Name: The Lost Sisters: A Folk of the Air Novella
ISBN: 9780316310444

Holly Black

Sometimes the difference between a love story and a horror story is where the ending comes... While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke. Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal. The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince, by master writer Holly Black.

The Folk of the Air #1.5

The Lost Sisters: A Folk of the Air Novella

Anna Stewart

It’s the kind of thing you like. The wicked are slain, with swords no less. Vengeance is had. Boldness is rewarded. But what about all those girls, all those obedient girls who trusted and loved and wed and died? Weren’t they bold, too?

Everyone makes mistakes. They trust the wrong people. They fall in love. Not you, though. And that’s why it’s so hard to ask you for forgiveness.

Or maybe it’s another horror story. It seems like the difference is mostly in where the ending comes.

Fairy tales have a moral: Stay on the path. Don’t trust wolves. Don’t steal things, not even things you think no normal person would care about. Share your food but don’t trust people who want to share their food with you; don’t eat their shiny red apples, nor their candy houses, nor any of it. Be nice, always nice, and polite to everyone: kings and beggars, witches and wounded bears. Don’t break a promise. 

It’s important that we learn the lessons our mother didn’t.

She and Dad, dead in moments. And us girls, taken across the sea to be raised by a monster. The three lost sisters. Doesn’t that sound just like another tale?

Fairy tales are full of girls who wait, who endure, who suffer. Good girls. Obedient girls. Girls who crush nettles until their hands bleed. Girls who haul water for witches. Girls who wander through deserts or sleep in ashes or make homes for transformed brothers in the woods. Girls without hands, without eyes, without the power of speech, without any power at all. 

But then a prince rides up and sees the girl and finds her beautiful. Beautiful, not despite her suffering, but 

Neither you nor I have been good at seeing the future in the skies. Neither of us can see in the dark well enough to note the movement of the stars accurately. 

Maybe if we’d been better at it, we could have seen what was coming.

She turned to me, head tilted, her expression pure confusion. As though I had no reason to be afraid of a broken heart. She had no idea how dangerous a broken heart could be. You do, though. You know.

Looking at you was like looking into a mirror and hating what I saw.

Be good, but not too good. Be pretty, but not too pretty. Be honest, but not too honest. Maybe no one got lucky. Maybe it was too hard.

Loose black curls framed his sharp cheekbones and a mouth set in a cruel line. He’s handsome, but that makes his horribleness worse, somehow. As though he’s taken something nice and made it awful.

Locke’s eyes were alive with interest. 

“Why are you looking at Jude like that?” I asked. 

“I can’t help it,” he said, never taking his gaze from you. “I’m drawn to trouble.”

Locke saw me differently than anyone had seen me before. He’d given me a taste of what it was to love, to want, to desire. And it made me hungry for more. I didn’t want to give it up. 

That doesn’t justify what I did, though.

I won’t turn back. I know what I want. I want Locke. I’m not afraid of his secrets.

Locke literally not being able to tell them apart BUT CARDANNNNNNN HE KNOWS JUDE LIKE THE BACK OF HIS HANDDDDDDD HE KNEWWWWWW WHICH SISTER HE GAZED UPONNNNNN

Kaitlyn

What I never expected was for him to turn to us—and for his eyes not to meet mine, but yours, Jude. As though he couldn’t tell us apart. Prince Cardan saw him looking too.

Ok I take back my previous highlight in a way. I understand Locke knowing the difference between the two, but with the way Cardan refers to Taryn as “twin sister” I’m positive he also knows the difference between the two when he’s not obligated to in any way. ESPECIALLY SINCE HE’S HIDING HIS TRUE FEELINGS FOR JUDE AND USING BULLYING AS A HALF COVER-UP 😒

And then all at once I recalled the way he smiled at you at the revel, in front of Cardan, and how he hadn’t been to see me since. Recalled that you and I are identical twins. He was protecting me, sure. Protecting me by tricking them. He’d made them think you were his lover.

Eliška Lhotská

Bud hodná, ale ne moc. Bud hezká, ale ne moc. Bud upřím- ná, ale ne moc. Možná neměl štěstí nikdo. Možná to všechno bylo příliš těžké.

This is supposed to go between the cruel prince and the wicked king but i read it after bc i didn't know.

Okay so this does do it’s purpose of giving taryns perspective. Turns out shes worse than I thought.

Through out this whole “apology” she plans to give to jude she tries to explain why she does what she does, and it’s sincerely stupid and shows truly how different jude is to her. Because she is so selfish in her thought process. Now jude may not be the most selfless person on earth but one thing you cannot say is that she did not atleast care for her sisters and brother. The amount of which she cared is why the last ~25% of the cruel prince is there. Jude could’ve let things play out the way it was going to but she didn’t because she feared for oak (who isnt even blood related to her) and i think that highlights how different the two are. 

