The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black had been on my TBR list for ages when I finally started to read it during the summer. It’s one of those cases where you close your book and wonder “what is wrong with me that I waited for so long to dive into this”. As of the start, these characters dug their claws into my heart and held on long after the end of the final book.

Attention: I will be reviewing all books in this series in this post, but everything except the first book will be hidden so that you do not read any spoilers unless you want to.

Book 1: The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince

When she was a little girl, Jude saw how her parents were murdered by a Faerie who turned out to be the biological father of her older sister. Whisked away to the Faerie realm, Jude and her sisters need to learn how to navigate the dangerous world of the Faerie court. You might be tempted to trust those who cannot lie, but Jude learns quite early on that telling the truth and being honest are two totally different things. Now seventeen, Jude is desperate to belong to this magical world, even though she knows she will never truly fit in. Especially not if Prince Cardan has any say in the matter. Devastatingly handsome and even more wicked, Cardan is set on showing Jude exactly why she doesn’t belong in his world.

The perfect story

This book really has everything I love. A magical world filled with wicked and witty characters, a dangerous prince, spies, assassins, and courtly politics. I’ve often heard people complain that this series is not a love story. I will never understand that. It’s often said that “romance is only a subplot” but honestly, the tension and passion can be felt in every sentence. The whole story feels like a chess game, played by two very tactical and desperate players, every move resonating with their complex emotions.

I’m also not quite sure why people tend to agree with Cardans nickname as “the cruel prince”. Honestly, if I would label one of them as cruel, it would be Jude most of the time. He’s certainly wicked but I’m not convinced that it is not Jude who is cold to the bone instead.

The beginning of the story surprised me a little. I got strong Peter Pan vibes from the first chapter and then suddenly, things escalated rather quickly. Just take a look at the last sentence of chapter 0, chapter 1, and the first sentence of chapter 2. You’ll see what I mean 😉

I loved this story so much that I immediately bought all versions I could find. Oops? My favourite is either the second Fairyloot version (my perfect boyfriend bought the set as our anniversary gift <3 <3) or the Dutch Limited edition version with the lovely pictures. I have to say though, even the normal paperback is very pretty. There are lovely fairytale-like drawings and poems in it that really help to transport the reader into this magical world.

It will not surprise you that I gave this first book 5 out of 5 gemstones:

Book 1.5: The Lost Sisters

Summary & Evaluation (click here)

Jude’s twin sister Taryn makes a couple of decisions in book 1 that can be considered quite un-sisterlike to say the least. In this accompanying eNovella, Holly Black gives Taryn the chance to voice her side of the story. It turns out, things are not as black and white as they might appear.

Interesting extra information, but not crucial
While this story does help to get Taryn’s point of view, I have to admit I didn’t really care for it. Honestly, I’m not that fond of Jude but Taryn is worse and she did not manage to convince me otherwise with her explanation. Would I recommend it? Sure, if you are just as crazy as me about this world. Do I think it’s crucial to understand book 2? Not at all.

I gave this one the lowest score in the series, only 2 gemstones out of 5.

Book 2: The Wicked King

Summary & Evaluation (click here)

At the end of book 1, Jude manages not only to trick Cardan into becoming the new king, she also binds him to her for a year and a day. As the new seneschal, she’ll have to acquire the skills and power to protect herself, her family, and Faerie as a whole. But the deadline is nearing and a traitor schemes against her. To make everything even more complicated, it becomes increasingly difficult to deny her feelings for her old enemy.

A strong sequel
I loved this second part of the series as much – if not more – as I did the first. Cardan’s character development is fascinating (still not convinced by Jude though), the story is adventurous, and the romantic tension is beautifully written. I was blown away by the final chapters, but I’ll let you discover that for yourself.

Highly recommended: 5 gemstones out of 5.

Book 3: The Queen of Nothing

Summary & Evaluation (click here)

Crowned Queen of Faerie and exiled almost in the same breath, Jude finds herself lost in the mortal world. Doing some odd Faerie jobs here and there, she cannot wait to return to her kingdom and confront Cardan with his betrayal. Out of the blue, Taryn shows up asking a favour. Although the events of the previous books have left a serious strain on their relationship, Jude is not going to pass up her one chance to return home. But the land is not as she left it: a dark curse threatens to upset the very roots of the world she loves so much.

A worthwhile finale
I was not at all sure how this book would end, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The character arcs continue to be developed nicely and while Jude’s actions remain absurd half of the time, I loved their relationship intensely. Please write more, Holly Black?
PS: Cardan’s letters are included in the Barnes & Noble edition. They are definitely worth it!
An amazing end: 5 gemstones out of 5.

Book 3.5: How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Summary & Evaluation (click here)

This story takes place after the end of the final book, although most of it are flashbacks to Cardan’s childhood and youth. It’s the only time we get to hear his part of the story and honestly, I LOVED it. The illustrations are wonderful and the whole story feels like a fairytale. As the title already suggests, the novella describes a chain of events that explains why Cardan isn’t too fond of stories later on in life. Although this story is not a part of the trilogy, I would definitely highly recommend it to those who would like to fully understand the series. PS: There are so many pretty versions of this novella! They really do look amazing put together. You have the normal white one, the black Barnes & Noble Exclusive edition or the Waterstones Exclusive edition, the purple Fairyloot edition, and the green Owlcrate edition. A cute little story for those who are not ready to let these characters go: 4 gemstones out of 5.

