Review: Queen of Nothing
Title: Queen of Nothing
Author: Holly Black
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Little Brown
Date Published: November 19th 2019
Goodreads Description: 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 deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal 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…
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy.
I was given a review copy by Jonathan Ball Publishers. All opinions are my own.
General Thoughts
Oh boy. There aren’t many words to describe this book. I put off writing this review for as long as I could because I just honestly don’t know how to phrase my thoughts. This review might not make any sense, but here goes.
I love Holly Black’s writing, but this book was a little rushed. I loved all of the twists and the curse, but the rest was just rushed. Certain moments were not earned, and that certain feelings and character developments were rushed.
The scheming and the plotting was missing from this one. It felt like Black disarmed both Cardan and Jude and softened their edges. It adds to the whole feeling of the book being rushed. I don’t mind Jude and Cardan being in love (duh, that’s the whole point of enemies to lovers), but some things were not earned.
The world-building was once again phenomenal. The clash between the modern human world and the Faerie world provided a nice contrast and made some great imagery. Holly Black is the Faerie Queen.
Characters
Grima Mog was the best thing to come out of this book. Enough said.
Cardan was my biggest issue. There was not enough of him in this book, and I felt like his hatred feelings for Jude turned to love a little quickly.
Taryn was also an issue. (Slight spoiler) Taryn is one of my most hated characters and I hated how quickly Jude forgave her, without much fanfare tbh.
Overall I liked the book, some things were just missing from the finale of this epic series.
Let’s Chat
What did you think of Queen of Nothing? Read my reviews for Cruel Prince and Wicked King.
Im so excited to read this series!
I NEED to read this book! I’ve always had a problem with Carden and Jude’s relationship, but the whole worldbuilding keeps me reading. I can’t wait to wrap up this series. Great review!
Total understand your consternation – some books I have to mull over and check my highlights before I decide how to rate and review, and still struggle even then. The struggle is real!
I just finished The Cruel Prince and onto the other two. Hope it won’t be a let down
I still need to read The Cruel Prince!
One of these days I will have to pick up The Cruel Prince!
Great review. I’ve never read her work but I see her books everywhere. Shame that there were bits missing from the finale.
That is a very interesting title.
Great honest review I still need to read Cruel Prince which I hope I can read this month in December. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.