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A review by readwithria
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
adventurous
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Stolen Heir takes the world of Elfhame that we know and love and expands it into the courts. We get to know more about Suren and Oak, and meet many new faces along the way. That being said, we don’t really get a new plot at all.
I loved the political intrigue and social intricacies of the original Folk of the Air series, and I was hoping to find more of that in this duology. Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t the focus of this book. It was mostly travel, and while that’s great with a pre-established cast of characters to give them more time to interact with each other, I don’t think it worked super well with a new cast of characters.
I don’t feel like I know Tiernan all that well. I don’t feel like I understand Wren or Oak’s motivations much more than I did at the beginning of the book. I wish there had been more trust-building between the three of them, or at least more attempted. I also feel like the plot of this book wasn’t all that central to the story for the middle 50%.
I’m excited to wrap up this series with Oak’s perspective. I hope the pacing and plotting issues I had in The Stolen Heir are resolved in The Prisoner’s Throne. 3 stars
I loved the political intrigue and social intricacies of the original Folk of the Air series, and I was hoping to find more of that in this duology. Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t the focus of this book. It was mostly travel, and while that’s great with a pre-established cast of characters to give them more time to interact with each other, I don’t think it worked super well with a new cast of characters.
I don’t feel like I know Tiernan all that well. I don’t feel like I understand Wren or Oak’s motivations much more than I did at the beginning of the book. I wish there had been more trust-building between the three of them, or at least more attempted. I also feel like the plot of this book wasn’t all that central to the story for the middle 50%.
I’m excited to wrap up this series with Oak’s perspective. I hope the pacing and plotting issues I had in The Stolen Heir are resolved in The Prisoner’s Throne. 3 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood