Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels, including the novels of Elfhame, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, Book of Night. 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. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Her website is hollyblack.com. You can find more of my reviews of Holly's work here.
Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge. Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, the heir to Elfhame she was once promised to in marriage and who she has resented for years. Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He's on a mission that will lead him into the Ice Needle Citadel, and he wants Suren's help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind. Return to the opulent world of Elfhame, filled with intrigue, betrayal, and dangerous desires, with this first book of a captivating new duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black.
If you loved Elfhame from Jude's adventures in the Isles, then you'll be delighted to know that Holly Blake returns to this world in The Stolen Heir—but it's not the Elfhame you know. Instead, Black takes us to another part of this kingdom, to the courts so often mentioned in The Folk of the Air. Now, they get their chance to shine. I think having this book set in the same world as The Folk of the Air trilogy, while also making the setting entirely new, is a really smart way to get people excited about these new characters' adventures. There is just enough new, exciting elements to the book as there are familiar, and reading this book feels like returning to your favorite vacation spot to discover brand new and exciting restaurants and attractions to try.
Wren and Oak are such fascinating characters, and they are surrounded by a cast of other characters' whose motivations also remain hidden. Holly Black does a wonderful job writing characters who cannot lie to one another through words. I feel like that has to be incredibly difficult, but she makes it look effortless, with all the deceit and trickery in the novel. And the characters' actions also remain in character, which is always fulfilling to me—I love when I feel like the actions perfectly match the characterization. Holly Black writes incredible scenes, cruel moments, and exquisite characters, and she delivers on all of these counts by telling Wren's and Oak's story.
I will say, because this book take places in a different part of Elfhame, with characters that did not feature prominently in The Folk of the Air, I was expecting to not feel so thrown-in-the-deep-end regarding some of the politics. About 60 pages in, I decided to reread the trilogy because there were some parts of Suren's and Oak's backstories, and parts of the politics, that I was confused about, and thought the trilogy could provide clarity on. In fact, there was little clarity to find, and I think I was just truly overwhelmed by some of the fantasy stuff at the beginning, that it muddled some parts up for me near the middle and end. I am sure this is something that can be rectified by a closer, slower read, but I was not expecting to be thrown like this, and it unfortunately does color how I enjoyed the book as a whole.
I cannot wait for the conclusion of this duology! The last 100 pages were absolutely crazy, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out. Until then, you can find Holly Black online at hollyblack.com. You can find more of my reviews of Holly's work here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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