Book Review: The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

"Be welcome on the Isle of Insmire," he says. "Seelie and Unseelie, Wild Folk and Shy Folk, I am glad to have you march under my banner, glad of your loyalty, grateful for your honor." His gaze goes to me. "To you, I offer honey wine and the hospitality of my table. But to traitors and oath breakers, I offer my queen's hospitality instead. The hospitality of knives."

Queen of Nothing is a vivid description of how Jude feels about herself while in exile. A quick recap on the previous book in this series: Jude and Cardan are married under such awkward conditions. Prince Balekin's dead, murdered by none other than our beloved Jude herself. Yet, Jude, the High Queen of Elfhame is in exile, in the mortal world.

The last book ties up all loose ends for the Elfhame Kingdom and its folk. As I've highlighted in The Wicked King review, I was peeved with the slow pace of events and the dull general outline of the book. I reserved some hope that it would all pick up here, in the final instalment to the trilogy and that everything would eventually make sense.

Jude, you can't really think I don't know it's you. I knew you from the moment you walked into the brugh.

To my delight, we started off following Jude in the mortal world, where she now resides with Vivienne and Oak. She found a job with a connection through the Roach, fulfilling odd jobs for Faerie folk residing in the mortal world. She's trying her best to live a "normal life" out there. It was only when she was assigned to track the one who's killing out mortals here and there: Grima Mog, an exiled assassin. After a short spar, Grima Mog informs Jude that her father the Grand General, Madoc is in alliance with the Court of Teeth and are both plotting to overthrow the High-King himself, Cardan.

After months of self-loath and blame, hate towards Cardan for he tricked her into marriage so he could convince her of his love, and be set free from her control, only to send her into exile in the mortal world, the ungrateful Faerie Folk, those who betrayed her... The Ghost, Madoc, and her very own twin, Taryn... Taryn... Yes, Taryn shows up at Vivenne's doorstep! She sought help and shelter, after sticking a knife through Locke's throat. And yes, she had a valid reason: he wasn't faithful to her... or her unborn child.

An interesting twist, I agree ;)

I feel like a constellation of wounds, held together with string and stubbornness.

The story this time was much hurried! In the Wicked King, Holly's overpoured on the details of worldbuilding, that now, all there was left was to tie the loose ends. To the extent where it was quite predictable (and I might be speaking for myself here) and unoriginal.

Throughout the trilogy, there were very minimal touches on the character development aspect. I believe that Holly Black built such a complex world (or at least attempted to) but couldn't achieve the required polishing for all the elements involved to make up the perfect world of Faerie. I've emphasised previously the worldbuilding that was done in the second book, The Wicked King, albeit, this book was only put out there to finish off the incomplete subplots. Quite disappointing to ruin such a good series... or the possibility of it being good.

“All power is cursed,” I say. “The most terrible among us will do anything to get it, and those who’d wield power best don’t want it thrust upon them. But that doesn’t mean they can avoid their responsibilities forever.”

The writing:

The is the third book I've read for Holly Black. From my experience with books in general, over the years authors' style of writing tends to improve with time. Perhaps it was too soon for me to have such aspirations. There weren't as many cringy lines as previously experienced with TWK, yet they still are present in abundance. You could say that for those reasons I was bored reading this book and couldn't wait for it to be over!

I've elaborated on why I hated the characters (some more than others) in the following section, the writing was predictable, and unamusing for the good parts. For instance, there were a couple of pages dedicated to describing the events of a nightmare Jude had, while she dozed off on the bus, after her spar with Grima Mog. I was quite confused with the transition of events, and I think it was too long and unrealistic (even for nightmare in a fantasy book). And that was a universal theme for the transition between one scene to the next was very weak that the text loses the "shock" effect. Moreover, there were a lot of inconsistencies with the character description and the scenes. I'm not sure if the relationships are supposed to be all toxic.... Kind of gives off a very hostile environment! Even Jude wasn't sure if she liked Cardan (actually stated that she still hates him) sometime later in the book. Maybe it's because she's a 19 year old who is still not yet sure how to deal with her emotions, or that's the character's absurdly unintelligent self.

