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shaun_trinh 's review for:
The Queen of Nothing
by Holly Black
(EDIT: I've changed my review from 4 starts to 3 stars. My reasoning will be close to the bottom of this review.)
At long last I have finished The Folk Of the Air trilogy. Just as the other 2 books I had high expectations for the finale, and for the most part those expectations were met.
Something The Queen of Nothing did great with that it's predecessor, The Wicked King, lacked was character work. It felt like most characters old and new got the attention and depth that they deserved. Most of the supporting cast got proper moments where their personalities shined and was a welcoming reminder of what made them such enticing characters to read about to begin with.
A new character that I absolutely adored was Grima Mog. She was an extremely entertaining person to read about, whether her dialogue was subtle or loud, she always stole a glance in her scenes. It was also an interesting dynamic to have another Red Cap in the story that wasn't Madoc.
Speaking of, while I didn't really enjoy the time spent in the Court of Teeth(which I will get into later), I did enjoy the moments it gave Jude and Madoc. From their heartfelt conversation that Madoc thought he was having with Taryn, to him impaling Jude with his sword and asking Grima Mog to return his daughters, I absolutely loved the detailed attention he was given in the first half of the story.
Another character I want to make note of is Taryn, in the Wicked King she felt so much more distant then she did in the Cruel Prince, so I was glad to see that her familiar warmness came back in The Queen of Nothing. She felt characterized as the caring and nimble sister that we initially met, yet more matured then what she used to be. She no longer felt like an empty shell of the person we first knew her as. On that note I also loved the family dynamic between the siblings in this book more then either of the two before it. They always felt at odds with each other, even if they weren't necessarily. But here they truly did feel like they were supporting one another at all times. Vive and Taryn coming to Jude's rescue from Madoc was an amazing scene, and the first we we truly saw the sisters standing up together at odds with Madoc. Wonderful work with all of them.
Some other characters I want to talk about are our favorite spies in the shadows. Bomb, Roach, and Ghost. It was nice to see their open-ended stories come to a close and that they were given more time to show their personalities, and not just their skill set. It is a shame that the Roach was out of commission for most of the story, but I can look past that since he got the most page time in previous books. It was nice to see the Ghosts reasoning for his betrayal in The Wicked King and how scary it can be for someone to know your true name. Though I do wish that he was given a little more in the 2nd half of the book as he kind of just faded to the background after he was released from the orders Madoc gave him. We're told that he's watching over Taryn, though I am bit confused on his motivations there. Is he doing it because Taryn was married to Locke? Is he grateful to her for releasing him from Madocs orders? Has he developed feelings for her? That was just unclear to me.
Lastly in regards to characters I would like to talk about Jude and Cardan. As always I loved them and their moments together, and I think they really shined in the 2nd half of the book. Partly because Cardan had very little page time in the first half. We really got to see how far Cardan had come from The Cruel Prince where he was perceived as being a chaotic evil type of character, to being chaotic neutral in the Wicked King, to finishing as chaotic good in The Queen of Nothing. He retains his devilish nature that made the readers fall in love with him, while also giving him the substance fit for a good king. Jude in the first half was just kind of "meh" to me because her character wasn't really given anything new to work with the moment she was accidentally captured by Madoc. I thought it was really interesting to see her cope with being exiled to the human world and how she was essentially a bounty hunter picking up odd jobs. But after she was accidentally captured by Madoc, She felt like the same character she was in the last book. Things in the Court of Teeth only picked up for her when she was trying to rescue Ghost and escape Madoc. Luckily though she was done justice for the rest of the book. It was cute seeing her and Cardan trying to deal with their misunderstanding and fall into sync with each other. But what really made things interesting was her adjustment to being recognized as the High Queen, before and after Cardan transformed into a snake. The contrast between her trying to figure out how to allow herself to be treated, and being forced to take charge when Cardan wasn't around anymore was exhilarating. Without Cardan there, Jude was forced into a corner in the court. She had to either sink or swim, and watching her find the strength to swim and command the court in the wake of Madoc, the Court of Teeth, and the snake was by far the best part of this book. I also liked the punishments she gave in the epilogue, they felt just, interesting, and not a cop out from the author to have an all happy ending, especially for Madoc.
