How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black | book review

“Having a heart is terrible, but you need one anyway.”

Holly Black, How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Title: How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
Series: The Folk of the Air, #3.5
Author: Holly Black
Published: Nov. 24, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Category: young adult
Genre: fantasy
Pages: 200
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This short review is spoiler free!

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Synopsis

An illustrated addition to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince, from award-winning author Holly Black.

An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.

Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone. #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black reveals a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan. This tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.

This new installment in the Folk of the Air series is a return to the heart-racing romance, danger, humor, and drama that enchanted readers everywhere. Each chapter is paired with lavish and luminous full-color art, making this the perfect collector’s item to be enjoyed by both new audiences and old.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

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Thoughts

This book of short stories felt a lot like fan-service. It isn’t necessary to understand the main story, but it was super nice to revisit a world and characters that I’ve missed since the finale was released. The collection of stories take place before and after the main three books, and it centers around Cardan (although most of the other main characters make an appearance at least once).

I’ve been trying to cut back on the amount of physical books I buy since I’m about to move, but I had to get the hardcover copy of this book. It’s just stunning. Everything about it from the cover to the illustrations makes it feel like an old fairy-tale book your parents used to read you as a kid.

I mean, just look at that! The illustrations have a sketchy, fairy-tale picture book vibe to it and it adds a whole other level to the reading experience.

It was really nice to learn more about Cardan and how he became the person that he was in the series. Each chapter was its own story, but there was an overarching theme/story throughout the whole book. It was kind of fun to see how a fairy-tale told to Cardan at a young age played into his life later on.

If you liked The Folk of the Air series, you’re definitely going to love this book. If you didn’t care for it, this book is probably not for you. If you want to learn more about Cardan’s upbringing or curious what he has been up to after The Queen of Nothing, you’re going to like this book.

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Conclusion

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

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What are you thoughts on this book?
If you could trade places with one of the characters in this series, who would it be?
Would you rather be a human in the faerie world or a faerie in the human world?

❤ Let me know in the comments! ❤

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Stay awkward and amazing!