Age Category: Young adults, but also suitable for an older audience.

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Very mild. Warnings for bullying, parental death, humiliation & child abuse

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores. If you decide to buy it via one of the following links, I will receive a small percentage at no extra charge for you!

Amazon.nl: English Paperback Edition of The Cruel Prince

Amazon.nl: English eBook Edition of The Lost Sisters

Amazon.nl: English Paperback Edition of the trilogy

Amazon.nl: English Hardcover Edition of How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Would you like to read and discuss the first book with your book club or class? Then you are in luck! The publisher has created a book club guide that can be downloaded for free here.

Or would you prefer to first listen to an excerpt before purchasing The Cruel Prince? That’s possible too! Click here. (audio file provided by the publisher).

Special Editions

Thanks to this series’ extreme (and well-deserved) popularity, several companies have made special editions. Careful though, many of these tend to be quite costly on the second-hand market!

Let’s start with Fairyloot, which has created several special editions of this series throughout the years. Back in January 2018, they included a normal hardcover of book 1 (with bookplate) in their Young Adult book box. Later on in 2020, they published special editions of all four books. Book 1, 2 and 3,5 were sold separately, while book 3 was sold as part of a Special Edition Box with goodies (The trilogy was also sold as a set at one point in time). These editions all have exclusive covers with foil, stenciled sprayed edges, ribbon bookmarks, and the set came with two signed bookplates. Most recently (announced in 2024, delivered in 2025), Fairyloot has created Iron Editions for the entire series, which are simply stunning. They feature exclusive covers, art on the endpapers, a full-colour design on the hardcovers, gilded edges, digitally sprayed edges, and came with a beautiful set of 12 overlays. While this set could be pre-ordered for about € 125, you will have to count on prices between € 300 and € 500 if you want to buy them second-hand.

Next, Illumicrate, also created some beautiful – and very hard to find – editions. They published book 1 as part of their Illumicrate Collections range in 2019. This editions is an exclusive naked hardback with sprayed edges and a signed bookplate, and came with several matching items (including, among other things, dust jackets for the entire series and a set of 6 bookmarks). In 2020, they released a set of book 2 and 3. Although I have been looking for this last set for years, I have not been able to find them at a reasonable price. You can expect to pay € 100 – € 200 per book.

Another marvellous set was created by Litjoy, which has an officially licensed The Cruel Prince Collection, consisting of products (e.g. bookshelf alley, mug, socks, pin) and special editions in a box set. This box set contains all four books, which have new covers, tip-in art pages (only in the three main novels), handwritten annotations by the author, digital signatures, and gilded edges. Furthermore, the novella has bonus content, all the books are printed on acid-free paper, and the slipcase is fully illustrated. As you can imagine, this set is very, VERY expensive to buy second-hand.

Like Fairyloot, Owlcrate included the first book in one of their subscription boxes back in 2018. They also subsequently published the other books in the series in what they call “the exclusive Owlcrate edition”. As far as I can tell, this means that they have exclusive covers, but I am not aware of any other customisations (except for the part that they are all signed). They are more reasonably priced on the second-hand market, you should count to pay around € 50 per book.

Barnes and Noble also created some special editions. They aren’t that customised compared to some other editions, but the best part about them is that book 2 and 3 contain bonus content (deleted scenes in book 2; Cardan’s Letters in book 3). These make them very interesting for collectors, at a price range similar to Owlcrate’s editions.

If you are looking for special editions that aren’t that expensive, you might want to take a look at the Collector’s Editions that are currently being published gradually, and which are very pretty as well. These editions feature a slipcase, a ribbon bookmark, endpaper art, and, most importantly maybe, a black velvet naked cover. Very pretty indeed. Book 1 has been published last year, while book 2 can now be pre-ordered (expected in October 2025).

Last but not least, if you are a book dragon like me, you might want to add some beautiful non-English editions to your collection. I recommend taking a look at the Dutch Limited Editions with their stunning character art and gilded edges, or the German editions by Chest of Fandoms with their reversable dust jackets, endpaper art, sprayed edges, and digital signatures.

Similar to this

If you are also sold to the magical worlds created by Holly Black, you can rejoice! She wrote another series that takes place in Faerie, namely the Modern Faerie Tales. Book one, Tithe, introduces us to Kaye, a modern nomad. Traveling with her mother’s rock band, Kaye is forced to return to her childhood home when tragedy strikes. But nothing is as it seems: suddenly, she’s in the midst of a war between two rival faerie kingdoms. I have to admit I can barely wait to start exploring this story too! My review will follow in the coming months!

Jude somehow also reminded me of two other great fantasy series that I read long ago. On the one hand, I kept thinking about the Queen of Fantasy, Robin Hobb and her amazing Farseer Trilogy. On the other hand, I was also reminded of Luck in the Shadows, the first book in the Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling. I haven’t got round to reviewing either of these series, but they are simply stunning. If you haven’t read them yet, please do so asap!

Last but not least, the political intrigue also reminded me of the Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat. This series is the latest pearl I discovered in the literary sea. I read all books back to back in less than a week. It’s a bit outside of the usual scope of this blog, so it will feature as the Dragon Adventure review of next month. I won’t spoil anything yet, but it’s about two princes of rival countries that find that they are bound together by destiny if they are to survive and claim their rightful thrones. While not at all as spicy as the summary of the first book might suggest, these books are without a doubt written for an adult audience! Update: my review is now online!