The Queen of Nothing

The Folk of the Air, Book 3

By: Holly Black

Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly

Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

A powerful curse forces the exiled Queen of Faerie to choose between ambition and humanity in this highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to the Folk of the Air trilogy from a number one New York Times best-selling author.

He will be the 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 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....

©2019 Holly Black (P)2019 Little, Brown Young Readers

Always a sad feeling when it all Ends

What a book. Never catching your breath just like jude. I never loved a series so wicked so cruel. What a masterpiece.

I wanted to love it...

The narration was great but the story lacked it's usual luster from the previous books. I wanted to love this ending but it really did fall flat for me.

absolutely amazing

I love this book. it had everything I wanted! I wished it would never end

The end of Trilogy?

To start with my feelings on the ending, I felt it was tied up very nicely. A sweet happy ending, but still leaves a few open endings. I would have enjoyed one last scene between Jude and Cardan, but maybe we will get another book?

My biggest issue with this book is how obtuse Jude is in the beginning. I came to believe I was mistaken about the loop hole I saw in Cardan proclamation because she was so adamant about her exile. In reality, she was really that busy licking her self inflicted wounds to see it, which felt very unlike her to me.

I do also wish overall there had been a few more scenes with Jude and Cardan alone, but I suppose that was the point of the story.

SO good I wish I could start again... anew

Oh heck yeah!!!!

The One. The Only. Mrs. Holly Black. Has done it. AGAIN!! This isn't a drill! This powerhouse of a writer has consistently wowed me and I never tire of her voice. I don't know why I worry where these stories are going when they're in her exceedingly capable hands. This final installment in The Folk Of The Air series is everything I was hoping for, and even what I secretly wished for, in the wee hours, pleading to whichever deity would listen, asking for a satisfying ending AND did it work?? Again, HECK YEAH!!


Holly Black is a master wordsmith and it shows. She has a deliciously talented mind that has yet to disappoint. This book has it all!! It has courtly intrigue, war, betrayal, Love, hate, deviousness, devotion, selfishness and salvation, filial drama and siblings working together as one cohesive unit of badassery!... and really, what more can you ask for?? I don't want to ruin a single moment so I'll leave things as vague as I can but I must gush where gushing is due. Here's a brief, fanatical, rundown of the goods.

There is, of course, Jude Duarte who is an ultra kick ass heroine with major Daddy issues. If I could be any literary female character, she'd be in the top 3, maybe even #1... She is clever. She is devious. She is strong even when she doesn't believe herself to be and especially when others underestimate her fortitude. She is loyal. She is as fair as a human living in Faerie, cavorting with the Fair Folk can be. She is merciful(ish). She is Oh SO Human and a slew of other powerful adjectives. BUT most notably, in The Queen of Nothing, we see a new side of her, she is vulnerable in an incredibly realistic way. She does Vulnerable with a healthy serving of doubt, a dollop of self consciousness and all sorts of reticence and sublimation. I at once feel for her and want to be her. She is the backbone of this amazing tale and an inspiration for girls everywhere!


Naturally, afterJude we should mention, in the same breath, with the same reverence, King Cardan. Cardan who almost shares the spotlight equally with Jude AND who, in my (double heart eyes) opinion deserves to be given as many accolades as the girl/woman/queen of the hour. Cardan who I can't EVER get enough of even if I had a slow flowing IV drip of him inserted directly into my body, rationing out portions of him so I may enjoy his company longer (in a non-creeper way of course)... I would ask for it to be opened up to full throttle... I need MORE MORE MORE of him (again not in a creepy stalkerish way) especially QoN Cardan!! The Cardan we get in this hyper vivid finale exhibits many of the same qualities as Jude plus he can even be a (not so) little monster to deal with. Both he and Jude prove that wishing on the literary stars, hoping and praying with fingers crossed for perfectly concluded character arcs is not completely futile.


Now, speaking of futile, you'd naturally go straight to Taryn, Jude's morally questionable twin. In this book Taryn manages to crawl out of the Shitter, take her name off the Shit List and redeem herself. She elevates herself to proper sister material worthy of the freakishly amazing affection of her siblings. She now IS the shit BUT this review is taking a turn so enough shit talk for now.

Back to the book's ethereality...

