Holly Black

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 . . .

The Folk of the Air #3

The Queen of Nothing

Kaitlyn

I raise a plastic glass. "To family." “And Faerieland," says Taryn, raising hers. "And pizza,” says Oak. "And stories,” says Heather. "And new beginnings," says Vivi. Cardan smiles, his gaze on me. "And scheming great schemes." To family and Faerieland and pizza and stories and new beginnings and scheming great schemes. I can toast to that.

🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹💔💔💔💔💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

"I knew little else, but I always knew you." And when he kisses me, I feel as though I can finally breathe again.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear those words," he says. "You don't want me dead." "If you joke about this, I am going to-“ "Kill me?" he asks, raising both black brows. I think I might hate him after all.

He's every bit as terrifying as any serpent. l don't care. I run into his arms.

OKKKKKKKKK IM OKKKKK I AM SO OK NOW WE ARE SOOOOOO BACK

And then, through that, Cardan steps out. Cardan, naked and cov- ered in blood. Alive.

PAUSE. THIS IS A JOKE. IT MUST BE. WHAT THE FUCK

In one movement, I swing Heartsworn in a shining arc at the serpent's head. The blade falls, cutting through scales, through Aesh and bone. Then the serpent's head is at my feet, golden eyes dulling.

“Well, even if the serpent bites off your head," says Tatterfell, "the rest of you will still look good." "That's the spirit," I tell her.

WHAT THE FUCKKKKKK I FORGOT ABOUT THE CURSE

On the throne, the remaining flowers turn the same inky black as Cardan’s eyes. Then the black bleeds down his face. He turns to me, opening his mouth, but his jaw is changing. His whole body is changing-elongating and ululating. And I recall abruptly that Grimsen has cursed everything he has When she came to me to forge the Blood Crown, she entrusted me with I want my work to endure just as Queen Mab wanted her line to ever made. a great honor. And I cursed it to protect it for all time. endure.

And with his bare hands, he cracks the Blood Crown in two.

HSIABDAIDJWJFJSKDJ JUDEEEEE no but he deserves it YOU CAN’T JUST CONFES SYOUR LOVE AND LEAVE WITHOUT HEARING WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY??/&:!-&:!2&:!2;&/$;&

"It's you I love," he says. "I spent much of my life guarding my heart. I guarded it so well that I could behave as though I didnt have one at all. Even now, it is a shabby, worm-eaten, and scabrous thing. But it is yours." He walks to the door to the royal chambers, as though to end the conversation. "You probably guessed as much," he says. "But just in case you didnt." He opens the door to prevent me from responding. Abruptly, we are no longer alone. Fand and the rest of our guard stand ready in the hall. I can't believe he said that and then just walked out, leaving me reeling. I am going to strangle him.

"My sweet nemesis, how glad I am that you returned."

I wish I could add photos. I would post that little creature that’s ugly crying and screeching on all fours because that’s me currently.

On my knees, it is a small thing to lie back on the cold stone. I reach up my hands, like a supplicant. "You may do with me whatever you like," I say. "Please oh please. All I want is you." He sucks in a breath and gets down so we’re both on the floor and he's on his hands and knees, making a cage of his body. He presses his mouth to the pulse point of my wrist, racing in time with my heart. "Mock me all you like. Whatever I imagined then, now it is I who would beg and grovel for a kind word from your lips." His eyes are black with desire. "By you, I am forever undone."

ISN’T THIS YOUNG ADULT WHY IS THIS SO PROVOCATIVE? I’m not complaining though 😁

I might be inexperienced in love, but I know a lot about provoc tion. I slide to my knees in front of him. "Is this what you imagined Id be like, back in your rooms at Hollow Hall, when you thought of me and hated it? Is this how you pictured my eventual surrender?”

“You looked like a knight in a story tonight," he says softly against my neck. "Possibly a filthy story." I kick him in the leg, and he kisses me again, harder.

Cardan is gazing at my sister as though attempting to puzzle some- thing through. "You know him, don't you?" he asks. She nods, crossing her arms over her chest. "He would visit Locke sometimes. But he didn't have anything to do with Locke's death, if that's what you're thinking." "I wasn't thinking that," Cardan says. "Not at all."

"Oh, I don't know," I say. "Maybe he'd like to hear me scream." "I would," Cardan says, standing. "And perhaps one day I will." On the way out, his hand goes to my hair. A light touch, barely there, and then gone.

He knows her handwriting. I’m going to be torn into pieces.

"I assunme you weren't actually trying to shoot me," Cardan says. "Since the note was in your handwriting.

I feel a guard's hand close on my arm. Then Cardan's voice comes. "Do not touch her." A terrible silence follows. I wait for him to pronounce judgment on me. Whatever he commands will be done. His power is absolute. I don't even have the strength to fight back. “Whatever can you mean?” Randalin says. "She is my wife," Cardan says, his voice carrying over the crowd. "The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile.”

