Book Review: ‘The Queen Of Nothing’ By Holly Black

Review by Lauryn Angel

Holly Black’s The Wicked King (released January 2019) ended on one heck of a cliffhanger, leaving fans like myself clamoring for the final book in the Folk of the Air trilogy. The book was originally slated for publication in January 2020, a mere year after the second book, but we lucky fans got our finale a good two months early. I, for one, was extremely eager to find out what was next for Jude, Vivi, Taryn and Oak in the mortal realm, and what exactly Cardan and Madoc were up to in the faerie realm.

When I finally got my hands on a copy of The Queen of Nothing, I have to confess that I was a little disappointed to discover that it’s the slimmest volume in the trilogy: I was hoping for a book that would rival a doorstop. But I dove in, greedily, and the book was over all too soon for my taste.

Jude Delacorte, Queen of Elfhame, has been exiled to the mortal word by none other than her husband, the reluctant King Cardan. Although unhappy with her situation, Jude makes the best of her situation, using her now free time to train her little brother, Oak, who will someday have to return to faerie to take the throne. When her twin sister Taryn arrives with the news that she has committed a crime, Jude risks her own life to return to Elfhame in disguise, to save her sister’s life. It doesn’t take long before Jude is hip-deep in intrigue once again, but due to her absence, she no longer knows where she stands or who to trust.

There are twists and turns in the plot that kept me flipping pages, and at the end, I was content with how things unfolded. But I can’t help thinking that there was more to the story, that the book was wrapped up a little too quickly. I felt like there was more to tell, and perhaps, one day, Holly Black, the true queen of Faerie, will give us another story set in this world. Perhaps the quest Vivi agreed to undertake? I’ve got my fingers crossed.