Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Queen of Nothing

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Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

288 reviews

nikkilerae's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

The Queen of Nothing
By Holly Black
5 Stars

Holly Black has woven another fantastic tale in the Land of Elfhame! If you liked the first two books in this series, then I have no doubt that you will like this one as well.

Black adds some new characters to the mix as well as some new magic to the story. She doesn’t give you a chance to get bored with this action packed novel.

I can’t wait to read the next Elfhame book!! This series has been so fun and adventurous.

Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

What a solid finale to bring this trilogy home. First, and possibly most importantly, considering the story and "this is the final installment" vibes, the drama is real. It's nonstop. And I was entertained and very much invested in how it was going to turn out through the entire thing. That's really all I'm looking for in escapist lit reading choices like this.

I mean, I did sometimes wonder how Jude, "just" a human, could almost die so many times, and then recover quickly enough to fight more/so soon. It's astounding. Her adrenaline levels must be unhealthily high all the time. Lol But, again, I was in this for the escapism and entertainment, so I suspended disbelief. My bigger, and really only real, complaint of the series is the chemistry and connection between Jude and Cardan. They read more as platonic allies to me. I just never *felt* that spark of sexual attraction/tension. I get that hate and love are two sides of the same coin, and I see how their hate did turn to camaraderie and banter, but the desire piece never really developed enough to believe in, for me. So, I kinda just chose to read them as comrades and that worked for me. Sort of related, by the end of this novel, I definitely "over it" with the lack of communication in this YA relationship...but I knew what I was getting into when I started reading, so that’s on me.

Back to the good stuff though... There were lots of complex relationships with love and hate and admiration and jealousy and frustration and protection and desire and disgust - friend, romantic, family, and otherwise - and I was impressed with that level of relationship and character development nuance in a clearly YA series, tbh. Also, I was so happy with the classic fae and fairy tale tropes that were used throughout this series. They were well used and cozily familiar (to be clear, this is not cozy fantasy - lotssss of violence and backstabbing - but the recognizability of the tropes was comforting). And at the same time, the plot took some twists I didn’t expect, which kept me on my toes quite enough. A great balance was struck there.

I had fun racing through this series with little to no need for time/brain investment - that was exactly what I wanted/needed and it delivered.

Content Warnings

oblasdi_reads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional sad 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: Yes

Content Warnings

sunnyhafen's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

8.25 but I'll round up.

Plot: 1/1

Character Development: .75/1

Setting: .75/1

Writing Style: .75/1

Pacing: 1/1

Themes: .75/1

Emotional Impact: .75/1

Conflict Resolution: 1/1

Overall enjoyment: 1.5/2

I'm doing basically identical ratings and reviews for books 2 & 3 of this series because there seemed to be a lot of consistency between these books for me. I did listen to them each in about 2 days and so to be fair, they kind of blend together in my mind anyway.

Because I had seen that Books 2 & 3 got higher ratings than Book 1, I thought I would give them a chance. Books 2 & 3 were much more enjoyable. The romance subplot of enemy to lovers that we first glimpse in book 1 is both highly predictable and unpredictable: as a trope, it's not even trying to be subtle or original and you see it coming from a mile away, but as for the mechanics of how they can make that jump, the author does keep the reader guessing. The romantic tension between Jude and Carden is definitely a driving force in this book and it is dangled like a carrot in front of of the reader with only the occasional nibble. I have to conclude that worldbuilding is not Black's strong suit, based on the fact that once the foundation was (poorly) laid in book 1, I didn't think much of it because the scope narrows in subsequent books. These books seemed to be more cohesive, the characters more fleshed out and accessible, and the politics and world-lore more straight-forward compared to Book 1. The setting was less magical and immersive, but the characters were more engaging. Each book's ending had a satisfying twist or two and even though there were some parts that seemed contrived to varying degrees, the overall effect was a more compelling story and characters. Both Jude and Carden seemed more believable, but Carden's character arc was especially so. One of the things that I struggle with regarding the enemies to lovers trope is the varying ability of authors to sell the unlikeable characters and then to sell their likeableness. Often, miscommunication or misunderstanding is the mechanism by which that is done, and often in a way that feels forced. I appreciated Black's ability to convince the reader on each point, as well as creating imperfect characters who actually have to grow.

I actually found this book to be less violent, which I appreciated. There are some closed-door scenes. Overall, a better YA fit than Book 1 as well.

Content Warnings

bookshelvesandbookcorners07's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional 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: Yes

Content Warnings

nancymae_reads's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

The Queen of Nothing; arguably for me the best book within the Folk of Air series. From the beginning I was hooked and read this book in 2 sittings.

The conclusion of the trilogy did not disappoint. The magic system, the banter, the ever-growing love and feel of found family between all the characters. There were introductions of new characters which I loved and they added to the story-telling.

When I started this series, never did I think I would find myself giggling with happiness and crying wholeheartedly for Jude and Cardan (the fmc and mmc).

The series has got better and better for me, and pulled me out of a reading slump.

4.75⭐️ and an incredible read.

Content Warnings

alexistheauthor's review against another edition

3.25

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book was slow in the beginning, but as it progressed, the plot started to get better. Not the best book in the series, and considering it was a finale to a really good series, it was kind of a disappointment. I almost put this down as a DNF, but I kept reading. It wasn't bad, but wasn't very good either.

Content Warnings