Now with the characters out of the way, lets get into the story. Im going to be straightforward with this, the 2nd half of this book saved it from being 3 stars. I wouldn't say I was exactly bored with the first half, but I found myself constantly wanting more and different then what we got. I would have loved to see Jude being stuck in the mortal world more and how she from there would interact with Faerie. I would have loved to have there be more page time of Jude disguised in Faerie in fear of being caught. I would have loved to have more focus on Jude and Cardan before she got taken by Madoc and the letter Cardan was sending her. I would have loved to have more page time of Jude, Cardan, and the Roach trying to navigate the Court of Teeth since we barley got anything with that. This is a similar issue that I had with The Wicked King, so many great plots in this book, but so many are half-baked in the first 150 pages. There was almost nothing really interesting that happened in the Court of Teeth, I understand why we were sent there for the sake of the plot the author had in mind, but I can't help but wish we were given something else throughout our time in this part of the story. Hell I probably would have preferred we not go to the Court of Teeth at all and focus on the other interesting plot elements that were set up beforehand. Because what we got in the first half was just not up to the standard I was expecting.
But as I said in my paragraph about Carden and Jude, everything was so much better once we got into the 2nd half. Cardan and Jude properly reuniting with proper attention was a breath of fresh air I desperately needed after feeling left unsatisfied after the Court of Teeth. Watching their dynamic together and with the rest of the kingdom as a united, ruling entity was extremely entertaining, and it was fun seeing those who were supportive and opposed to it from all different corners of the kingdom. I also liked the added touch to have Fand introduced as a gentle reminder to where Jude started at and what she wanted so long ago. Jude being the only high ruler left after Cardan was transformed into a snake was again a great experience to read about and watching her navigate her kingdom and her enemies was a sight to behold. Now with all the praise for Jude said, I also want to take a moment to appreciate Cardan. It never felt like we really lost his core personality despite how he's matured and a scene that amplifies that is in the speech he gave about how loyalty should be to the rulers and not the crown. To which he then destroys the crown and asks for loyalty from his previous subjects. Giving them the choice to truly chose him. While the entire prophecy was a little too much on those nose for my liking, and I would have liked some more subtly, I was still absolutely infatuated with how far Cardan had come in this scene. I will say though I would have appreciated a little more displays of emotion from Cardan once he and Jude were alone after he was freed. We got a little conversation about how he felt when he was a snake, but it wasn't as in-depth as I was hoping for and felt a little surface level. Which to be fair, Cardan has never been a very emotionally open character, so I suppose it makes sense. I just wish we got a little more of an emotional reunion.
(EDIT: This paragraph is why im coming back to my review and changed it's rating to 3 stars).
So in retrospective after letting my initial feelings for the book fade, an issue that I found myself thinking about was the lack of tension in the 2nd half of the book, specifically the climax. While I said earlier I loved how Jude developed in this latter half, I can't deny the fact that she was never pushed enough. Yes she struggled a little bit, but most issues she faced was resolved too quickly or she was somewhat spoon fed the solution. Unlike in the other books it didn't feel like she was pushed to her limits, that she was actually pushed into a corner. The closest we get to that is when she's stabbed by Madoc, which was a great, high tension scene. But it's at the half way mark of the book. We never see Jude pushed like that again. I never felt like there was any actual high stakes danger even if the plot said there was. This point is spoken even louder by the fact that Jude was easily able to slay the serpent, she feels a little hesitant at first, but that's quickly resolved and she just does it with relative ease. The entire second half is anti-climatic to what you would expect from the last book in a trilogy. At first I didn't mind it at all, but now that i'm no longer on the hype I felt from finishing a beloved trilogy, this big flaw became more and more abundent. I still love the series and I enjoy this book, but I felt it was appropriate to lower my rating.
