5 Things I Liked About The Folk of the Air Series by Holly Black; And 5 Things I Didn’t

once upon a time, there was a human girl stolen away by faeries, and because of that, she swore to destroy them.

the wicked king, holly black

---

I’ve finally rectified one series from my list of series I wanted to start! Unfortunately, I didn’t care for these books as much as others have and don’t have enough to say about each installment to warrant a full review of them. So instead I’m going to hit the highlights of things I liked about the series, and things I disliked. This list will contain spoilers! Let’s get started.

Things I Liked:

1. It stuck to fae legend.

Although the A Court of Thorns and Roses series owns a special chunk of my heart when it comes to both fantasy and faeries, I liked that this series held closer to the traditional legends of the Fae comparatively. The innate terrifying quality of the Fae was kept in this series along with the legends that they cannot lie, are incapable of breaking their promises, and are able to enchant a mortal into anything they want. It brought a unique depth to the series that I haven’t read in others yet.

2. It was dark.

Along with the aforementioned terrifying quality of the Fae, this series is so dark in so many ways. From the first pages where Jude’s parents are murdered right in front of her to the deaths of the royal family to Taryn’s murder of her own husband, there is no lack of darkness in this series. It seems that Valerian’s curse on Jude poisoned more than just her in death being her only companion.

3. It had ambiguous morality.

None of the characters were either good or bad, making for an interesting, conflicting read. Jude loves the man who murdered her parents but then took her in and provided for her. Cardan allows Jude to be humiliated repeatedly yet always stops it before it goes too far. Balekin murders nearly his entire family but he took Cardan in when no one else would. It’s full of character after character who makes morally ambiguous choices that leaves you wondering what you would do in their place and just how far you would go too.

4. It had some great twists.

Admittedly, there were some terrible twists that were so predictable it was almost painful. But the ending of The Wicked King caught me by surprise along with a bit of frustration at Jude’s inability to read the riddle. The death of the serpent from The Queen of Nothing is also a twist that I really enjoyed.

5. It had Cardan Greenbriar.

Cardan is such a great character. Although he didn’t feature as much as I would’ve liked in The Cruel Prince, it was so interesting to see the layers of him pulled back the further the series went on. He was both predictable yet unpredictable. Harsh yet soft. Kind yet ruthless. By far the most interesting character in the series for me. And although he doesn’t rival my intense love for Rhysand from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, he’s definitely gained a spot on my favorite male characters list.

Things I Didn’t Like:

1. It was slow paced.

Boring. The Cruel Prince was painfully, almost mindnumbingly boring for me. There is essentially no plot within its pages and I wasn’t fond of the information dumping in its beginning. I’m glad the series picked up a bit as it went on but I couldn’t help thinking mid-reading of The Queen of Nothing that all of the events up to that point could’ve been in a single book. At the very least, The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King could’ve easily been fused together and made the series into an infinitely more interesting duology than what it actually is.

2. It had Jude Duarte.

I had a like-hate relationship with Jude. Not a love-hate, just a like-hate. She often made choices that didn’t make sense. She prided herself on being ruthless enough to do whatever she needed to do to get to her goals yet she was blinded by her emotions often. She missed glaringly obvious loopholes. All in all, she’s going on my list of bland main characters.

3. It had Taryn Duarte.

Taryn made me angry so many times in this series. Her lack of loyalty, persistent selfishness, and ridiculous choices had me wishing she’d disappear from the series. I did start to like her more in the final pages of The Queen of Nothing but she is far from being a favored character for me.

4. It had a lack of character development.

While Cardan assuredly had some development, the other characters had little to none. Jude started as a badass with no personality. She ended as a badass with no personality. Madoc started as a ruthless know-it-all. He ended as a ruthless know-it-all. Oriana starts as a pseudo-stepmom who cares only for Oak and ends exactly the same. I found so many other minor characters such as Grima Mog, Vivienne, and even Mother Marrow more interesting than most of the supporting characters and felt they had more development than the ones I mentioned.

5. It had a disappointing conclusion.

A very short glimpse of Cardan’s and Jude’s marriage once everyone was safe again was not enough for me. The romance had grown to be a huge part of the series by this time and yet we rarely got to see them interact once the power imbalance was removed from their relationship. I would’ve loved to see more moments between them both in Faerie and in the human world as the book concluded but, alas, I was left with disappointment just as I’d felt throughout the rest of the series.

Goodreads | Bookstagram | Twitter | WeHeartIt