How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black and illustrated by Rovina Cai

Summary from Goodreads:

An illustrated addition to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince, from award-winning author Holly Black.

An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.

Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone . #1 New York Times bestselling author, Holly Black reveals a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan. This tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.

This new installment in the Folk of the Air series is a return to the heart-racing romance, danger, humor, and drama that enchanted readers everywhere. Each chapter is paired with lavish and luminous full-color art, making this the perfect collector’s item to be enjoyed by both new audiences and old.

Review:

As I mentioned on Goodreads, this is a stunning book! I read a library book, but now I am itching to buy my own copy. It’s just so beautiful. It’s fairy tales for adults, pictures and darkness and all. I guess adding to what makes this so special for me is that I had no idea it was coming! It was a special bonus treat that came across my Instagram one day.

I wasn’t expecting so many pictures. I keep opening the book up to look at them some more. I wish I could draw and illustrate like this. They bring a whole other level of magic to this story.

It’s a book of connected short stories all about Cardan, from The Folk of the Air trilogy. I loved getting glimpses of his childhood. It was interesting to see his first thoughts about Jude and watch him reading books. I loved how the book of stories revolved around the telling of stories. Everything felt so classically fairy tale, but also so classically Holly Black. She has this dark twistiness about everything she writes.

I wouldn’t recommend read this without reading the original trilogy first. I just don’t think it would make much sense to you if you don’t already know the characters, and care about them. When you read as many books as I do, you always have this fear that you’ll forget the story where it left off or you won’t remember the characters well. This is not the case here. Cardan is impossible to forget. He is so memorable in fact, I doubt I’ll ever be able to entirely get him out of my head –especially now that I have these beautiful images to go along with the words.

This book was a surprise treat I didn’t know I wanted. I’m so glad I read this. I just wish it was longer. It ended too soon. I give it a 10/10.