A Captivating, Mesmerizing, Jewel of a Book: Review of The Folk of the Air Trilogy

The Folk of The Air series by Holly Black is breathtaking, enchanting, and dangerous. There are a total of five books based in the same world, and it all begins with The Folk of The Air Trilogy. We dive into the world of faerie, betrayal, lies, and hardships with the first book, The Cruel Prince, narrated by Jude Duarte. In the prologue, we learn that Jude has two sisters, her twin, Taryn, and her half-sister, Vivienne (better known as Vivi). Vivi’s father, Madoc (the Grand General of the High King), comes to the mortal realm and murders both their parents, forcing the children to pack up and move with him to Elfhame, the faerie land.

Black portrays from the start that Jude is cleaver, cunning, efficient, and hardworking, making her exactly the type of female lead I would want to read about.

The three sisters grow up in Elfhame and soon become accustomed to the lands. Jude and Taryn attend school with faeries including Prince Cardan and his inner circle, who all take pleasure in tormenting the twins. Despite the cruelty, Jude has always strived to make the choices that would best benefit her twin. The sibling love in this book is another one of my favorite tropes, amongst the slow-burn, enemies to lovers, and the strong female lead. Although the sisters were raised there, Jude and Taryn are mortals, meaning they have no power nor status and are treated like dirt. This is why Jude jumps at the opportunity to enter the Summer Tournament, (which presents Folk with a chance to demonstrate their combat skills through swordsmanship, archery, and hand-to-hand combat,) with hopes that one of the princesses or princes will grant her knighthood so she will finally gain a form of power.

After the Summer Tournament, Prince Dain visits Madoc’s Stronghold and proposes that Jude join his Court of Shadows as a spy. In exchange, Prince Dain puts an enchantment on her that prevents her from being glamoured or enchanted by all faeries, except him. Jude’s decisions and her thought processes depict her personality perfectly. Jude’s point of view is quite unique and as a human in faerie lands, she’ll grasp onto any chance of attaining power, justifying her decision to becoming Dain’s spy.

If I cannot become better than them, I will become so much worse.

Soon enough, Jude receives her first mission: to pose as a servant and sneak into Prince Balekin’s stronghold, Hollow Hall, and bring back evidence of treason. During her search, Jude stumbles upon Cardan’s room and witness an interaction with him and Balekin. She finds out that he’s being physically and verbally abused by his eldest brother. Jude learns that Cardan is deemed weak by Balekin, and he is ignored as the sixth in line to the throne. It was honestly exhilarating how the author could portray Cardan as an arrogant, entitled prince, but at the same time write him in a way that attracts readers to him by both his looks, how he acts, and his demeanor.

This book was filled with plot twists and constantly kept me wanting more. The last half of the book contained the majority of the action, and I loved how Jude’s threats scared Cardan. The fact that she deceived him proved that she is clever and holds possession of both skill and power. 

In The Wicked King (the second book), Jude has bargained herself one day and one year of Cardan’s service. Court politics are consuming her, and she must keep her control over Cardan a secret. In this book, the two share intimate moments, and they can barely deny the attraction they feel towards each other, so they mask it with hate. The romance wasn’t the focus of this series, but the aspect of it was a brilliant addition to the overall plot. This series began with a yearning to gain power, and Jude does end up accumulating a whole lot of it, morphing the second book into a desperation to keep hold of it. Jude gains more enemies from every side, and her struggles become more evident, as her enemies are just waiting for one slip up to sink their claws into her power and wrench it away. 

Together with the main plot, there are also many subplots occurring, for example, Vivi’s relationship with Heather, a mortal girl. Their relationship is complicated, and the mortal/faerie relationship doesn’t sit with me. I don’t think Vivi deserved Heather and the fact that Vivi has the ability to enchant Heather whenever she sees fit is even more unsettling, seeing as she has already done so. What’s stopping her from doing it again?

This book also dives further into Madoc and Jude’s complicated and intriguing father/daughter relationship. Madoc admits to have underestimated his daughter, and uses different methods to try and recruit her, but Jude knows that she’ll never be considered he’s equal and will never work with him.

Finally, the last book, The Queen of Nothing, has many mixed reviews, and upon finishing it, I can agree with some of them.

Starting with the cons, my main concern was that this novel was too short. The mere 300 pages resulted in a rushed plot and extra details/characters that weren’t necessary. For example, Cardan’s mother, Lady Asha who had abandoned him and was now in jail, was used for delivering a message and explaining a prophecy, but someone else could’ve delivered the message.

Cardan barely had any page time because he broke the golden crown and was turned into giant snake for the majority of the book, which turned out to be the main event. There was barely any buildup to that final twist and this book lacked the exciting anticipation that can be seen in TCP and especially TWK. 

I think Jude was softer in this book, given how quickly she forgave Taryn for her betrayal, but not weak. Jude controlled the court expertly and made the decisions that resulted in Cardan being turned back into a faerie at the end of the book.

Now, my favorite parts of this book include two side characters, Oak and Grima Mog. Oak is Jude’s foster brother, and was honestly adorable, and his sassiness reminded me of a mini-Cardan. Grima Mog was hilarious and reminded me of a rich, single aunt, blended with a caring, but strict grandma. I loved how Jude and Cardan’s bickering finally led to the two of them confessing their feelings and their process of learning to trust each other was realistic and relatable.

Despite Cardan’s cruelty in the first book, his character development was wonderful, fascinating, and satisfactory, going from arrogant, entitled and spoiled to a softer side: honest and caring.

Holly Black spun a world that had me lost in it for hours. I read the whole series in less than 48 hours, and it left me staring at the wall, the characters imprinted in my mind. Although the last book was shorter, it presented me with a satisfying ending. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves fantasy, betrayal, and plot-twists at every turn. Enter a spellbinding, dangerous, and magical world starting with The Cruel Prince.