The second book ended with Cardan, High King of Elfame, making Jude his Queen, only to exiling her and shoving her back into the human world. I actually think this was the best of all three books in the series, but that might be because I’ve had some mixed feelings about Jude and Cardan’s relationship previously. It was fast-paced (I finished it in one sitting) and it had action, twists and intrigues that kept you hooked until the very end. I loved this book and thought that it was a perfect finale to the trilogy. This book has received some mixed reviews, but I honestly do not understand why. If you enjoyed this series you will without a doubt love this book to pieces! I read it in one sitting with a goofy smile all over my face, ending it with a wish to immediately start rereading The Folk of the Air series all over again. I really enjoyed to get the backstory to Cardan, and to understand his mixed feelings of hate, love, desire and longing, and the reasons for his actions in The Cruel Prince.Īll in all, this was the perfect addition to The Folk of the Air series and a book that made me so happy! Everything in this book had a beautiful fairytale kind of vibe to it and the illustrations by Rovina Cai were simply amazing and added so much to the story and to the overall luxury feeling of this book. I loved how Holly Black managed to show that he wasn’t born cruel, but how his heart turned into stone because of the cruel things that happened to him. The character development that Cardan has undergone through the series is just amazing, and it’s so wonderfully described via these short stories.

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is an illustrated novella that takes us back to the Elfhame universe, but this time from Cardan’s perspective and with added stories from his childhood before The Cruel Prince and all the way to adventures beyond The Queen of Nothing.

Cruel Queen by T.L. Smith