He presses his mouth to the pulse point at my wrist, racing in time with my heart.

Ok Let's take a moment and appreciate the faults in this line... Shall we discuss the anatomy of the wrist, blood vessels and the heart and the how/why/where you get and feel the pulse???!??!!? By now, multiple emboli have travelled through my brain.

Moving on!

The scene where Cardan becomes a serpent after incurring and ancient curse. My heart literally skipped a beat for I was praying for something captivating! Alas, another disappointment... What is Wrong with this book???? My God! There was a golden opportunity for it to shine! Then again, the fact that it's so atrocious, yet has an engraved spot all over the social platforms tells you so much about the readers and what they're expecting. It is possible that the quality of the YA fantasy would plumet even further from here. Oh yeah, it already has *cough*SJM*cough*

And yet my heart is buried with you in the strange soil of the mortal world, as it was drowned with you in the cold waters of the undersea. It was yours before I could ever admit it, and yours it shall ever remain

The Characters:

They still feel very distant, foolish, shallow and forced. I believe that some were not even necessary to the plot. I didn't feel attached to any, and if I liked one, I hated them all towards the end.

Jude - still the same old crazy, spontaneously imbecilic teen. Maybe she was a bit more mature, trying to earn some cash to help Viv pay the rent. Towards the end, she handled the meetings with Council very well and proved to the kingdom that she is the true High Queen of Elfhame

Cardan - I've pardoned him for his toxic, asshole personality. He was neglected as a child, to be breastfed by the neighbourhood cat. He was abused by his eldest brother, to the point where he'd be whipped over and over again. His own father, the High King of Elfhame didn't want anything to do with him, owing to the terrible prophecy given upon his birth. Yes, those are justifiable reasons for why he turned out the way he did. Nevertheless, Jude came along, and she (somehow) managed to get through to him and help him understand why he's been so angry all his life and make peace with the world. As it turns out, he was the true High-King of Elfhame

Lady Ash - The mother in question. One of the High King's consorts and the mother of the current high king, Cardan. She was just an extra to the story. Nothing much happened with her presence. We got to know a bit more about her character (and Jude's mother). She got her status back at the Court, was said to be plotting for the assassination of the new queen. But there wasn't much drama with her in the story.

Vivienne - and Heather: they broke up, and were back together. Their story felt more like reading bits from contemporary LGBT chic-lit, but there wasn't much of that either. Maybe I'm missing the point of mastery of their plot, but it didn't add much to the story. Alas, they came through for Jude! They got closer to Cardan, and with his help, they rescued Jude when she was stuck with Madoc and the Court of Teeth. They even assisted her throughout when she was officiated as the High Queen.

Taryn - She's done her worst prior to Jude's banishment to the mortal world. After all, she's done, family comes first, and she runs off to Vivenne's in the mortal world. She's killed Locke and was pregnant with his child. She was scared and had nowhere to go. Not really though. I'm sure Madoc would've accepted her even after what she's done (and he did, when Jude went in her place). She made up for all the terrible things she's done to Jude by being at her side once she was the official queen of Elfhame.

Madoc - Nothing's changed for this pathetic fool. He still lusts for war and the crown.

Oak - A child with an understandable attitude towards a title to be forced down upon him, once he becomes of age. Although he is the rightful air, and the one everyone wants to protect, Oak himself doesn't participate much. So, on one side, you have Jude and the rest of Elfhame plotting ad scheming to get the crown, and on the other side of the planet, you have Oak with Vivienne, attending school with mortals and living his best life, with no other care in the world. Idk about you, but there seems some sort of disconnection here.

Oriana - We don't see much of her in this book, either. At least she showed up as an extra. She couldn't tell Jude and Taryn apart. In the final showdown between Madoc and Jude she was there, somewhere in the background. When Jude sentenced Madoc to a life in the mortal world. And something was mentioned about her, living with Madoc in the mortal world and were joined by Oak.

The Ghost - He came clean about what happened, and no one can blame him. Alas, it was one of the expected arcs for his character, except that I'd thought maybe Madoc set him up for it (once a heartless murderer, always a heartless murderer) or perhaps Queen Orlagh...