Because while jude goes out of her way to protect her family in book one, taryns reason not to defend jude in book one during that one scene is “well it was a grand gesture”. Somebody beat her up im done. 

But taryn doesnt really comprehend that version of loyalty jude has nor does she get why jude is the way she is, she just finds jude stubborn and reckless. And has this narrow view of just i need to be loyal and good. Which is sad, and i feel for her, but theres only so much i can feel when her thought process has literally been disproven in the book and she still begs jude to suck it uo and take it, basically dragging her down just because some fake sense of “maybe they’ll get off our backs”. And her thoughts to when jude defends herself is SO close minded. She things its just becuase they ruined their lunch. Is she serious… That really shows how taryn is just flowing around pretending that one day they’ll magically like her. And why in the books shes just there taking it all. Which I would feel bad for if again, her thought process hasnt been in her face by how oriana speaks to the twins, how theyre bullied, litterally their entire world theyve lived in.  

And quite frankly i think this is her main problem, she looks at the world with rose tinted glasses. She doesnt look for depth, she fights for nobody, and doesnt even seem to have any morals, just kinda bends to anybodys will. (sorry thats mean) She gets mad when shes not intresting, when quite frankly she isnt because she spends her time just blocking it all out or trying to fall in love with the man who is actually evil. And then she thinks shes like gods gift to the faerie world. (thats an exaggeration but she truly is just in denial)

Another intresting thing is, taryns justification in this book is exactly like judes which is so intresting. She also hates being look down upon (which like no duh but thats just me being a hater) this also puts how similar they are, and how different the approach is. 

Also Taryn being so downbad this entire time is pathetic. Her half-done apology is her just talking about how much she loves locke and not an ounce of the ties she has to her sister. She just kinda states what has happened to them and just expects jude to be like “okay yeah” when theres never a true apology in here just a ton of sneak disses and pushing the blame around. 

Sorry but this made me even more of a taryn hater. But it does solidify the assumptions i had about her in the first book and clears up some of the air. And the writing is good.

melanie

This is supposed to go between the cruel prince and the wicked king but i read it after bc i didn't know.

Okay so this does do it’s purpose of giving taryns perspective. Turns out shes worse than I thought.

Through out this whole “apology” she plans to give to jude she tries to explain why she does what she does, and it’s sincerely stupid and shows truly how different jude is to her. Because she is so selfish in her thought process. Now jude may not be the most selfless person on earth but one thing you cannot say is that she did not atleast care for her sisters and brother. The amount of which she cared is why the last ~25% of the cruel prince is there. Jude could’ve let things play out the way it was going to but she didn’t because she feared for oak (who isnt even blood related to her) and i think that highlights how different the two are. 

Because while jude goes out of her way to protect her family in book one, taryns reason not to defend jude in book one during that one scene is “well it was a grand gesture”. Somebody beat her up im done. 

But taryn doesnt really comprehend that version of loyalty jude has nor does she get why jude is the way she is, she just finds jude stubborn and reckless. And has this narrow view of just i need to be loyal and good. Which is sad, and i feel for her, but theres only so much i can feel when her thought process has literally been disproven in the book and she still begs jude to suck it uo and take it, basically dragging her down just because some fake sense of “maybe they’ll get off our backs”. And her thoughts to when jude defends herself is SO close minded. She things its just becuase they ruined their lunch. Is she serious… That really shows how taryn is just flowing around pretending that one day they’ll magically like her. And why in the books shes just there taking it all. Which I would feel bad for if again, her thought process hasnt been in her face by how oriana speaks to the twins, how theyre bullied, litterally their entire world theyve lived in.  

And quite frankly i think this is her main problem, she looks at the world with rose tinted glasses. She doesnt look for depth, she fights for nobody, and doesnt even seem to have any morals, just kinda bends to anybodys will. (sorry thats mean) She gets mad when shes not intresting, when quite frankly she isnt because she spends her time just blocking it all out or trying to fall in love with the man who is actually evil. And then she thinks shes like gods gift to the faerie world. (thats an exaggeration but she truly is just in denial)

Another intresting thing is, taryns justification in this book is exactly like judes which is so intresting. She also hates being look down upon (which like no duh but thats just me being a hater) this also puts how similar they are, and how different the approach is. 

Also Taryn being so downbad this entire time is pathetic. Her half-done apology is her just talking about how much she loves locke and not an ounce of the ties she has to her sister. She just kinda states what has happened to them and just expects jude to be like “okay yeah” when theres never a true apology in here just a ton of sneak disses and pushing the blame around. 

Sorry but this made me even more of a taryn hater. But it does solidify the assumptions i had about her in the first book and clears up some of the air. And the writing is good.

Lucy Williams

౨ৎ | ‘jealousy wasn’t a spice to me then. it was the whole meal and i was gagging it down.’

i love the writing, hate taryn. SORRY but i can not make myself like that girl to save my life.

