Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty fantasy novels for teens and children. She was a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newberry Honor. Her books have been translated into thirty-two languages worldwide and adapted for film. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Her website is blackholly.com. You can find more of my reviews of Holly's work here. Rovina Cai is an award-winning illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. She works out of a cozy studio in an old building that was once a convent and is possibly haunted.
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. The #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, and adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar but pivotal 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 story 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.
Cardan was a character that I didn't quite understand my first time reading through the trilogy. Before reading this intoxicating installment, I reread the trilogy, though, and picked up on some things I hadn't before. This book heightens those little tidbits, and makes Cardan's character clearer. There's something about following Cardan's backstory that makes him more understandable, more fleshed out. Of course we know that Cardan can't lie, but he never really tells the whole story. Luckily, this novel does. I enjoyed watching him make the choices he does, following his motivations and seeing his immediate reactions to betrayal, disgust, and love.
My favorite part about this book, though, was the way it opened and closed. It started with a story of Jude and Cardan traveling to the mortal world, to do a job for one of Jude's old faerie employers. Then, we traveled back in time to Cardan's childhood, and charted his growth from abandoned child to devious prince, and then to a pretty wholesome boyfriend. Then, just as maybe we'd forgotten about the earlier quest, we are transported back to the present, with Jude and Cardan in the mortal world. When Cardan takes initiative and tells the story that wraps up the book, that's the best full-circle kind of feeling. Three really is a magic number, and Black exploits that throughout this installment. The repetition of the Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue story and how it teaches Cardan something different at different parts of his life was fantastic. I appreciated that so much, because it tied all the stories together. Rather than just a random collection, How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories became its own story.
The illustrations that helped the stories were also fantastic. I really felt like I was under the water when Cai depicts the Undersea. I felt like I was at the banquet, eating the Faerie food. I felt like I was riding on the back of the Moth, or the ragwort steeds with Cardan and Jude. The colors were muted and so perfect for the kind of stories that Black tells throughout this installment. I especially appreciated the attention to detail: Cardan's golden earrings, the curves or points of ears, the Alice in Wonderland novel, the flowers and seaweed and on and on! They were all fantastic and I found myself staring at them before returning to the text. My favorite illustrations were, of course, those that accompanied the repetition of the boy with a wicked tongue story. The pure black contrasted so well with the white page and with the other illustrations, so much so that I felt like I was diving into a world within a world. Cai really further highlights all of these parts of Elfhame that I wish I could see (if only!), which made her illustrations special.
I love Holly's the Folk of the Air works, and her Modern Faerie Tales. For more of my reviews of Holly Black, click here, and for more of Holly Black herself, visit her website, blackholly.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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