The Folk of the Air // Finally jumping onto this bandwagon
Author: Holly Black
Published On: 2018 & 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA, Fantasy
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Synopsis:
The Folk of the Air is a young adult, fantasy trilogy written by Holly Black. The series follows Jude Duarte, a mortal girl, who gets tangled in palace intrigues while trying to win a place in the treacherous High Court of Faerie, where she and her sisters have lived for a decade.
I mean…..
I did it.
I finally read the Folk of the Air trilogy. Why did I wait this long? Unclear.
I flew through these books so fast that I figured it made more sense to make a review about the entire trilogy instead of just one book at a time. Also, I somewhat feel like I’ve missed any opportunity to jump on the hype about this trilogy and thus am not going to pro-long my embarrassing delay in reading these by spreading it out into three separate reviews. Instead, you get one MEGA review of all three books!
Also, yes, I know I don’t have matching covers and yes, it bothers me to no end, but Barnes & Noble is currently boycotting my wants and needs and decided to just not have The Wicked King in the B&N Edition anywhere, so, it is what it is.
**This review might contain mild spoilers of the trilogy, so tread with care – I’ve marked actual spoilers with a bold preface!!**
Jude’s growth: I know most people read this book for the JudexCardan relationship (I mean hey, it’s why I finally picked it up), and I don’t blame anyone. BUT, I think a huge reason I was drawn back into each book was because it was incredible to see Jude grow into such a badass MC!! In the first book she really gave us that chastised-child type energy and I was like “how is this girl going to grow into what I know she grows into” but SHE DID! The second and third book really highlighted her growth both emotionally and as a leader and individual and I just really loved it.
Cardan, sometimes: People go nuts over this particular black-haired prince and while I kiiiinda get it, I also don’t. I thought his development was well done and seeing him grow into his roles was gratifying, and obviously I loved the ~steamy~ scenes with Jude, but otherwise he was pretty average to me.
The sister dynamic: While I wanted to drop-kick Taryn multiple times throughout this story, I enjoyed her and Jude’s relationship and how it ebbed and flowed over the course of the trilogy. While they definitely do each other dirty one too many times for my taste, they always find a way back to each other and that special relationship perseveres.
The pacing: I think that the pace of this book went really smoothly and was well done. I didn’t find myself ever being like “can we please pick up the pace” and actually wanted more content in certain aspects, which I’m sure we can all appreciate!!
The military strategy: This is kind of a weird thing to enjoy in my case, but I loved seeing Jude use the skills she was taught in Madoc’s house to actual use! It’s always cool when the baddie female protagonist isn’t just going along with the plans, but actually making them.
The YA-ness: This is MY fault. This book was written as YA, marketed as YA and treated like a YA-book, as it should be!! My problem is that I read From Blood and Ash right before this, and so I think my head was in the NA-fantasy mode and I was expecting a little bit more complexity in this one. But again, that’s totally on me and my expectations and my own mistake of reading a more adult fantasy book before this, so no gripes with it actually being YA!!
Not enough Jude and Cardan scenes: I mean, I feel like we all think this. BUT I think that the book was just too short and too concise to warrant a 360 of their relationship. We got scenes with them in the third book that lasted, like, two pages. I think that was probably the longest interaction between them. It was just a bit unbelievable given the extent to which we’re lead to believe that they’re forever enemies in the beginning. Maybe reading it back I’d catch onto more clues that they really don’t hate each other (especially from Cardan’s side) but I mean come on, Jude totally hated that boy for 90% of this book.
+, this is hyped for the romance: and there is almost no romance until the end. I get why people are in love with the character’s relationships in this book, but don’t go into it thinking that you’re going to get a great ship straight from the beginning. I’d say this book is 70% about Jude and her growth as a character and 30% romance.
The “final battle” moment at the end: I don’t even really fully know what happened. Like why did what happened warrant what the end game was? I can’t really talk about it without spoiling, but I felt like this was super rushed and didn’t make a ton of sense.
**SPOILERS** Like, why did Madoc honor the last part of the prophecy when Cardan rose from the ashes but not any other part of their history and tradition when he was about to wage war for the crown? How does this make sense? Where’s the consistency, please!!!
Okay, ya’ll, well I can finally say I did it!! I read the Folk of the Air trilogy and can now scroll through the Jude x Cardan filter on Tumblr. Yay, me!!
I did like these books a lot (I flew through them in three days!), but I think a few things fell flat based on the expectations I had. Regardless, I’m keepin’ em on my shelves and will definitely read any other books Holly Black sets in this world!!
(**SPOILER** Which, based on the lil moments we have happenin’ at the end between Taryna and a special light-footed someone, I think I might just DEMAND a Taryn series. Didn’t think I’d ever say that when I wanted her to get beheaded, but just like Jude and Cardan, I’ve done a 360!!)
What do you think of my thoughts? Do you agree with any of the dislikes I had? What’s your favorite part about this trilogy? Are you with me on wanting to see more books in Elfhame?
