𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙡𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨- 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠

Folk of the Air series by Holly Black

I’d rate it- ★★★★★ * ♾

These series are like a piece of heaven that were sent from above, it is, without a doubt, one of the best series I have read in my life. I have no clue how to write a review that does justice to it but here it goes anyway. I THANK U @HOLLY BLACK FOR WRITING IT, I WILL ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR IT!!!

⚠️spoilers ahead⚠️

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

The Cruel Prince

“𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙊𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥.”

I have so many beautiful quotes that I wanted to write above but sadly, I can only pick one :(

This book was perfection from every angle (same can be said for its sequels) fae court, plot twists, secrets, magic, bloodthirsty royals, fights for the crown, heartwarming scenes, heart shattering scenes, enemies to lovers trope, the most powerful, slow and yet amazing hate romance in the world- this book has it all. The style of writing is absolutely beautiful and I could imagine each scene, each character extremely vividly in my head.

Jude and Taryn are twins and are very young girls when they witnesses their parents’ murder. After that terrible night, she and her sisters are whisked away by the murderer to live in Faerie. Now, ten years later, they are trying to live among the fae, while constantly being reminded of her mortal human status. Yet, they soon get wrapped up in a very elaborate game, from many different sides, which will cause a civil war to break out in the Courts of Faerie if the game isn’t played properly.

Jude is strong willed and very determined, but she is also one of the most selfless characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading from. She is a very morally grey character, and I absolutely loved her for it. She seeks power and wants to create a name for herself in the Fae Courts.

Honestly, I absolutely hated Taryn, while Jude was strong and stood up for both of them, Taryn was subdued and only wanted to fall in love with a faerie so she could love her life peacefully; however, the reason I hate her is because over and over Taryn backstabs Jude and chooses other people over her twin but whenever she needs a favour she comes running back to Jude. This made me absolutely hate her and made her one of my least favourite characters.

Vivi is their older sister and one of the best side characters I’ve ever read. She’s unique and defiant and strong and devoted, and her romance with her girlfriend meant everything to me. Also, Vivi is on the page bisexual and that representation was put forward really well.

The High King has ruled for centuries, but people feel like it is finally time for him to step down and give the royal crown to one of his children. In this world, the king chooses his successor; it doesn’t automatically go to the oldest child. And the High King has six children in line waiting for him to make his choice. However, they all get brutally murdered by their power thirsty brother who doesn’t even end up becoming king.

Prince Cardan is the youngest son of the High King. He is wicked, and charming, and smart, and seems to be cruel. He makes Jude’s life a living hell most of the time along with his group of friends: Nicasia who likes power, Valerian who likes violence, and Locke who likes dramatics, but they all love tormenting Jude in very different ways. (It’s unreal how much I hate Locke).But Cardan is one of the best characters I’ve ever read in my entire life. Something that I love about the book is that Cardan is not viewed as any lesser for not being a hypermasculine love interest. there are so many ya male protagonists that are violent fighters and super "manly" and i love that cardan can be soft and effeminate at times, loves make up and can't fight or use a sword to save his life (literally) and yet is never depicted as less of a man for it. so many times we emasculate men who don't fit the idea of ​​"manhood", and the characters that don't fit the description are written off as comic relief or labeled as gay.

One of the most beautiful things about this book is that none of these characters are perfect. Jude, Cardan, all of them do bad things, and none of them are ever excused of their crimes, but they learn to deal with them and the other ramifications that come from their actions. This book accepts that and reflects that, but also highlights the importance of growing, and becoming a stronger person, and picking what battles you choose to fight.

One last thing, I would like to say is that Chapter 25 and Chapter 26 were my absolute favourites, totally loved them. The cliffhanger was huge, but fortunately, I had bought all 3 books so I immediately started the next book. I am so grateful to that otherwise I would have totally gone mad trying to know what happens after Cardan was crowned High King of Elfhame against his choice and was bound to obey each command given by Jude to him for a year and day (and not one minute more).

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

The Wicked King

"𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.”

Again, this book was filled with amazing quotes but yet again, I could choose only one

Jude is alone with the new High King of Faerie. Madoc and her parted on bad terms, Oak is in hiding with Vivi, Taryn is to be married to Locke, Balekin is locked up, and Cardan is the new king. Yet, he must listen to everything Jude says because of a their deal, but all of us know how quickly a year can pass and things can change. Especially since the Queen of the Undersea, Orlagh, is thinking about breaking the treaty with the fae folk on land, since she isn’t too sure about the new ruler. And she plans to use her daughter, Nicasia, any way that she can to help secure her place of power in the fae realm. And all the courts are coming together to see if Cardan really can lead and protect them (which he totally can)

And everyone is plotting in this book, I swear. The phrase “twists and turns” doesn’t even begin to describe the events that happen in this book. The political intrigue is so strong in this book. You won’t know who or what to believe, and you surely won’t know who to trust. And all these storylines come together to create something so beautiful. This book was a wild ride from page one to the very last page. Actually, especially the very last page. I was so sure my heart stopped when I read the last page. Cardan actually exiled her. My heart was shattered I was ready to dive into the book and slap the shit out of Cardan until he brought her back home.

Oh and my favourite part of this book, Cardan and Jude get married and she lets Cardan go free from their deal as she’ll be the Queen. YEAH I KNOW WHO SAW THAT COMING???? I SURE AS HELL DIDNT🤯

“𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙚,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨. “𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙀𝙡𝙛𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚.”

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

The Queen of Nothing

“𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚. 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚. 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩.“

I can’t believe it’s over. I have such a major book hangover it’s unreal. This series, this world, these characters, have brought me so much unconditional happiness, and I am definitely not ready to say goodbye, but I do think this was a very perfect ending.

After the very heartbreaking end of the Wicked King, Jude is now exiled from Faerie and has a crown that no one knows she wears.Jude is taking side-jobs from the fae residing among humans, and she just takes on a job that is about to really test her skills. Especially when she comes out of the job realizing that things might really not be going that great for Cardan in the realm of the fae. So when she gets a chance in the shape of Taryn having killed Locke she takes that opportunity and heads to Faerieland where Madoc is ready and willing to do anything to put Oak or himself on the throne, regardless of what Oak wants while living in the mortal realm with Vivi. Cardan is under a lot of stress and he misses her dearly, we also find out a loophole in his words when he exiled Jude, she could have returned any time that being said I would look to tell this out- CARDAN JUST WANTED JUDE TO BE PROUD OF HIM BEING CLEVER BECAUSE HE'S DESPERATELY IN LOVE WITH HER AND NEVER REALLY MEANT TO HURT HER BECAUSE HE GENUINELY THOUGHT SHE'D FIGURE IT OUT AND COME BACK!!!! THE MARRIAGE WASN'T A SCHEME HE JUST LOVES HER!!!!!

Jude is announced to be the Queen of Elfhame by Cardan and proves herself to be worthy when the kingdom is in danger towards the end of the book (I don’t want to give away too many spoilers because that kills the essence of the book in my opinion). Cardan and Jude finally admit their love for each other and I screamed in excitement throughout the whole book. They both are completely my entire heart. All of Cardan’s lines truly broke and healed me throughout this entire book. Seeing him be the king of his people’s dreams, but also the king of his own dreams? Forever crying. Also, we stan an otp power couple for life. Genuinely, for life; Jude, please never leave faerie again.

I loved all three books in the series but this one was definitely my favourite!!

“𝘽𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚.“

(cover art source- pinterest)