“Cardan sent you?” I ask. "Not exactly," says the Roach, moving the light so that I can see the person with him, the one I elbowed. The High King of Elfhame, in plain brown wool, a cloak on his back of a fabric so dark it seems to absorb light, leaf blade in the scabbard on his hip.

This hurts. IT HURTS HE KNOWS BECAUSE HE LOVES HERRRRRRR

Jude, you can't really think I don't know it's you. I knew you from the moment you walked into the brugh."

Unfortunately, the High King's smile only grows. "As you wish. Then I suppose I will have to examine you alone in my chambers."

"Jude never loved Locke." My face feels hot, but my shame is an excellent cover to hide behind. "She loved someone else. He's the one she'd want dead." I am pleased to see Cardan flinch.

"Ive been thinking about Mom," she says finally. "I always thought she left Elfhame because she fell in love with our mortal dad, but now I'm not so sure." "I don't understand," I say. "I’m pregnant, she says, her voice a whisper.

“…Do you remember the party in my maze garden? How I kissed her while you watched?" "I recall that your hands were on her, but her eyes were on me," Cardan returns.

War ein sehr gutes Buch aber wird gegen Ende etwas eintönig 

Diana

Hanna Rybchynska

This book was interesting, but it didn't captivate me enough. I think that it was a good end for the trilogy but the resolution of the conflict wasn't epic enough and maybe too easy.
I liked the beginning, but then I felt that the characters were just walking around with little purpose. I recommend the trilogy but it wasn't my favorite.

literauri

Less commentary this book because it was so serious I had to #lockin and I was worried towards the end but I didn’t have to 😎

envee

i'm sick to my stomach holly black got me real good (the ending was kinda lacking but it was a good read so)

marie

This is one of those series where the story just get better and better for each book you read. I can honestly say this one is my favorite out of the Folk of the Air series. 

Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar, you have my heart forever.

The intoxicating and bloodthirsty finale to the New York Times bestselling The Cruel Prince, nominated for the CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019, and New York Times bestseller The Wicked King After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watching reality television, and doing odd jobs, including squaring up to a cannibalistic faerie. When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking a favour, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal. When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.

zlaina

wow okay, i finished this book in a day because i was so excited to be back in elfhame with cardan and jude. 
i think if i wasn’t so attached to the characters and their individual storylines, i would’ve rated this 3/5. i loved it, but the book was over too quick, and had it been a mere 100 pages longer, so much of what happened could’ve been elaborated on. 
there were plots that could’ve been expanded ever so slightly, and there are still so many questions left unanswered from the wicked king. 
all in all, it was an exciting read. i just wish it was longer

might be the best one in the series 🤭 

Jillian Roberts

Vicky  Nuñez 

This book made the series for me! Holly black crafted a complex story that perfectly tied all the plots together in a very satisfying way.

(view spoiler)[ Book two was not very satisfying for me just because I hated what felt like the characters devolving instead of growing. Jude got exiled by Cardan didn't make much sense to me. (also I'm not a fan of cliffhangers personally) 
But this book more than made it up for it!
I think as a whole I usually dislike enemies to lovers just because usually the evolution from is not that believable and I definitely think this is the very best evolution from one to the other I have ever read! I loved how Jude & Cardan where true enemies from the very beginning treating each other very inhumanly(but very faelike), and just the slow progression of first coming to and understanding then respect for one another, then admiration and later to love; it was very seamless.
I also loved how they both had to lose each other for them to realize the full extent of their love for one another. It didn't just happen but there were actual events that lead them into embracing the love. Cardan realized when she got kidnapped by the Undersea and Jude fully embraced it after he got turned into a serpent.

For me book two didn't fully connect because the exile seemed so out of character for Cardan at the time, but after he explained that he was just trying to get Jude's recognition, it made a lot of sense and made book 2 a lot more believable for me. Especially because you could see how hard he was trying to make her notice/love him before that. How he tried making conversation with his sisters and whatnot. I think after growing up in a loveless family him trying to impress Jude was very in character for him. 

I think this book just generally really showed how both Jude and Cardan really grew as characters, how they both learned to tell each other what they meant for each other plainly. And also how they learned how both to lead and when to give the other the spotlight.
I'm just generally really pleased with how everything turned out. Especially the really cute end with all of them showing their appreciation and Cardan finally been surrounded by a loving family.

I think my only nitpick is that I wish we saw more of taryn's character development, I think she killed Locke which was something she needed to do, but we didn't get to see more of her after that. I hope she shows up in the spinoff. Same for Vivi.

Overall, I'm just in awe of how neatly Holly Black ended things and I can't wait for the spin off!
 (hide spoiler)]

The first quarter or so was a bit boring imo, but it got soooo much better I absolutely loved it. 