Holly Black can frame a scene almost like no other. You'll believe yourself transported, living inside the story instead of watching it from on high. The World building is beautific but the Character Development is phenomenal. This cast is diverse and robust and fully tangible in all their flawed/awesome/majestic/magical glory. The writing style is typical Holly Black and by that I mean it's sublime. The Audible narrator was Caitlin Kelly who happens to breathe life into each and every character so completely that I no longer found myself passively listening while doing my chores. Instead I was in among the action or like a movie was being performed in my mind. Caitlin plays each character so distinctly and with such conviction, I could actually see the person's lips moving in my mind and the action was palpable. She is the perfect accompaniment to Mrs. Holly's brilliance. All of these factors put together create an overall experience that is intoxicating. At once I both craved for things to speed up so I can find out what's next and concurrently needed things to slow down so I could savour every moment. The epilogue was longer than most and Oh SO Good! I have been feeling rather blasé about books relating to the Fae this last year or so but Mrs. Black can (and did) make a converted zealot out of even the grouchiest of cynics.... aka Me.

Overall:

Here I am, the sole family member awake, in my eerily quiescent home, begging for just a little more time in this world... with these characters... with this author. This foray into the land and lives of the Fair Folk was enjoyable on a catastrophic level. I have been demolished (in an amazing way). I wish I could start this book over, with fresh eyes, and experience it anew as if it were my very first time. I envy you, sitting there perusing these reviews, debating on whether or not you should devote your time and emotions to this book. I envy your naiveté, your purity, your newness but most importantly I envy your innocence!! If you've read the first two books and are on the fence with regards to this last paragon then what are you waiting for?? You NEED this (audio)book in your life toot sweet! If you just tripped and blundered your way onto this scene by happenstance then you really need to read both proceeding books... you'll be lost in the sauce without them. Let me (hopefully) be the first to skip the slow clap and jump right into the rapid-fire hand slapping of utterly devoted fandom... it deserves... nay, it DEMANDS it and rightfully so! I'm in love! You will be too, I'm certain of it! Join me! You'll thank me later!!

End rampant exclamation mark usage!

~ Enjoy

Amazing Ending to this Trilogy

I'm so sad this trilogy is over. The book was amazing. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. So many thing happened. I loved the whole thing! I will miss the characters. The narrator was perfect! I would listen to something else done by this narrator. I love Holly Black. She did not disappoint!

It feels off

This is not a good final book to end what was an amazing trilogy I was really disappointed. None of the characters felt real or like they were in previous books. It was way too short and it felt like the author skipped over important moments. I was really disappointed cause I loved the first and second book so much.

Didn't have the closure of a finale

I really loved this series, and I really expected another book to follow! I looked it up and it said this was the last one, which I found rather surprising as it has a lot of loose ends and I don't really feel satisfied. I mean, I usually am not when a series I love ends, but this was different. Also the reader didn't do as great of a job with this book as she did the others. Like a lot of scenes were read in the wrong tone/voice and it was super obvious. She read most of the scenes as tense/fast paced even when they were not and it came across as a little 1 note. Not her best, but I still love the voices she makes.

Great Trilogy

The Cruel Prince, in my opinion, starts out slow. However once invested in the characters you crave to know what happens next. The trilogy keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the Queen of Nothing has you holding your breath.

Anticlimactic Ending

This was a bit of an anticlimactic end to the series. Many of the main players seemed to act out of character and their thoughts and actions didn't fully make sense.

** Spoilers **
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There was so much build up throughout the series for a no holds barred showdown between Jude and Madoc and it just ended up fizzling out. I find it incredibly hard to believe that this war hardened ruthless general could not best Jude (who has trained for all of 5 minutes) in combat or see through her deception. What was even more unbelievable was his reaction at the end. Some of his soldiers refused to back down/repent for what they did, and yet Madoc just threw in the towel when all the dust settled. The biggest disappointment though, was the off page death of Locke. I honestly thought it was a joke and couldn't believe that after all of his double crossing and sh*t stirring, Holly Black wouldn't give readers the satisfaction of seeing Locke's downfall.

I still don't fully feel the love between Cardan and Jude, but I liked that more time was spent on their romance and with them being vulnerable in this book (though I would have loved to see more of Cardan on the page). They certainly have physical chemistry and I didn't mind the slow burn build up of trust and care between them. I'm just not sure that translates into eternal love. Speaking of eternity, Jude is still mortal and I was surprised that this as well as how long her and Cardan would rule (isn't Oak still supposed to rule one day?) weren't addressed. The epilogue felt a tad too cheezy and happy for such an overall dark series (remember that grisly opening scene?), but perhaps that was the point.
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** End Spoilers **

Caitlyn Kelly has been wonderful throughout this series and I'm so glad she was able to narrate all of the books. Overall this was an entertaining series with intriguing characters, but I neither loved nor hated it.

Audiobook Review
Overall 3.5 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 2.5 stars