With all that has been said and done, despite any critiques I gave this series, I have no regrets getting as emotionally invested in it as I did. This was a great gateway back into fantasy and I'm looking forward to Holly Blacks future projects.
At long last I have finished The Folk Of the Air trilogy. Just as the other 2 books I had high expectations for the finale, and for the most part those expectations were met.
Something The Queen of Nothing did great with that it's predecessor, The Wicked King, lacked was character work. It felt like most characters old and new got the attention and depth that they deserved. Most of the supporting cast got proper moments where their personalities shined and was a welcoming reminder of what made them such enticing characters to read about to begin with.
A new character that I absolutely adored was Grima Mog. She was an extremely entertaining person to read about, whether her dialogue was subtle or loud, she always stole a glance in her scenes. It was also an interesting dynamic to have another Red Cap in the story that wasn't Madoc.
Speaking of, while I didn't really enjoy the time spent in the Court of Teeth(which I will get into later), I did enjoy the moments it gave Jude and Madoc. From their heartfelt conversation that Madoc thought he was having with Taryn, to him impaling Jude with his sword and asking Grima Mog to return his daughters, I absolutely loved the detailed attention he was given in the first half of the story.
Another character I want to make note of is Taryn, in the Wicked King she felt so much more distant then she did in the Cruel Prince, so I was glad to see that her familiar warmness came back in The Queen of Nothing. She felt characterized as the caring and nimble sister that we initially met, yet more matured then what she used to be. She no longer felt like an empty shell of the person we first knew her as. On that note I also loved the family dynamic between the siblings in this book more then either of the two before it. They always felt at odds with each other, even if they weren't necessarily. But here they truly did feel like they were supporting one another at all times. Vive and Taryn coming to Jude's rescue from Madoc was an amazing scene, and the first we we truly saw the sisters standing up together at odds with Madoc. Wonderful work with all of them.
Some other characters I want to talk about are our favorite spies in the shadows. Bomb, Roach, and Ghost. It was nice to see their open-ended stories come to a close and that they were given more time to show their personalities, and not just their skill set. It is a shame that the Roach was out of commission for most of the story, but I can look past that since he got the most page time in previous books. It was nice to see the Ghosts reasoning for his betrayal in The Wicked King and how scary it can be for someone to know your true name. Though I do wish that he was given a little more in the 2nd half of the book as he kind of just faded to the background after he was released from the orders Madoc gave him. We're told that he's watching over Taryn, though I am bit confused on his motivations there. Is he doing it because Taryn was married to Locke? Is he grateful to her for releasing him from Madocs orders? Has he developed feelings for her? That was just unclear to me.
Lastly in regards to characters I would like to talk about Jude and Cardan. As always I loved them and their moments together, and I think they really shined in the 2nd half of the book. Partly because Cardan had very little page time in the first half. We really got to see how far Cardan had come from The Cruel Prince where he was perceived as being a chaotic evil type of character, to being chaotic neutral in the Wicked King, to finishing as chaotic good in The Queen of Nothing. He retains his devilish nature that made the readers fall in love with him, while also giving him the substance fit for a good king. Jude in the first half was just kind of "meh" to me because her character wasn't really given anything new to work with the moment she was accidentally captured by Madoc. I thought it was really interesting to see her cope with being exiled to the human world and how she was essentially a bounty hunter picking up odd jobs. But after she was accidentally captured by Madoc, She felt like the same character she was in the last book. Things in the Court of Teeth only picked up for her when she was trying to rescue Ghost and escape Madoc. Luckily though she was done justice for the rest of the book. It was cute seeing her and Cardan trying to deal with their misunderstanding and fall into sync with each other. But what really made things interesting was her adjustment to being recognized as the High Queen, before and after Cardan transformed into a snake. The contrast between her trying to figure out how to allow herself to be treated, and being forced to take charge when Cardan wasn't around anymore was exhilarating. Without Cardan there, Jude was forced into a corner in the court. She had to either sink or swim, and watching her find the strength to swim and command the court in the wake of Madoc, the Court of Teeth, and the snake was by far the best part of this book. I also liked the punishments she gave in the epilogue, they felt just, interesting, and not a cop out from the author to have an all happy ending, especially for Madoc.
