Book Review: The Prisoner’s Throne (The Stolen Heir Duology #2) by Holly Black

June 16, 2024April 11, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 360 pages
Author: Holly black
Publisher: Little Brown
Release Date: March 5th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame.

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.  

With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the stunning blood-soaked conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology.

MY NEW FAVORITE?

I have never been a SUPER fan of this series, but I have continually enjoyed them and was really excited that this one was featuring Oak as the only POV. I loved getting everything from his angle and his thoughts and desires.

This had a little more romance focus and I was obsessed with Oak and Wren. Every little touch or glance, longing look and heated kiss. YEPPPP. Give it all to me. It’s fast paced and filled with a good balance of pacing where I continually wanted to keep reading.

I loved seeing more of Jude and Cardan. And I loved where the plot rotated to as well. This was just an amazing conclusion. I have nothing to gripe over. Would absolutely say READ IT.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy Romance
Language: low
Romance: 1 implied closed door
Violence: moderate

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Book Review: The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology #1) by Holly Black

August 8, 2023January 12, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 358 pages
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Release Date: January 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.

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, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised 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 north, 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.

I AM INVESTED.

I do admit to thinking that this was going to be from Oak’s perspective??? Or at least dual. Sadly that was not the case. BUT I did love Suren. She was feisty and intense. Full of every emotion and just wanting a safe place to land and be loved. I am wholly invested in her journey and can’t wait to see how it further twists in Elfhame.

Oak is just flat out adorable. In his murderous rampage + golden retriever personality ways. It’s a fantastic combination that worked beautifully for me. I love these two together. And I actually like that they have a different vibe than Jude/Cardan. I don’t think I would have enjoyed reading a repeat kind of storyline/personality dynamics.

As usual, I still think these books are too short. I did like everything else though. There’s a good amount of action and plenty of twists that are hard to see coming. This is an adventure tale with lots of travel but doesn’t feel stagnant or drawn out. Another truly good read from Holly Black.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy Romance
Language: very little
Romance: kisses
Violence: medium-high
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, attempted murder, kidnapping, imprisonment, weapons and physical violence

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Book Review: Book of Night by Holly Black

March 17, 2023May 6, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★☆
Audience: Urban Fantasy
Length: 320 pages
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: May 3rd, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus.

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isn’t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.

TURTLE.

This might be the slowest book I have read in a long dang time. And not in a good way. Within the first few chapters I was worried this wasn’t going to be a great read for me, and unfortunately that was the case.

With terrible pacing came a plot that did have some good twists. I was surprised by a few things that were intriguing yes, but a major lack of dialogue left me desperate for more. Not to mention, lack of world building with info dumps. A 300 page fantasy book is a hard task to accomplish without some guides. I also don’t know why there were flashback chapters??? They didn’t add much of anything to the storyline.

Vince was probably the best person here. I liked him. He was an enigma I wanted to put together and carried much more of the story than I expected.

I just really struggled to read this. It was a fight and I think the ending should have pulled more emotion out of me, but I can’t see myself picking up the next book. Not one I’d recommend. Stick to Black’s The Cruel Prince series.

Overall audience notes:

Urban fantasy
Language: some
Romance: closed door
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: multiple blood/gore depictions of gruesome murders, self harm to get magic, child abuse, general violence, depression and grief, panic attacks, anxiety, gun violence, drugging

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Book Review: The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3) by Holly Black

February 6, 2020January 30, 2020 GoodeyReads3 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 305 pages
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Expected Release Date: November 19th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watches her fair share of reality television, and does the odd job or two, including trying to convince a cannibalistic faerie from hunting her own in the mortal world.

When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking of a favor, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal.

When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.

NEEDED TO BE LONGER. NEEDED MORE CARDAN.

How do you start a review for a book you’ve been waiting for all year? Especially when you feel a bit let down by it? I’m not sure myself so be forewarned, this review might be interesting.

What I missed most was my sweet baby Cardan being snarky as all get out. I LOVE that I got to see a side of him that has been forthcoming throughout the previous books. He’s been changed by love and it’s an amazing character arc. Cardan lost some of his personality though and I missed his sass. You can be sassy and still in love! WHERE WAS HIS PAGE TIME TOO? Ugh. Halfway through and I had only seen him twice. I needed way more of him.

I also have thoughts about his story line that I wish I could convey, but I am not ruining it for anybody. So if you’ve read it and want to discuss please find me on Instagram! I will discuss his transformation all day.

Speaking of way more, this book was 300 pages barely. It was the shortest book in the series and it was a finale. Odd doesn’t even begin to describe my thoughts when I brought this out of the package. Everything wrapped up so fast. The action did keep moving and there was a good flow. There were no deep connections to anything happening. I wanted to dive to another level and expand upon the world and scenes.

I did love seeing how love changed Jude too. Her thoughts and actions remained more like herself at least, but she also was way into Cardan. And I was way into them. Jude made me frustrated when she kept making obvious mistakes that I knew were only leading to the next plot move.

Overall series thoughts pretty much maintain themselves for me. I’ve never been a fanatic for these books, but they’ve been a good read. A solid YA fantasy that has enemies to lovers (the ultimate trope) and fae (the ultimate character).

Overall audience notes: