The Folk of the Air Series by Holly Black

 

Over spring break and the last few days, I read The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black, which is led off by The Cruel Prince. This dark fantasy is about a human girl, Jude Duarte, who watched her mother and father be murdered right in front of her in their own home and was then taken, along with her older and twin sisters, to the islands of Elfhame to be raised by the faerie, Madoc, who killed their parents. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to be a knight for the king of Elfhame and prove that she does belong, despite being human. Because Madoc is the Grand General of the king, Jude and her sisters are regularly invited to the celebrations of the royal court and go to school with High King Eldred's youngest son, Prince Cardan Greenbriar. Although Cardan is the most beautiful of all the faeries, Jude hates him because he constantly undermines and disrespects her and they end up playing tricks on each other to the point of cruelty. After her success at the Summer Tournament, Jude becomes a spy for Crown Prince Dain, Cardan's second oldest brother, to uncover the plans for an assassination attempt before his coronation. In exchange, Jude receives a geas that gives her protection against the glamour of faeries. Although Jude and her fellow spies find clues as to when the assassination attempt will be, there is a devastating coup at a point of weakness during the coronation. Badly shaken, Jude reluctantly decides to protect Cardan as her prisoner in order to take back the throne.

I enjoyed The Cruel Prince and its sequels more than any other book I've read so far this year. I couldn't stop reading it and felt completely immersed in the world that Holly Black created. One of my favorite tropes is enemies to lovers, and this series didn't disappoint at all. I definitely admired the main character, Jude, because she was strong and brave in a fantastical world where others saw her as weak. I also loved Cardan. Cardan was not an easy character to like, let alone love, at first, but after the events of the coronation, I saw a new side of him, just like Jude did. He was funny, clever, and charming, and I couldn't help but be drawn to him. I don't want to say too much about the rest of the series, but he definitely grows a lot and became one of my favorite characters. The Folk of the Air is full of political intrigue and betrayal and each book had several shocking plot twists that sometimes left me reeling. Other times, I correctly guessed at the plot twists through Black's careful foreshadowing. All in all, this book series is an incredible choice for every fantasy fan.