౨ৎ | ‘jealousy wasn’t a spice to me then. it was the whole meal and i was gagging it down.’

— ★ 2/5

i love the writing, hate taryn. SORRY but i can not make myself like that girl to save my life.

líbilo se mi, jak to bylo napsané, ale jinak mid?? Made me hate taryn even more 

yara

This was an apology?? Taryn, dear no one cares… literally made me hate her and Locke more. Extra star for carden 🌚

Jude has protected Taryn so many times and she has no backbone and is doing all of this for a GUY and to fit in a world that will never allow her to fit in no matter how hard she tries. I hope Jude never forgives her. This was written well that I hate Taryn 😄

Hibba Ahmed

Two stars. Not because of Ms Holly Black, I absolutely love her writing and her world building. This book was not lacking in that department. This rating is purely due to the fact that I do not care for Taryn at all (ok maybe a little bit, but not enough to feel strongly about her). So this just wasn't too interesting. I did feel intrigued about her reasonings for what she did and she has definelty gained some sympathy for me but she is not one of my favourite characters and so this book wasn't amazing for me!

aleksandra

2/5


  
    "And before you judge me-"
  


Stop saying that, I've already done it. Also, can someone please get ride of Locke? Because, I wish him well. 

In Hell.

3.5 only because i cannot stand Taryn and this novella in her POV just made me hate her more than i already did. The stars are only going to Holly Black for her writing.

Amiana Tyransky

liana

2.5⭐️

⚠️THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE CRUEL PRINCE’S BOOK⚠️

First and foremost: I’m mad, like REALLY mad, so excuse me for all the cursing I’m about to write.


WHY? WHO had the AUDACITY to say this short novella was written to understand Taryn’s pov better? I don’t know about you all but I hate her even MORE after reading this. My freaking Beyoncé (yes, she’s my only religion), I didn’t know I could hate a character SO much.
You are telling me, Taryn dear, that you’re choosing a man over your other half aka your twin sister??? A man that’s not even worth your fucking time!!!!!!!!! Like be fr girl when did you decide Locke was the love of your life?😂😂😂 grow the fuck up. That’s not the worst part though, because YOU blamed Jude for all the bullying she was receiving, and why? Because she was strong enough to defend herself???? This is why spanish is the best language to curse because EN QUÉ COÑO ESTABAS PENSANDO PUTA LOCA????? I don’t have enough words to describe my hatred towards her, omfg😭. You’ve tried to fit into a world where you’re not welcomed and yet you decide to get manipulated by your sister’s bully… Men are not that worthy/important honey, trust me, and you made it even worse by forcing Locke to marry you… I hope you get what you deserve in the next books. 
This is the worst “apology” I’ve ever read in my entire life. This is just Taryn looking for someone to pity her, and she just doesn’t deserve Jude at all. I have so many more things to say about this but I’ll stop here before I throw my phone through the window.

Regardless of all of this, Holly Black’s writing is amazing (again) and I can’t wait to keep on reading not only this trilogy, but the other books about the Faerie world.





(English is not my first language, if you find any mistakes please let me know).

Ana Luiza

Nossa eu acho a Taryn muito chata, mas nesse conto tava ainda pior. Estava com zero interesse na história que ela estava contando.

O começo foi até interessante com aqueles contos de fada mas depois foi ladeira abaixo.

Repetitive, Taryn is still not redeemed in my eyes, worth the read for the series though.

Bethany

Julie Failde

Giving three stars because Taryn sucks and this was a shitty apology. However, as we are supposed to dislike her, the writing was great and it was cool seeing the first book through a different lens (even if it’s one I really don’t care for).

l ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

i've finally decided to give the lost sisters four stars. i really liked the writing and the lil stories that holly black told, but i just hated everything that taryn was saying.

this novella was just taryn trying to excuse her shitty behavior from the cruel prince. instead of ACTUALLY apologizing and asking jude for forgiveness, she demands it and says she did what she had to do. it was beyond annoying and weird! i knew that everyone hated taryn so i suspected she'd pull some shit like this but GOD. 

anyways i hate taryn and i hope jude kills her one day. or maybe locke

Marie

anastasia

big ab

as someone who only has brothers, i really don’t understand sisters.

Renata

it’s really good that we have a inside of taryn side in all of that situation i understand it’s an apology but all of this backstabbing on your own twin bc of that locke ass god cardan was right when he said : “"You're awful." He said it as though he was delighted. "And the worst part is that you believe otherwise.””

damn Taryn sucks and Locke is an asshole 

Kimmy Hobden

Taryn and Locke have a special place in hell waiting for them and I hope Locke gets murdered by Jude <3

Savannah Bergevin

Katelyn

I hate Taryn. What was that apology? I can’t see myself liking her in the other books 😬

The Lost Sisters: A Folk of the Air Novella The Folk of the Air #1.5