He will be destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity…

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, comes the highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy.

To say that this was my most anticipated release of the year would be an enormous understatement. It has been ages since I have been so utterly entranced with a series as with this trilogy from Holly Black. I was particularly excited after the fact three other series I adored had very subpar conclusions release this year. So, needless to say, all of my faith and hope for the future of YA lay on Queen of Nothing being steller.

Which, obviously, it was.

I will say, Queen of Nothing simultaneously had the simplest plotline (with the easiest fixes) and some of the most enormous character development in the series. While the previous books in the trilogy focused on the characters developing through the plot that was happening, this novel seemed much more focused on the characters themselves, the ways they reacted to things, etc., and the”story” was just happening around them. And, it totally worked. Because we had so much plot context and understanding of the world, it flowed very naturally for the plot to shift more to the characters.

Jude and her issues with Madoc were resolved through the plot, as well as some of the dynamic issues we saw between her, Taryn, and Locke. Vivi has some huge character development, and I loved all of her “Wow, I thought something actually serious happened” dialogue throughout the fae court. She really brought us all back to reality and reminded the readers that, however, glorified Jude paints the fae, they are really just glittery humans. Don’t even get me started on Jude and Cardan. Although I believed that Black was going to end their relationship the way she did, she painted the most beautiful progression through their growth, separation, and the development of the plot. The simplicity of the conflict and lack of building really left the readers with a connection and immersion in the lives of the characters that I have seen in few other books.

Seriously. I am overwhelmed.

Don’t get me wrong, Queen of Nothing was intense. I read it in one sitting and found myself needing to close the book more than once because just. TOO MUCH. However, it was the ending that the series most definitely deserved. Everything was tied up beautifully, the gorgeous, immersive universe that Black created was just as vivid as ever, and we got to really grow and learn with the characters as they came into their own, especially Jude.

I left this book feeling emotional, fulfilled, and just downright sad. This world is a fantastic one, and Black’s talent and storytelling is one that doesn’t come around often. To say that Cardan and his tale have wormed their way into my heart would be a gross understatement.

In fact, it is my beloved drunk mess of a prince who said it best:

“By you, I am forever undone.”

5/5.

Maddie