Not much thoughts it is exam week unfortunately. But I loved this book :)

Laura

Absolute banger (and I know bangers). 

The first quarter or so was a bit boring imo, but it got soooo much better I absolutely loved it. 

Not much thoughts it is exam week unfortunately. But I loved this book :)



Sidney Schaffner

I have absolutely no notes. This book was as perfect as the first two.

akynn 

Ana Luiza

Poxa, infelizmente achei esse o mais fraco da trilogia. Jude é uma personagem sensacional que sabe o que quer e sabe o que precisa fazer para chegar lá. Ela me surpreendeu muitas vezes com seus planos e truques mas nesse livro sinto que isso não aconteceu. Não houve nenhum grande plano e sinto que os problemas foram resolvidos por ela. Sem contar a explicação do que aconteceu no final do livro anterior que pra mim foi uma traição à personalidade da personagem que não deixaria uma coisa daquela passar. E foi uma coisa muito boba de Cardan, se bem que é o que pode se esperar de feéricos, criaturas muito mesquinhas. De qualquer, amo tanto todos esses personagens. Gostaria de ler mais sobre eles, e tenho esperança que apareçam em livros futuros, mesmo que no background. Não há discussão que a melhor coisa dessa trilogia é o universo criado por Holly Black, o melhor, mais criativo, mais interessante e melhor escrito universo feérico que já li. Por isso espero que ela continue nele por muitos outros livros, explorando tantas outras possibilidades.

O livro que melhor retrata a personagem Jude é o primeiro, sem dúvida. O segundo também, e é o meu preferido pois foi o que a história mais me prendeu. Já o terceiro, como disse não condiz muito com a personagem de Jude em vários momentos, mas apesar disso foi uma história interessante de ler e que eu recomendo muito. E foi um final muito fofo, amei pois sou cadelinha de finais felizes.

ash b

this was a very Mid end to the series. i thought the two main “riddles” in this (re: the exile and the crown curse) were sooo obvious I couldn’t believe our mc who’s up to now been mostly clever and excessively aware of loopholes didn’t see them?? jude’s change in character didn’t feel like real growth to accept human weakness as much as a nice way to avoid making readers sad over any of the people she swore to her revenge on actually facing consequences. i was eating the scenes of her return and anything with cardan tf up i just wished there were more!! he wasn’t present for over half the book after they sold me on his rude ass i missed him… 

the main plots just wrapped up so cheesily and unrealistically neatly without any real strife while others fell totally flat eg lady asha, taryns betrayals and everything with locke, the ghost, nicasia??? 300 pages was way too short for it to not feel like the author was just throwing random things together to tie up loose ends or cutting subplots out entirely. it was Fine and i still stayed up until 5am finishing it but it felt anticlimactic and the epilogue made me cringe into my skin like it was making up the relative lack of corniness since book 1.

Enjoyed this book sooooo much!! Reading the first two books made it worth reading this one! I love the way Holly Black describes Farieland!! JUDE DUARTE IS MY QUEEN. I STAN JUDE DUARTE🛐

Lexi 

Ena Kalkan

“𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢 𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.”

i wanted to give this five stars so badly but it just felt rushed in a sense. i loved this series so, so much. i just wished we had spent a littttle bit more time with jude and cardan. 🥺 i miss them so much already. the story was written beautifully and while i enjoyed it thoroughly, it wasn’t my favorite book in the series. all that being said, despite not really being blown away from this book, i am pleased with the outcome of the ending.

Julie Rubens

I love this series so much!! Jude is amazing, Cardan is the love of my life and the storyline is great!! This series has 100% become my comfort series, def recommend!!

AHNA

Sometimes I feel a little scared whenever Jude thought of power. This last book just confirms it 😂👌

chloe rae

Incredibly addictive and SO. GOOD. No matter how hard I tried, I could NOT put this book down today! What a stellar ending to such a fun and captivating series. I am trash for Cardan and Jude (no suprise there) and am now feeling a little lost knowing that it's all really over. Already pumped to pick the series up in the future one day and fall right back in.

I really do think they rushed Carden and Jude accepting all of the shit they’ve done to each other, but all an all a fun read 

Florence

ANNE WITH AN E CODED!!! I DIED READING THOSE TWO SENTENCES

love love love 

“well, did you get my letters?”

“what letters?”

ANNE WITH AN E CODED!!! I DIED READING THOSE TWO SENTENCES

Madison Keiran

3.5 stars. I didn’t actually expect to read this entire series but here we are. I wish there was more Cardan/Jude before it ended but overall really enjoyed it. Also Madoc should’ve been killed js

😭😭🧚‍♀️ das war eine wirklich wunderbare Fantasy Reihe!

The Queen of Nothing The Folk of the Air #3

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