and that sparks a battle... that lasts a total of 5 minutes tops. Excuse me?? After assembling armies and gathering allies and Cardan becoming a snake, that's what we get for the final battle?? I felt insane.
Then there's the ending. It was too rosy and neatly tied up. I cannot believe that Taryn got away without even a slap on the wrist. She never apologized! Nicasia also gets a sort of redemption, which was meh to me. And can we talk about Locke being implicated into the whole complot for funsies? Just perplexing. The only punishment I found funny was Madoc being forced to stop fighting and live in the human world. And even then, it's mentioned that Oak is going to live with him and Oriana and I'm left wondering, wasn't a big part of the plot since the end of book 1 keeping Oak away from Madoc's influence?? Am I taking crazy pills??
And just when I think ok finally Jude and Cardan will spend some time together and have a talk and a moment of intimacy or something... Nope! The book ends with this random pizza party that had me staring at my wall in confusion. I'm just baffled by this book.
Now, stuck in the mortal world for good, I miss Faerieland with a raw intensity. It's magic I long for, magic I miss. Maybe I even miss being afraid.
Having been exiled to the human world by Cardan, after freeing him from his bargain and becoming his queen, Jude languishes doing odd jobs and missing Faerieland fiercely. When her treacherous twin sister Taryn comes to ask for a favor to save her life Jude gets trusted back into court and the war that is brewing. She will have to confront her father and her feelings for Cardan if she wants to survive and win.
I feel insane for rating this so low but I did not like it. I read it in a day but not because I was enthralled, I was frustrated and wanted to see if it got better. Jude is still an amazing main character, the short period of time in the book where she's in the human world running around doing errands and thinking about her situation were fantastic! You could feel her anger, her hurt, her tiredness. She got taken down a peg but she was still clever and determined. And then Taryn showed up and everything went to shit. I'm not a Taryn fan at all, her continued disregard for her twin sister angered me. So when she shows up demanding Jude pose as her at a murder trial, which could get her killed if she were to be discovered, without ever seeking forgiveness or being contrite in any way? I was furious. And then Jude agreed! Without asking for anything else! I understand she really wanted an excuse to go back, but come on. It upset me that afer all that betrayal to get Locke to marry her Taryn didn't even last 6 months married to him before murdering the guy. All because he was behaving exactly as he told her he would. And Locke getting murdered off screen? After all he did? I genuinely thought it was going to be a trick. I'm still confused by this plot.
We finally get Jude back to Faerieland and into Cardan's court and just when you think they're at last going to communicate in any way and sort their issues, or at least get on the same page, Jude gets kidnapped and spends a good chunk of the book away not doing much. Serious question, is Holly Black allergic to letting these two characters interact? I despise the miscommunication trope and this whole series had me at my limit with it. I understand that, at first, they hated each other and wouldn't interact much, but we're on book 3 and they're being set as the romantic endgame couple. I need more than just passion and heightened emotions.
My favorite part of this book was, once again, the Madoc/Jude familial relationship. The clashing emotions, loving and hating the other at the same time, a father and a daughter on opposite sides of the battlefield. So complex and full of interesting layers you could lean harder on. I actually felt a bit emotional when Madoc hesitated before almost killing Jude at the camp. You could feel how heartbreaking this was to both of them. This was my finally some good fucking food moment in this book.
The plot was all over the place. There's going to be a war between Madoc's faction and the High Court, led by Cardan. Both have plans and an army but the most important part of the whole thing lies, crucially, on the crown. Thus, Cardan breaks it and becomes a fucking gigantic snake. He just becomes a snake. Because there was a curse and a prophecy. I was confused but willing to give it a go. They then come up with a plan to deal with serpent!Cardan, which Jude subverts and that sparks a battle... that lasts a total of 5 minutes tops. Excuse me?? After assembling armies and gathering allies and Cardan becoming a snake, that's what we get for the final battle?? I felt insane.
Then there's the ending. It was too rosy and neatly tied up. I cannot believe that Taryn got away without even a slap on the wrist. She never apologized! Nicasia also gets a sort of redemption, which was meh to me. And can we talk about Locke being implicated into the whole complot for funsies? Just perplexing. The only punishment I found funny was Madoc being forced to stop fighting and live in the human world. And even then, it's mentioned that Oak is going to live with him and Oriana and I'm left wondering, wasn't a big part of the plot since the end of book 1 keeping Oak away from Madoc's influence?? Am I taking crazy pills??
And just when I think ok finally Jude and Cardan will spend some time together and have a talk and a moment of intimacy or something... Nope! The book ends with this random pizza party that had me staring at my wall in confusion. I'm just baffled by this book.
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