The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Review:

As I mentioned on Goodreads, this is the kind of book and the kind of series I already want to reread all over again. I wish I owned this one, instead of getting it from library. I might have to go buy it. Holly Black is a master. I literally spent my first half of my day off in bed, reading this in one sitting. I didn’t even get up for bathroom or snack breaks!

I was nervous I’d have trouble remembering the previous book, but as soon as I started the first page, I got sucked right back into the story. I just love Jude so much. I love how flawed she is. She is so stubborn, but so strong. I love that she just has to know about things back at the court and because of this she gets roped into a fight she doesn’t expect to win. I love that she knows what her flaws are, but it doesn’t stop her.

There was so much I was hoping for in this installment. My inner optimist wanted all the love to happen, but was terrified there was no way all the love I wanted possibly could. And as the ending was getting closer and closer, and it seemed that I was guessing the darkest of all endings was drawing nearer, I almost put the book down, dreading what was to come. But, I’m glad I kept going in one full swoop. Holly Black is just a master at what she does. She gets the darkness, but also the magic and the romance of fairytales in a way no other author does. She makes me both terrified and also entranced and in need of going to this dark, terrible place as much Jude needs to.

I also have come to love Jude’s unique, and growing family of misfits. I love her sister in the mortal world (and her girlfriend). I love her little brother (and heir). I love her twin even though she’s betrayed her in book’s past. I love her spy friends. And I love the weird fairy creatures she befriends and brings to her cause with her strange sense of strength and justice. Jude is just a force. Watching her become the character she finishes the book as, is just a treat. And like I said, I kind of want to go back to the beginning and start afresh. That’s how much I got into this. Oh, and Cardan! He’s grown so much too! It was nice to see some of his character growth as well.

This book is loaded with plot twists, surprise magical moments, romance, family drama, battles, political war, and random moments of humor. I literally was gasping in shock one moment, sobbing tears the next, biting my nails a few second later, and leaping with joy a few seconds after that. You feel all the feels in this one. I loved the end. It felt like a great, dark fairytale ending. These books would make amazing movies. Just saying. I can’t wait to see what Holly Black does next. I give this a 10/10.