Now with the characters out of the way, lets get into the story. Im going to be straightforward with this, the 2nd half of this book saved it from being 3 stars. I wouldn't say I was exactly bored with the first half, but I found myself constantly wanting more and different then what we got. I would have loved to see Jude being stuck in the mortal world more and how she from there would interact with Faerie. I would have loved to have there be more page time of Jude disguised in Faerie in fear of being caught. I would have loved to have more focus on Jude and Cardan before she got taken by Madoc and the letter Cardan was sending her. I would have loved to have more page time of Jude, Cardan, and the Roach trying to navigate the Court of Teeth since we barley got anything with that. This is a similar issue that I had with The Wicked King, so many great plots in this book, but so many are half-baked in the first 150 pages. There was almost nothing really interesting that happened in the Court of Teeth, I understand why we were sent there for the sake of the plot the author had in mind, but I can't help but wish we were given something else throughout our time in this part of the story. Hell I probably would have preferred we not go to the Court of Teeth at all and focus on the other interesting plot elements that were set up beforehand. Because what we got in the first half was just not up to the standard I was expecting.
But as I said in my paragraph about Carden and Jude, everything was so much better once we got into the 2nd half. Cardan and Jude properly reuniting with proper attention was a breath of fresh air I desperately needed after feeling left unsatisfied after the Court of Teeth. Watching their dynamic together and with the rest of the kingdom as a united, ruling entity was extremely entertaining, and it was fun seeing those who were supportive and opposed to it from all different corners of the kingdom. I also liked the added touch to have Fand introduced as a gentle reminder to where Jude started at and what she wanted so long ago. Jude being the only high ruler left after Cardan was transformed into a snake was again a great experience to read about and watching her navigate her kingdom and her enemies was a sight to behold. Now with all the praise for Jude said, I also want to take a moment to appreciate Cardan. It never felt like we really lost his core personality despite how he's matured and a scene that amplifies that is in the speech he gave about how loyalty should be to the rulers and not the crown. To which he then destroys the crown and asks for loyalty from his previous subjects. Giving them the choice to truly chose him. While the entire prophecy was a little too much on those nose for my liking, and I would have liked some more subtly, I was still absolutely infatuated with how far Cardan had come in this scene. I will say though I would have appreciated a little more displays of emotion from Cardan once he and Jude were alone after he was freed. We got a little conversation about how he felt when he was a snake, but it wasn't as in-depth as I was hoping for and felt a little surface level. Which to be fair, Cardan has never been a very emotionally open character, so I suppose it makes sense. I just wish we got a little more of an emotional reunion.
(EDIT: This paragraph is why im coming back to my review and changed it's rating to 3 stars).
So in retrospective after letting my initial feelings for the book fade, an issue that I found myself thinking about was the lack of tension in the 2nd half of the book, specifically the climax. While I said earlier I loved how Jude developed in this latter half, I can't deny the fact that she was never pushed enough. Yes she struggled a little bit, but most issues she faced was resolved too quickly or she was somewhat spoon fed the solution. Unlike in the other books it didn't feel like she was pushed to her limits, that she was actually pushed into a corner. The closest we get to that is when she's stabbed by Madoc, which was a great, high tension scene. But it's at the half way mark of the book. We never see Jude pushed like that again. I never felt like there was any actual high stakes danger even if the plot said there was. This point is spoken even louder by the fact that Jude was easily able to slay the serpent, she feels a little hesitant at first, but that's quickly resolved and she just does it with relative ease. The entire second half is anti-climatic to what you would expect from the last book in a trilogy. At first I didn't mind it at all, but now that i'm no longer on the hype I felt from finishing a beloved trilogy, this big flaw became more and more abundent. I still love the series and I enjoy this book, but I felt it was appropriate to lower my rating.
With all that has been said and done, despite any critiques I gave this series, I have no regrets getting as emotionally invested in it as I did. This was a great gateway back into fantasy and I'm looking forward to Holly Blacks future projects.