Thanks guys!! xx
21 Comments
Ali
I also need to jump on this bandwagon ASAP! I feel like I’m not going to love it, but I won’t hate it either. I just need to read it so I can finally understand everyone when they talk about these characters! Glad you enjoyed reading them š
erin
I think the hype over it is just SO crazy so our expectations are too high, not that it wasn’t good, just not 100% what I expected!! Hope you love it a ton though! ā„
Kaya
i love this series so much, i’m glad you enjoyed it!! although honestly, I have no idea what went down during the final battle either. it was very confusing XD
Tasya @ The Literary Huntress
I agree with everything you said here! I love the pacing and the world building and Jude’s growth is just *chef’s kiss*. I was pretty okay with Cardan but I didn’t ship the romance until the final book and there’s just not! enough! moment!!! I also agree with what you said about Taryn haha I do want to slap her so many times but I love reading about her relationship with Jude.
erin
RIGHT like give me more Jude and Cardan PLEASE!!!! I want a Taryn series so bad wow like I think I’d almost fall harder for her and her ~potential love interest~ than for the originals?? Ugh heres hoping!!! ā„
Kalyani @ Bookishyani
I totally agree with a lot of your comments! I also really only like Cardan within the context of his relationship with Jude. I don’t really feel a strong love for him as a character. I personally liked how sparse the romance was because I like more slowburn but I totally get how that might be frustrating! Anyways loved your review and your blog!
erin
Definitely get that, he was kinda wishy-washy in all the books and didn’t have enough time to fully establish a believable personality outside of Jude, I think!! Thank you so so much!! ā„
Joss @theonewhoreadit
I am glad you enjoyed this series! I am currently reading The Wicked King (I am 50% in) and I really like Jude as a character. I really like Cardan too, even if he is so evil sometimes and treats Jude so poorly. And YES, we need more moments of them together. Great review!
erin
Oooh yay so happy you’re reading it and enjoying it!! Jude’s character arc is just the best, and Cardan is super sassy and dark and I can’t help but love him! Hope you love the rest of the series!
Gemma
Folk of the Air was a big surprise for me because I don’t read YA often, so the buzz about how fantastic the first two books were got me to catch up just in time for the third book’s release. I was just like you and read both books in a weekend, really quickly.
I am not particularly invested in Cardan independently from Jude, like you said, it was their relationship that I found more compelling. I also found that for all the brutality of the fae was hyped up, I didn’t really find it that intense. The more memorable moments felt a lot like primary school bullying and anything that showed the more ruthless, brutal side was referenced off the page.
Aside from that, book two was a massive surprise for me in terms of plot but book three really disappointed me. I thought the choices were kind of out of nowhere and it all wrapped up far too quickly – I would have preferred a more thorough ending with a book closer to 500 pages. Books one and two were so good that I still think about them, and might even re-read soon.
erin
Oh totally, I hadn’t put too much thought into the brutality of the fae but I definitely agree that it wasn’t shown so much as told! Like the early books established this sense of evil-ness in the fae but it didn’t necessarily carry through.
Also yes the ending wrapped up SO quickly like we had one or two pages for each significant event and then it was just over?? Like I need more please!! I hope if you reread them you enjoy them a second time around! ā„
Lydia
Hey, so I’m not seeing your Top Ten Tuesday post from this week on your site. Thought you should know it didn’t publish if you weren’t already aware. š
My post .
Stephen
I haven’t read anything by Holly Black, but I saw an online event at the weekend where she interviewed Cassandra Clare. One of Cassandra’s romance pet peeves is when the two characters supposedly in love rarely interact with each other and you are just told they are in love. Quite interesting after reading your review!
I LOVED your review, by the way. So fun to read!
erin
Ooh that is super interesting, I hadn’t heard that she said that! They def had some good scenes together but not enough imo to really make it believable, but hey, to each their own!! (:
Ruby Rae Reads
Ah so glad you got to this one!! It really is a daunting series because basically EVERYONE has read it. I also waited until they were all out and marathon read the entire trilogy. SUCH a great time.
Yess Jude’s growth is amazing! And omg Erin saying Cardan is average?!?! Blasphemy. I,,, wow I can’t remember everything but I LOVED him in the last book. Which was my favourite book. I had a weird experience with this trilogy, as I got spoiled for book 2 so didn’t love it as everyone else did. Also yes MORE JUDE/CARDAN SCENES PLEASE I NEED IT.
So excited for the new book which I think has an extra scene after QoN so!!!!
erin
Awwww no boo spoilers!!! Sorry that happened š Still happy to hear you loved the last book though!! It was for sure a good time, I read them in a day because they were just so addicting and easy to read but looking back I need more Cardan!! Gimme a full book just following Cardan around the castle for a few days and maybe I’ll finally feel the hype!!
Veronika @ Wordy and Whimsical
I loved reading your review, even if I enjoyed the series a bit less than you did, I think. I loved the first book and that remains my favorite one – which I think is an unpopular opinion – and I was then so disappointed in the series. I kept reading for Jude – yes, she was so badass, I agree 1000% – and I wanted to like JudexCardan, but I felt like we didn’t see enough development between the two. For example, in The Wicked King, it made no sense to me why Jude started to trust him so suddenly, or why they’d fall for each other in the first place. (I get the attraction, but it was obviously meant to be more than that and was portrayed as this great love later on.) Glad you still enjoyed the trilogy despite the faults you talked about here! Great review! š
erin
TOTALLY agree. Not nearly enough development to fully believe their “relationship”. I also was like “wait why do we all of a sudden trust Cardan now” when he did literally nothing other than hang out with them *against his will* a few times. 100% agree!!!
Dini @ dinipandareads
I totally agree with you on basically everything you said! I didn’t fall head over feet for this like much of the book community has but I did like it enough to speed through the series lol I do wish that, for all the hype over Jude+Cardan, that there was more romance. I liked the tension between the two but I would’ve liked more scenes with them together, too. I was also super disappointed by the last book and that anti-climactic battle scene. The whole story was building up to this moment and it was over in a literal blink?! Shooketh in the worst way š Awesome mega review!
erin
RIGHT like what was that ending??? It happened in .2 seconds, I’m still reeling. I think maybe reading it at a younger age would’ve made me love Jude x Cardan more but totally agree that now I just….don’t buy it!!
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