The Roach & the Bomb - They weren't there much in the story this time around. They finally got together, which is kinda cute. The Bomb also was at Jude's side prior to the coronation.

"Perhaps you could just allow yourself to be rescued," Cardan says. "For once".

Here are some of the lines that really got to me. There so many instances where I almost set the book on fire:

Taryn takes a breath, as if steeling herself.
Flicking on the lights, I take deep breaths, check my brows for fever.
Now that I am better rested, I can see in her the signs of exhaustion I missed before. The red-rimmed eyes. A certain sharpness to her features that marks forgetting to eat.
I try to speak, but my mouth feels like it is full of honey. I slide back into the syrupy dark.
Cardan gives me his arm, causing me to walk at his side...
My shoulders sag with relief, and I fix Madoc with a look of triumph.
The Ghost looks a question at me.
"You may go," I say to them when my hair is braided and my ears are hung in shining silver in the shapes of arrowheads.
“That's what mortal means," I say with a sigh that I don't have to fake. "We die. Think of us like shooting stars, brief but bright.”
He sucks in a breath and gets down so we're both on the floor and he's on his hands and knees, making a cage of his body.

“It’s ridiculous the way everyone acts like killing a king is going to make someone better at being one,” Vivi says. “Imagine if, in the mortal world, a lawyer passed the bar by killing another lawyer.”

Short Analysis:

Book cover: (2 stars)

I never liked this cover. I'm not sure if it's the snake or just the general awful compilation
Yes, all elements make sense to the reader. But still, eh.

Plot: (3 stars)

Jude had been exiled from Faerie for treason and murdering Prince Balekin. She now resides in the mortal world with Viviene and Oak
I cannot suppress my amusement at Jude for finding a job in the mortal world to fill her time and make something out of it (It's possible that there's some character development here)
Taryn suddenly pays her twin a visit after all that she's done and asks Jude for the impossible
The subplots were unimpressive in general

Story structure and content: (3 stars)

Black painted a vividly pathetic portrait of Jude struggling in the mortal world, deepening the pool of hatred towards (her now-husband) the High-King of Faerie and his Kingdom, and attempting to avenge those who betrayed her
We see Jude struggling with her emotions. Struggling to not miss her home, her friends and associates, the power that she had. Eating her self away with self-flagellation, regret and blame
Generally, a lot of it I predicted:
1. Why Cardan exiled Jude to the mortal world
2. Cardan identifying Jude in Court immediately
3. The Ghost's reasons for ambushing Jude prior to her exile
4. Madoc and his endless scheming to get the crown

Writing style: (2 stars)

Nope, no upgrade in Black's writing. It bored me through and through
I never thought I'd do this, but half of the book I was simply skimming through the pages and whenever something interesting takes place, I go back a couple of lines to trace back the flow of events
If anything, I found much inconsistency in terms of the dialogues between the characters
Much o it did not appeal to me. The supposed romance between Jude and Cardan was... childish I suppose
Some of the characters felt forced with nothing particularly useful to add to the story

Ending: (2 stars)

On one hand, I'm glad that June shows growth in character, especially how she handled passing judgement to prisoners, including Madoc, the man she's blamed for her mortal parents' death
Other than that, it was... quite dull. It's true that peace had been restored. Yes, Cardan's back. Yes, finally Jude's come to terms with her feelings towards her husband. Yes, they are now both the crowned rulers of Elfhame, accepted by all the faerie folk. But it is just a flat ending like that. Oh and they go back to the mortal world and have pizza and drinks -.-" why must you ruin pizza for me like that!?!?

Final rating: 2.4 stars /5

I have no words. I'm actually glad this trilogy is over! I truly hated this book and I now know better than to even consider another book by Holly Black.

It is very much likely that at first, with TCP, I was mesmerised by the story. It felt good to be back at the YA fantasy common grounds. A place I've always deemed as my home for a long time. But reality seemed to catch up with me soon enough, in the sense that there aren't as many worthy works for my time! This overhyped trilogy is one of its faults!

Three days have been wasted on these books. Three days of my life that I cannot get back. But hey, let's focus on the good side: There are other great books on my shelves waiting to be read <3