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adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Rape, Abandonment
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
This was so disappointing. For context, I read the original trilogy about 4 years ago, so my memory of details has faded but I liked it a lot.
This takes place in the same world but unfortunately Jude and Cardan made virtually no appearances in this book. They got mentioned occasionally but it was less than crumbs. The main love interest is Oak… Jude’s younger brother who I forgot existed.
He’s so boring. The main character, Wren, is also incredibly boring. Together they have zero chemistry whatsoever.
The plot… what plot? Did anything happen? I honestly can’t tell you. They went from place A to B to C and did some stuff but I don’t think any of it mattered. At the end there is some revelation that is supposed to be surprising but I didn’t care.
I have no motivation to read the sequel.
This takes place in the same world but unfortunately Jude and Cardan made virtually no appearances in this book. They got mentioned occasionally but it was less than crumbs. The main love interest is Oak… Jude’s younger brother who I forgot existed.
He’s so boring. The main character, Wren, is also incredibly boring. Together they have zero chemistry whatsoever.
The plot… what plot? Did anything happen? I honestly can’t tell you. They went from place A to B to C and did some stuff but I don’t think any of it mattered. At the end there is some revelation that is supposed to be surprising but I didn’t care.
I have no motivation to read the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Child abuse
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Forced institutionalization
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First of all, y'all need to get over the hooves. Y'all are willingly reading the monsterfucker books and are upset when there is the absolute lightest of monsterfucking!
Second of all, The Stolen Heir is really not a repeat of Folk of the Air. It's way less focused on the court intrigue and follows a completely new character in Suren who is very much not Jude, though both of them are stabby but in different ways. Jude was calculating and vicious while Suren is simply feral and I love her for that! I also loved her dynamic with Oak, they've got kind of an angsty childhood friends to lovers thing going on that was the highlight of the book.
It also still has the dark folkloric fantasy world building where the fae are untrustworthy and wicked creatures. Though I found the plot not as interesting as FotA, this is more journey based and a bit slower and I wish it was a little more memorable. Overall this is another enjoyable romp through the world of Elfhame! I had a great time with The Stolen Heir and I'm very excited for the The Prisoner's Throne!
TWs: violence, trauma, gore, child abuse, abandonment, torture, kidnapping, death.
Second of all, The Stolen Heir is really not a repeat of Folk of the Air. It's way less focused on the court intrigue and follows a completely new character in Suren who is very much not Jude, though both of them are stabby but in different ways. Jude was calculating and vicious while Suren is simply feral and I love her for that! I also loved her dynamic with Oak, they've got kind of an angsty childhood friends to lovers thing going on that was the highlight of the book.
It also still has the dark folkloric fantasy world building where the fae are untrustworthy and wicked creatures. Though I found the plot not as interesting as FotA, this is more journey based and a bit slower and I wish it was a little more memorable. Overall this is another enjoyable romp through the world of Elfhame! I had a great time with The Stolen Heir and I'm very excited for the The Prisoner's Throne!
TWs: violence, trauma, gore, child abuse, abandonment, torture, kidnapping, death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Murder, Gaslighting
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read Jan 2023 and March 2024
I love Holly Black’s Folk of the Air books so much. Wren’s character was tragic in that trilogy, so it was easy to empathize with her, especially since this title was written from her POV. Wren has really low self-esteem, so it’s easy to see that she’s not a reliable narrator, but I’d have liked to see some of Oak’s POV. I would have been happy withMaddock rotting in prison, too, but that’s just me. The cliffhanger ending is tough.
I love Holly Black’s Folk of the Air books so much. Wren’s character was tragic in that trilogy, so it was easy to empathize with her, especially since this title was written from her POV. Wren has really low self-esteem, so it’s easy to see that she’s not a reliable narrator, but I’d have liked to see some of Oak’s POV. I would have been happy with
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Gaslighting
Moderate: Body shaming, Abandonment
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Hmm. I enjoyed reading Wren’s POV and how… dangerously faerie she was, getting to experience how her trauma shaped her. This was slow and I did not enjoy that. At the 70% mark, I thought about not continuing, how this was not as good as The Cruel Prince. As much as I dislike Holly Black because of Cassandra CLAIRE (see what I did there?), I will 100000% be excited for the sequel because of that end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
AAAAAAHHHHHH FJSJAKNFHDHAKAOSOXIJX. I loved returning to Elfhame 😍 Oak is a masterpiece, and while I’m not quite as obsessed with Wren as I am with Jude as a narrator, that ending made me really excited to see where Wren’s character goes in the next book. Holly Black is an actual genius.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail