Holly Black

The highly anticipated conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology by #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black. After the shocking events of The Stolen Heir, Prince Oak is in deeper trouble than ever before. As his situation grows more precarious, Oak is desperate to find a way out, before all of Elfhame is caught in the coming storm.

The Stolen Heir Book 2

3.75 stars. quick fun resd, very entertaining <3

3 stars!

‧₊˚ ⋅𐙚 might include spoilers! 𐙚 ‧₊˚ ⋅

first of all, this is such an intense read. from start to finish, it was filled with action— something that i thought was lacking from the first book. although, yes, the first book is meant to introduce the characters and set a pace for the world-building.

we've seen oak grew up from a mischievous and generally oblivious child to a cunning and secretive seventeen-year-old. he deceives others by posing as an innocent child but then startles them by exhibiting his knack for violence. he has a skill at killing yet he loses himself in doing so. 

suren (or wren), now eighteen, has become a strong, independent woman. she learned how to break curses and to stand up for herself.

i love the character development between the two. i love how oak, though unsure at first about what he feels about love, showed his sincere feelings for her by defending her (even from his family especially jude) and by trying to save her multiple times. 


  "then i''ll have to marry you, prince oak of the greenbriar line," wren says, with a sharp-toothed smile. "just to make you suffer."


i loved suren/wren's transformation at the end. it seemed as if she'd gone through metamorphosis, and she became a butterfly. it is such a beautiful and graceful transformation that signifies hope, new beginnings, as well as freedom.

it was such a good ending. we even got madoc's /slight/ repentance as he acknowledged his faults with what he did to jude and taryn's mortal mother. and also Finally, oak's family is trying their attempt to communicate with each other. 

lastly, i cannot get over how much i missed judecardan. i wasn't expecting them to have a such big role in this book since the spotlight might get stolen from the main characters, but they even made the story thrilling. with jude's incredible wit which is still as unpredictable as ever and cardan's love for theatrics as well as his sarcastic personality— it is nice to know that after all these years they still haven't changed. they are still soooo in love with each other.


  "i hate being unwell," he says.

"you're not sick," jude tells him. "you are recovering from being stabbed—or rather, throwing yourself on a knife."

"you would have done the same for me," he says airily.

"i would not," jude snaps.

"liar," cardan says fondly.


moreover, i love getting glimpses of their domestic life as high queen and high king of elfhame. this is me manifesting that we'd get a jurdan novella soon! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

unedited review:

judecardan carried !!!!

** spoiler alert **
           holly releasing a banger after banger after banger after banger

not much to say here. i really liked it lol and the amount of judecardan moments? it’s like i was reading tfota again and it felt like home (omg i know i’m so dramatic but judecardan makes me emotional. and it’s so comforting seeing judecardan banters again. my parents fr)

it’s so so so so comforting reading about past characters and seeing a glimpse of what/where they are now after the queen of nothing. the ghost? the bomb? the roach? and even locke? girl i was jumping up and down just by reading their names.

loved the relationship slow burn kind of thing with oak and wren. problems after problems after problems oooouuu i would’ve been impatient but i wasn’t cuz i was too engrossed in seeing the ending. i actually giggled at some parts cuz oak is soooo much like cardan (not entirely but they have the same smugness and humor) 

i remember saying i was hesitant to start this duology because i might just read it to see judecardan and not really like it but that really wasn’t the case and i’m almost kinda glad i read this?? the amount of judecardan moments was enough to suffice my need to see them again after years but it’s not too overpowering to the point where wren and oak’s love story is looking like they’re the second lead in the book. i like it! 

tho i must admit at the end i was kinda starting to grow restless and just wanted the book to end already but i pushed through and i’m so happy i did cuz oak and wren are just soooo adorable.

oak and wren are literally the personification of the quote “jump.” & “how high?” oak would do anything for her gooooddddd me when

Vicky  Nuñez 

After his arrest Oak finds himself in the new northern court led by Queen Suren and he must use his wits to escape before his sister starts a war under his name.

Hat's off to Holly black, she's such a good writer of endings. You can see all the foreshadowing that was sprinkled in the previous book pay off now.
This was a fun book bringing back characters from the previous stories, but the ending did felt rushed and I did not care as much for this character's relationship as I did for Jude and Cardan. I think I was mostly impressed by all the plotlines she managed to end so satisfyingly in this book. Characters we had not been mentioned came back at the end and had very satisfying end.

Overall, I enjoyed it and it was nice to read again about all the Elfhame characters.

The Stolen Heir Book 2

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