Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to. Jude learned that lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now, as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time, determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines, she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And when a terrible curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity….

I knew The Queen of Nothing was going to be my first book to read of the year because after finishing The Wicked King, I knew I needed to read the conclusion to this trilogy as soon as possible!  The book did not disappoint and though I’m sad the trilogy is over, I’m definitely satisfied with the ending.

The book starts off a few months after where The Wicked King ended, with Jude, the High Queen of Elfhame, in exile in the mortal world, living with her sister Vivi and younger brother Oak.  She tries to train Oak in sword technique, while also taking on side jobs with The Folk who happen to live in the mortal world.  But when she’s visited by her twin sister, Taryn, she finds herself journeying back to Faerie posing as Taryn and hopefully finding a way to end her exile.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was that, like Jude, you really had no idea which characters to trust.  When Taryn first came back to ask Jude for help, I was screaming at Jude not to help her and that it was probably a trap (it wasn’t) but because of what Taryn had done in the previous book, you can see why I would think that way (and I’m sure most of us did).  Not to say that Jude is entirely flawless and trustworthy… after all, she’s deceived everyone in her own ways as well, but your twin betraying you is an entire thing of its own.  But throughout Jude’s time back in Faerie, it kept me on edge due to not knowing who she could really trust there, at least for the better part of the book.

What disappointed me the most of this book, was Locke’s death. Not that he died, but because of his actions in the previous books, that we missed it.  He dies in between The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing, and I think it was a little unfair we missed that rat’s death.

I don’t want to give away too much else, not that I gave away all that much.  But I think the fact that I just couldn’t stop reading the book in my free time speaks for itself.  Overall I was happy with the way Holly Black ended this series and it definitely didn’t end the way I thought it would… so that’s definitely a plus.

All in all, I’d say The Folk of the Air trilogy is a great YA fantasy series that you do not want to miss!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars