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#totally not talking about cardan

thejudeduarte · 12 days

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How do book boys (shout out to the writers) come up with the most romantic things to say ever??😭 I NEED TO KNOWWW!! They'll just randomly say the most heart aching, gut wrenching, tear shedding poetic shit ever ON. THE. SPOT. Please reveal your secrets

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feyresqueen · 3 months

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i totally understand Cardan. If Jude was my wife, I'd also be talking and thinking about her all the time

#jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #the folk of the air #tfota #the cruel prince #the queen of nothing #the wicked king #same jurdan same

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cogentranting · 2 months

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So what I like about this line:

"but I know a great deal about mistakes. And about hiding behind a mask....Some might say that I still do, but they would be wrong. To those I love, I am myself. Too much myself sometimes."

is that 1. Cardan is telling Oak he loves him, because he's definitely not wearing a mask in this moment. And in general that's the text of the scene-- Oak has spent a large portion of the book with this angst over his family not really knowing him, and maybe not even really loving him. But Cardan is here demonstrating the opposite. Demonstrating that Oak has been better understood than he figured, and he's trusted and he's loved. All of which Oak had ended up doubting at some point or another in the second half of the book. And it's significant because it goes a step beyond saying yes Oriana really loves him, or Jude, or Taryn. To go that step further and make it Cardan too is a nice touch. 2. It really demonstrates how far Cardan has come from the boy starving for love, who was ashamed of his own feelings for Jude and then so incapable of expressing those feelings that he had her convinced that he wanted her dead. Seeing him having grown enough to not need that mask, and to sit and casually talk about love (AND to have already seen that in a number of his interactions earlier in the book). And the fact that Cardan specifically identifies this conversation as "brotherly wisdom" makes that growth even more evident, because of the history with Cardan's brothers. Dain and Balekin both were such huge sources of Cardan's pain. And they are the reason why it's believable for Oak that Cardan might think he's plotting against him- because that's what Greenbriar brothers DO. And instead Oak is met with Cardan's total trust in him.

#tfota #the prisoner's throne #the prisoner's throne spoilers

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annamatix · 2 months

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episode 1 of the jenny-anna taylor jurdan collab series YIPPEE (that's a mouthful we'll need to find a better name)

@viivdle did cardan's pov in two parts (linked at the bottom of this post) and i did jude's here

today’s topic: dancing with our hands tied (jurdan’s version)

“i, i loved you in secret” = jude didn’t tell a single soul that she had feelings for cardan

“first sight, yeah we love without reason” = after their first kiss she was super confused and didn’t understand why she was growing feeling for him, hence the ‘without reason’

“oh, 25 years old” = they weren’t 25, but they were very young so this could mean how literally the fate of the land fae was thrust into the hands of ‘kids’ (18?? 19??)

“oh, how were you to know, my love had been frozen. deep blue but you painted me golden” = in tcp jude clearly states that she is not interested in marrying or has feelings for anyone, but cardan kickstarted those feelings, clearly

“oh, and you held me close” = she was around cardan a lot, he kept her close to stead as seneschal and whatnot

“i could’ve spent forever with your hands in my pockets” = this could refer to the way cardan was slowly becoming more spy-like, learning from the roach (‘hands in my pockets’ = him stealing stuff, like her heart)

“picture of your face in an invisible locket” = 1) this is elfhame, so invisible lockets are totally normal, and 2) this could also mean how cardan was always on jude’s mind, like when he turned into a serpent she still imagined him sitting there, giving her pointers in his own sarcastic way

“you said there was nothing in the world that could stop it, i had a bad feeling” = the way when jude was seneschal, cardan would always say things like ‘what a shame not one of them knows who their real ruler is’ and jude always feeling like this power could slip out of her grasp soon

“and darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis” = smirk (sorry) basically this could be about when jude and cardan did something together and agreed on it, it was a rare moment, making it 'sacred'

“people starting talking putting us through our paces” = there’s lots of whispering in courts like elfhame’s and jurdan was definitely affected by them

“i knew there was no one in the world who could take it, i had a bad feeling” = jude crowned cardan against his will, and she had to bear so many responsibilities, so again she felt like the power could fall from her anytime soon

“but we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied, hands tied” = even though she was seneschal, jude felt powerless in many ways, frustrated that she couldn’t control cardan, hence the ‘hands tied’

“yeah we were dancing, like it was the first time, first time” = jude and cardan kept repressing their feelings for each other, and then whenever they felt something/did something, they were always surprised (‘like it was the first time’ = signaling even though they did it before, they were still shocked, like the first time they did it)

(skipping the rest of the chorus, it’s basically a repeat)

“i, i loved you in spite of, deep fears that the world would divide us” = painfully obvious, a mortal and a faerie?? jude duarte and the beloved high king of elfhame?? not even in your wildest dreams, right?

“so baby can we dance, through an avalanche” = jurdan has been through a LOT together, this somewhat symbolizes that

“and say, say that we got it, i’m a mess but i'm the mess that you wanted” = do i even have to say it? jude i-poison-myself-every-day-and-made-a-deal-with-prince-dain-who-made-me-stab-clean-through-my-hand-plus-i-did-a-shit-ton-of-other-insane-things duarte, and cardan is head over heels for this woman

“oh, cause it’s gravity, keeping you with me” = its so hard to keep cardan under her thumb, and also unbelievable he would do it on his own accord. this could also work romantically, its crazy to her that cardan actually loves her

(skipping the chorus cuz i already did it above)

“i’d kiss you as the lights went out, swaying as the room burned down. i’d hold you as the water rushes in, if i could dance with you again” = symbolizes the time when cardan was a serpent, jude didn’t care which type of cardan he would be, what would happen, or anything else, she just wanted him next to her again. girlie was highkey desperate

(the rest of the song is basically the chorus)

wow thank you for reading until here *bows*

sorry if its shallow jenny is the better analyzer between us two 🙏

cardan's pov part 1

cardan's pov part 2

#phew thats a wrap #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #jude x cardan #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #tfota #the folk of the air #jurdan #holly black #taylor swift #taylor swift songs #song analysis #analysis #how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories #idk what else to put that should be it yayy

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silverflqmes · 2 months

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haithellie

- who fell first and how?

- what book sealed the deal on your relationship?

- did you guys join a book club together, if so — what was the book that caught both of your guys’ eye?

- what do the boys think about your guys’ relationship? (kaveh, cyno, & tighnari)

tartellie

- how did you guys meet and how long did it take for a single date?

- which of you said i love you first and how?

- e2l, which one admits they’re in love first and why?

yuellie

- he misses the high cloud quintet, how do you comfort him?

- you both fight phantylia together, who falls down first?

- bonus: who went for the body? i think i can answer this one

sephellie

- how to make a day of fun so sephiroth can be human again

- how would you style his hair for fun

- how to get him to stop being cloudobsessed and you-obsessed instead!!!

at long last i answered your ask bc monkey brain has just been SEPHIROTH SEPHIROTH SEPHIROTH as of late.. ahem. now without further delay, time to get the cogs winding

𓍼 haithellie.

— if i’m going with my e2l idea, he fell first because i was in hella denial.. but i fell harder. i haven’t really come up with much but i’m thinking we would both be in places in our lives where we’re dealing with loneliness?? for me i would have left home to study so i’d kinda be adjusting, while alhaitham has kinda been on his own, having lost his parents from young, and later his grandmother that took care of him after that. so i think we would have found mutual comfort in each other and he would have caught some feelings just from little details. stupid habits i have, shared interests, the bantering since we would have both been in the same darshan..

— i totally missed this question until i went back to read for the next ship but UHHH the wicked king cuz it’s my fav and i’ll never be normal about it

— we joined a book club not knowing that the other would be in there too LMAO it was just supposed to be a pastime kinda thing and it was just coincidence that we both ended up in it together.. but let me think, me being me i like my romantasy books so i dunno it alhaitham would also be into those.. but i could see him reading the folk of air — totally not bc it’s my favorite series, totally not bc we act like jude and cardan, totally not because — yeah, you got me..

— alhaitham wants them nowhere near me ( minus tighnari ) because they would enable me and they would tease him sm.. but i think we would be super chill together, i could see us playing uno or monopoly and just- disaster happening BAH but anyway i think they would be happy about alhaitham finding someone after his losses, and even it kaveh might be petty.. he’s happy for him<3

𓍼 tartellie.

— omg akira-san, i mean uh, tartaglia, yeah.. ahem. let me think.. we would have met at a flower shop, he was buying flowers to bring home to his family since he was likely away from home for a good while. he was just scanning all the different types, not sure which to pick, to which he would approach me, thinking me to be the store clerk ( i was not ). confused, i would break to him that i do not work there.. to which he would get embarrassed LMAO but since we were talking, he would ask on my opinion anyway, to which i’d try my best to offer a few options to my basic knowledge of flower language. i think he would show interest in the way i talk and explain, the hand gestures and expressions i make, but he’d ignore it.. until we stumbled once more upon each other, where he would chat with me.. and then proposes the idea of getting lunch. totally not a date, just lunch..

— he did and probably said so without even saying those three words tbh?? i don’t know how he would say it, but uh maybe smtn like.. “it’s strange.. home, until now was always being with my family back in snezhnaya.. but somehow, you seemed to have brought that feeling to me here and have blossomed it into something a little more than family, something special and precious to me.”

— now for this.. me LMAO if it was e2l it would end up as an unspoken confession i feel?? maybe if he was seriously injured or um, overdid things again because he used foul legacy or his delusion in a fight.. to which i would yell at him in a way that sounded like i really cared for him, and tartaglia would end up saying something along the lines of me sounding like i loved him or something.. to which i would go silent and he would piece it all together. unspoken confession!!

𓍼 yuellie.

— understandable as to why he would miss them, especially cuz he’s the last one remaining and with his memories in tact. it’s kinda heartbreaking honestly, but i understand the kinda fall of a friend group in a way, granted i still talk with mine but very minimally these days. regardless, i would do my best to comfort him, maybe take him out or encourage him to come be around others as well outside of his duties, just to feel yk welcomed as a dude and not just as a general. i think he’d like something like that cuz company helps when you miss those that you were once close with.

— AKWJSJDJSKSJ i fall down first and i make sure to KNEEL ( i did it on purpose ) yuan is probably like ellie???? and i’m like ain’t no way you said you’re going for the body — I’M GOING FOR THE BODY, YOU SIT YOUR ASS BACK THERE. atp he’s like, am i about to have my girl stolen by horrifyingly attractive woman that wants to kill us and is not just twice but several times her size?? he’s just watching in complete shock but like part of him understands.. i mean.. come on.

— I WENT FOR THE BODY AGAIN AND AGAIN ahem, your assumptions are likely correct.

𓍼 sephiellie.

— screams in sephiroth. okay um. let me actually get into this. sooo a day to make sephi have fun and feel more human.. well! after buying flowers from a certain peddler, i would whip out my super slay cool flip phone and urge him to come over after work because i had a surprise for him. said surprise is flowers to braid into his hair and a flower for him to keep at home cuz sephiroth having a green thumb sounds so adorable. for the rest, it would be just a cute self care day to remind him of his humanity in spite of whatever modifications and experiments were done on him ( FUCK YOU HOJO YOU UGLY ASS PIECE OF SHIT, THERE’S A REASON I’M NOT IN FFVII AND THAT’S BC YOUR ASS WOULD BE THROUGH, WHICH MEANS THE STORY DOESN’T END UP HAPPENING SO NO GAME )

— the braid with the flowers in it! high ponytail for sure HE IS SO PRETTY<3 maybe a bun as well after i told him that mine absolutely sucked and that my mom refused to let me out of the house without her doing my hair.. so he would ask to see how bad said bun is — so it ends up messy because i didn’t wanna make it too tight.. his hair is also super long.. but he liked it, probably wondered why i couldn’t leave the house when it looked so nice on him ( sobbing he’s so so sweet ), furthermore i would try the princess leia space buns and perhaps twin tails<3 he also would do my hair and try out different styles too, he’s so gentle<3

— I DON’T KNOW I GUESS I NEED SOME MAKO BATHS AND HIS CELLS SO HE CAN INVADE MY THOUGHTS INSTEAD😐 but like.. sefikura.. IM TORN

okay i believe that was all of them.. this took way longer than i’d expected😭

#sky chan🙁💞#— ; 🏹 ) sephiellie.#— ; 🏹 ) haithellie.#— ; 🏹 ) tartellie.#— ; 🏹 ) yuellie.

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ionlydrinkhotwater · 1 year

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THE STOLEN HEIR SPOLIERS

Gonna start with saying I am not saying what happened to Oak was totally deserved (we won't know what he deserves until the next book, I dont believe hes 100% innocent (cause that would be boring), but I dont think ANYONE deserves to be put in that bridle) I only want to explore why Suren did what she did.

What's interesting to me is that before Jude considered putting the bridle on Cardan she talks to her friends, allies and sisters. So that even when Madoc says to do it she chooses not to, she had people who she could get emotional support from.

Suren didn't have anyone to talk to. And she's just got her reincarnated memories of being mistreated on top of her own trauma. She remembers being abandoned, beaten, killed and betrayed by every mother she had : her unmother, Lady Nore, her foster mother Mab as Mellith and her birth mother bogdana (she and Cardan have major mommy issues). You take an emotionally devastated girl and give her godlike powers and a Carrie situation was always gonna be the outcome. Also let's remember Tiernan made the same choice and he did it seemingly under much less pressure, he put his ex in a bridle and was fine with it. When Wren says to him that "“No one in chains could ever truly love you.” He glares. “Do you expect me to believe you know anything about love?” The truth of that hits like a blow."

His words may have made a stronger impression on her than he realised.

And let us remember how she won the day in the first place, she won her freedom by CONTROLLING her mother. She overcame her abuser through compulsion and robbing them of the ability to even have the option to hurt her

If she thinks that the only way to prevent pain is through control, why wouldn't she do what she did?

Also remember what she said to Oak after she made him angry

“I know you’re angry with me…,” I begin."

And his response?

“Am I?” he asks, looking up at me as though there is a bitter taste in his mouth. “Maybe I’m glad that you gave me an opportunity to be my worst self.”

They all opened to door for her to be her worst self too.

She made a choice yes. And it was the WRONG choice. But I TOTALLY get why she would. I can't wait to see how it'll go down in the next book cause I want to hear from Oak. Also I want to know how much Meliths powers and memories will affect her.

#the stolen heir duology #the stolen heir #wrenoak #oak x wren

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iambellarose1816 · 1 year

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JURDAN CORRECT QUOTE 3

Cardan: Isn't it a lovely day to just annoy others?

Locke: And by others you mean Jude?

Cardan: *looking smug af* Yes, I totally mean my stone hearted wife, Jude Duarte Greenbriar.

Jude: Is he talking about how it is a lovely day to annoy me?

Locke: Sure is.

Jude: Must I bring my dagger this time?

Locke: *stares at Jude with wide eyes* This time?

Jude: *shrugs* Long story.

Cardan: *scared af* N-no! No need for any of those deadly weapons, darling.

Jude: Then?

Cardan: *sighs and mumbles* I'll behave.

Jude: *acts deaf* What was that, High King?

Cardan: I'LL BEHAVE!

Jude: Good boy.

Locke: You sure showed him.

Jude: *looking smug af* I sure did.

#jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jurdan #the cruel prince #holly black #I just can't with Jurdan they are just so cute #correct quotes

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death-and-other-myths · 1 year

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The Queen of Nothing Deadass Book Review

Okay look, this book has everything. Our main character is an unhinged monster. Her husband was raised by a cat or something. There's snakes. GOD DAMN I LOVE THIS BOOK.

This is an unhinged book review of The Queen of Nothing By Holly Black.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Well the 3rd and final book in this series starts out with a bang, with the prologue painting Cardan’s tragic backstory as a baby taken to meet his father by his shitty, neglectful mom. Baefin, the royal astronomer shows up and decides to ruin everyone’s day by saying, “Hey, the stars say this kid is going to topple your kingdom and you’ll never have another child after him.” — so right out of the gate, everyone hates Cardan. His siblings play with him like a puppy. His Mom is the flakiest asshole. She uses a… cat..?? As a wet nurse?? Like WOW LADY. Both CPS and PETA would like a word with you.

There’s a super sad part when Cardan is older, and Dane is messing with him. They are shooting a walnut off of a mortal’s head, who happens to be Val Moren’s lover. Val Moren was the old High King’s sineschel, and his heart was broken for the rest of his life after his boyfriend got shot with an arrow by these big dumb faerie princes.

Dane offers to switch arrows, so if Cardan messes up and hits the man, everyone will think Dane did it. Cardan says fine, but chickens out when it comes time to shoot. So Dane shoots Cardan’s arrow into the guy’s chest, and tells everyone that Cardan did it. So as punishment, they sent Asha into jail and cultivated Cardan’s reputation of being a heartless asshole. It’s just shit all around. GOD THIS POOR BABY I CAN’T BELIEVE I EVER THOUGHT HE WAS A MONSTER. HE IS THE SWEET, MESSED UP PRODUCT OF HIS AWFUL FAMILY. AUGH.

Meanwhile, in the mortal world…

Jude is watching Oak play war games with the other 5 year olds and he keeps accidentally glamoring them (so he appears invisible until he attacks). When all of his friends leave, she sneaks up on him and you know, almost chokes him out. Like sisters do!

He’s all upset with her and she’s like “I’m just trying to show you that fighting is real, and it’s serious, and it’s not a game!” and he says he never ever wants to be king, which makes this reader happy.

At night, Jude makes money by doing odd jobs for the local faeries. They apparently can live in the mortal world, usually because they’re in hiding or exile or just because they want to. She meets up with one of the Roach’s old friends, who is a goat man that gives her a job to go talk to a lady named Grima Mog and tell her to quit murdering people.

Grima Mog is part of the “Court of Teeth”, and is a warrior who was banished for one reason or another and is causing a scene in the real world. Jude goes over, tells her to cut it out, and Grima Mog challenges her to a duel on the roof. Jude wins, because she is still a savage badass. And in return, Grima Mog tells her the latest hot goss: That King Cardan is going to be overthrown before the next full moon.

Jude is like cool I don’t care about him. Yep. Totally don’t care about that loser who is also my husband. Fuck him. Ima ride the bus home covered in blood. So she does that.

And when she gets home, Heather is there trying to pluck up the courage to see Vivi again. But moreover, TARYN IS THERE in her flowy pretty dress and Jude is like “Get the fuck out.” (still covered in blood by the way).

Taryn explains that she MURDERED LOCKE. Like not even in self defense or anything. He pissed her off and slept around, so she stabbed him with a LETTER OPENER and THREW HIM IN THE OCEAN so his body washed up a few miles downshore all chewed up, and now she has to go to Faerie court and be glamored to tell the truth. So she’s asking Jude if she’ll pose as her and go in her stead.

Jude can’t really resist the opportunity to get back into Faerie land and slap her husband, so she agrees. Also Taryn drops the bomb that she’s pregnant too. So ... damn. I guess being bloodthirsty maniacs runs in this family. Like whoa.

Alright, Jude goes back to Elfhame pretending to be Taryn. She spends a brief night in Locke’s house where she finds drugs just… everywhere. Gold stuff is smeared on the couches and the servants bring her a faerie apple with dinner, which Jude finds hella weird since that stuff is like heroin to humans. She’s starting to realize Taryn isn’t as innocent as she thought. As if the whole “murdering her husband” thing wasn’t her first clue.

She walks into the courtroom and gives a curtsey, and Cardon goes “…Taryn?”

She’s like “Yes m’lord tis I, sweet lil’ innocent Taryn. Look at me all in my pretty little dress being demure and cooperative.”

Cardon smirks and is like “okaaayyyy. Begin the questioning.”

Jude is standing there thinking “Cardon you dumb fuck I’ve tricked you. You’ve played right into the palm of my hand, you treacherous scum.”

And we as the reader realize it’s pretty fucking obvious that he knows its her. And that he looks elated to see her.

He “glamours” her to only be able to tell the truth and asks her if she killed Locke. Jude says no. So Cardon turns to Nicasia and his Mom (who are also there) and is like “Welp, she didn’t do it. Guess we can all go drink and party and forget this ever happened now. Like we did when Valerian died. Remember how no one seemed to care about that?”

But Jude has to take it a step further and be like “I think the sea had something to do with it.”

Nicasia is pissed. “WHY would the sea start shit if we have a treaty with the land? Also Locke was my friend! If anyone killed him it was probably your horrifying sister. She loves murdering people. She does it like, all the time.”

Lady Asha chimes in like “It’s court gossip that Locke was fooling around with both you and your sister. Maybe she killed him to get revenge because she loved him.”

And Jude (as Taryn) says, “My sister only loves one person, and it’s not Locke.”

Cardan is unable to stifle his glee.

“And she wants that person dead.”

Cardan bristles.

Nicasia says they can’t trust anything “Taryn” says because she could be wearing a charm to resist glamour (implying Jude should strip in front of the court). But Jude can’t do that without revealing herself, since she’s all scarred up and Cardan knows every single one of those scars.

Luckily, our boy is on to this so he’s like “How about I personally inspect her for charms in my quarters. Alone. Away from here. This is totally normal, right?” And the court is like “Right!” So they’re walking to his room. And a servant runs into her with a tray, and slips her a knife and is like “Don’t worry miss Taryn. Your father is coming to save you.” And Jude is like What? Shit. What??

But then she’s alone in Cardan’s room and he is immediately like “Oh my god how are you? Did you get my letters? I wrote you every day but you never replied. Hi.”

And Jude is FLABBERGASTED “You knew it was me?!”

“From the second you walked into the room?? You’re my wife? God, you’re cute.”

She’s still pissed at him though for tricking her, which to us is very obvious to us that it was for her own protection, but Jude thinks he’s awful. She shows him the knife someone gave her and for a moment he’s like… wait… shit… is she going to stab me? She kind of likes making him think she will. But she tells him Maddock is up to something, then there’s a huge explosion. And instead of stabbing Cardan, she goes back to her warrior ways like “Stay here!” Even though he’s shouting at her not to.

Jude takes like 2 steps outside the door and gets knocked out with Faerie chloroform by some of Maddock’s knights.

She wakes up in a carriage with Oriana being carted off to Maddock’s stronghold. And everyone is like “Sorry Taryn! It was just easier to get you out of there if you were… you know… unconscious for 3 days.” (Wtf faerie people??)

So now Jude is STUCK pretending to be Taryn in Maddock’s snowy army headquarters near the Court of Teeth territory. She has to hang out and pretend to like Oriana, her prim and boring stepmother, and convince everyone she’s Taryn or Maddock will literally kill her.

During her time in camp, she meets Grimsen the master forge guy, who likes compliments and young girls (which is hella gross). She flirts with him to learn about his magic weapons and learns he’s making a crazy powerful sword for Maddock to use to take Cardan’s crown.

Jude has an awkward conversation with Maddock where he’s like “I never much cared for Jude. God she’s so annoying. You’re cool though.” He also tells her that when he saved her from the palace, half his knights got murdered in the process. He said the doors shrunk and trapped his men inside, then vines came down from the ceiling and strangled them. Only the ones running with her made it out alive and everyone else got savagely choked to death. So like… Cardan is a badass and can still control the land around him. And clearly he does not take kindly to people kidnapping his wife.

Jude decides she needs to run away before anyone catches on to her, and on her way out, she stops to inspect this cave set far away from the camp. In it, she finds THE GHOST who betrayed her like a little fucking asshole just because his buddy Dane got killed. He tells her his whole sad story. That Dane was like, his friend and ally. He even gave Dane his “true name” (which is a big real. If anyone knows a faerie’s true name, they can command them to do anything). And then somehow Locke got his true name from Dane. And was commanding Ghost to do all these terrible things. Then Locke gave him to Maddock. So Jude is like SIIGHHH God damnit okay I’m getting out of here and taking you with me. I just need to get the key from Grimsen.

She goes BACK to camp, where Oriana is waiting for her like a huge dick. And she’s all like “You’re not Taryn, are you?” But thank god she doesn’t rat her out. Jude tells her why she was masquerading as Taryn, which Oriana totally understands (everyone in their family hated Locke) and the only reason she’s here is because Maddock FAERIE CHLOROFORMED HER.

Oriana agrees to write Vivi to come get Jude if Jude agrees to leave and never fucking come back to Faerie. Jude, being a lying liar, is like “yeah! Totes!”

So Jude goes to bed and plans on waking up before dawn and stealing the key from Grimsen to grab the Ghost and run. But she gets a hand thrown over her mouth in her sleep and elbows her assailant hard. Before she can STAB THEM, the Roach is laughing his ass off like “Jude, come on. It’s us.” And I nearly screamed and fell off the treadmill when she realizes that it’s CARDAN who has his hand over her mouth.

YAYYY!!! Cardan needs more screen time. I was so sad when Jude got kidnapped like god damnit. The high king is there in regular-people clothes. No crown. No gold eyeliner. He tells her that he knew where she was because he went to visit Vivi in the human world, which Jude cannot even picture and neither than I.

She’s like “Wtf did he even WEAR?” She tries to picture him sitting on their beat up couch next to Oak’s half eaten Lucky Charms. So apparently Vivi, Taryn, AND HEATHER are waiting for them in the forest. They bullied their way into the rescue operation by refusing to tell the high king where Jude was unless they could come.

Jude, difficult as usual, is like “Neat. You can’t rescue me yet. I need to free the Ghost from his torture cave first.”

Cardan is like “Can you FOR ONCE just let someone RESCUE you without being DIFFICULT?”

She’s like “No. Help me get this key from Grimsen.”

And he says “Okay.” (Whispers: “I love you so much”)

So the Roach, Jude, and Cardan sneak into Grimsen’s forge to get the key. Jude totally doesn’t notice how good Cardan is at sneaking around, nor how good he looks in those pants.

Before they left, the Roach told Cardan he could come on the dangerous mission if he promised to leave if they got discovered. Cardan is like Oh my god FIIIINE why does everyone make me promise thiiiings. Stupid fucking promise magic.

He also made a promise to Jude that if she returned with him to Elfhame, and told him what she needs to tell him, he’ll un-exile her. So Jude is like HOT DAMN YES.

They break into the forge, get the key, and immediately trip a booby trap. Some darts fly out of the wall and Cardan instinctively protects Jude with his cloak that is basically bulletproof. They look at each other as if they’re surprised at this, because they are having a little fight where they can’t figure out who betrayed who, if at all. GOD THESE KIDS ARE SO STUPID I LOVE THEM.

Well the romantic moment gets ruined because the Roach is down with a dart. Cardan carries him and Jude is like “BRB I GOTTA TELL MY SISTERS TO LEAVE or they’ll get caught” (The knights are scrambling now in response to the alarm). Cardan, who is honor-bound to return to Elfhame is like “Fine. Fuck. Fine. Damnit.” And leaves his woman, who totally does NOT go to her sisters, but runs to the cave to get Locke. AND IN THE CAVE, SHE FINDS MADDOCK WAITING FOR HER.

She’s like “When did you figure out it was me?” and he says “Later than I would have liked.” — apparently it was the way she looked at the BOATS on the MAP in his tent that tipped him off, which is kind of a slight to Taryn more than anything lol

Jude refuses to surrender, and knowing all she has is a dagger, she runs off into the snowy woods and does a halfway decent job of defending herself, but ultimately gets stabbed in the stomach. Maddock is kind of surprised at this too, and he even seems like he’s going to spare her life until an ARROW flies out of nowhere and into his chest. Vivi, Taryn, and GRIMA MOG (not Heather) show up and threaten him. So they let him retreat back to his army.

Jude is like “Ya’ll I don’t feel so good.” And collapses, asking Taryn to stitch her side. While she’s on the ground, she remembers that she is a queen and tries to heal herself with the land… however one does that… but it totally works because it heals up enough. And when she stands up there are flowers everywhere, because that’s a fun side effect of being royal.

Maddock said he sent the Ghost after Cardan, so Jude leaves Grima Mog to protect her sisters and rushes off to the palace to stop “Garret” (his real name!) before he can kill Cardon.

She climbs up in the rafters, which is the Ghost’s favorite killing place, and is watching Cardan and everyone below when the Bomb climbs up in the rafters too, and AIMS AT JUDE. Jude realizes that Maddock tricked her, and sent her there to look like SHE is the one trying to kill Cardan. So she dodges the Bomb’s arrow and FALLS straight onto the banquet table.

There’s this cute part where Jude croaks “I lost your cloak.”

And Cardan is like “You’re a fucking filthy mortal liar.” In front of everyone, which stings. Jude thinks he believes she was trying to assassinate him too. We all know it’s cause he’s pissed she keeps putting herself in danger after promising she won’t.

The court is demanding her death, because they love dinner and a show, and Cardan says “DON’T TOUCH HER. That’s my wife.”

Jude passes out. Wakes up in Cardan’s bed with him being super sweet and tending to her. Passes out some more. Wakes up naked and gross so she takes a bath. Sees her sisters, who are super happy she is alive (I love the sisters, even stupid Taryn).

After they leave, Cardan arrives, which is sweet. Then the Bomb shows up with a medical tray, and says to him “you should leave.”

And he’s like “I’m not leaving. This is my room. And she is MY wife!”

Bomb: “I know, you keep telling EVERYONE. But I need to take our her stitches and you probably don’t want to see that.”

Jude goes “Maybe he wants to stay and watch me scream.”

And Cardan says “Maybe I do. Maybe one day you’ll do that for me.” And touches her head and LEAVES. AHHHHHH!!!!!

Jude gets her stitches out. Later, Cardan comes to fetch her because the Living Council wants to talk to her. But they take a detour to the rose garden for these two stupid idiots to work out their issues. Jude is like “I’M STILL PISSED THAT YOU EXILED ME.”

Cardan: “I wrote you letters?? Every day?? The contents of which were BEGGING YOU TO COME HOME. Also? I very explicitly said that you were banished until pardoned by the crown. You are also the crown. You could have pardoned yourself and come back any time you wanted.”

Jude slaps him lol. Smears his cute gold shit he wears around his cheekbones.

SHE IS PISSED. And again. They are so dumb. But I love them.

Cardan explains that he never thought she was capable of breaking? Or being sad? Or being defeated? In his eyes she’s like this immortal warrior demon that he wants to make love to all day. So he thought he was proposing a fun riddle for her to work out. Like Jude would show up any day now like “Hah! Good trick to make Orla think you were an ally. Let’s conquer the world, babe.” — instead Jude fell into a DEEP depression and ate fish sticks for a few months, all the while Cardan’s shitty MOM was keeping his letters from reaching her.

Jude feels embarrassed and foolish and in typical Jude fashion, does not handle this well.

She goes off on a tangent about how she’s not an immortal warrior demon, she’s SCARED all the time. Scared of this world and of powerlessness and of CARDAN. It’s a cute exchange and sweet things are said, but none of which are explicit. Will you idiots shut up and kiss already??? GAWD.

Jude goes and talks to Lady Asha who is languishing in her bed over the trauma of watching HER fall off the rafters. Jude basically hears this woman talk shit about her son who “was difficult to love” and sasses her something fierce, then leaves.

A knight comes and finds Jude and tells her that Nicasia is in the throne room with a bunch of soldiers. When Jude gets there, Cardan is holding her hand and speaking closely with her (OH SNAP) - but nothing weird is going on. They’re just friends and he’s comforting her because MADDOCK SHOT HER MOM WITH SOME KIND OF MAGIC BULLET. And she’s not dead but is in a coma. So Nicasia has to leave and make sure no one tries to unthrone her mom.

Jude puts two and two together that it was the Ghost that probably shot the sea queen. He’s out there running around being all crazy under Maddock’s control. Jude is interrupted from her council meeting by a messenger saying Taryn needs to meet with her immediately in Hallow Hall (which is weird).

So she gets up to leave but Cardan is like “I’ll come too.” and he looks at her so innocently (but also knowing this annoys her) and off they go TOGETHER in a carriage. There, they find Taryn in Balekin’s gross dungeon with the GHOST who she has trapped in a hole. He tells them it was HE who shot Orla, and we also learn the Ghost’s true name (Larkin Gorm Garrett).

The Ghost tries to kill Cardan, but Taryn uses his name to say “Hey, cut it out. You’re free of any previous orders.” and he’s just like “AUGH THANK GOD.” – Jude hands the Ghost aka Garrett over to the Bomb’s custody, and on the carriage ride back, Cardan is being adorable and asking Taryn about the human world. She tells him about slushies and gummy bears. You know, basic human stuff.

Cardan escorts the Ghost to the Bomb, but never comes to bed that night. Which makes Jude sad.

The next day, Randalin bursts in on Jude, and is like “Your dad is such a dick! And he’s being a dick because you’re the queen. Step down and make this easier on all of us.”

And Jude says “No, fuck you.”

And Cardan comes in and in the most elegant, royal way possible, drags his advisor into another room to threaten his life for insulting Jude. It’s very cute.

But Ranndal makes a good point. The lower courts are starting to assemble at the palace because word on the street is that Maddock is going to challenge Cardan to a duel for the crown, and they are either here to show their support or usher in a new king. It’s all very shaky right now.

But in true Faerie fashion, they’re like “Let’s throw a party to celebrate everyone coming into town!”

Jude wears a gold dress with like… battle-esque looking leather shoulder pads and chain-mail lookin accents. She looks like a badass, and this is made even better when Cardan gives a toast at the party that is like “Welcome everyone. To you I offer my honey and wine and to any traitors or oath breakers, I offer you my queen’s hospitality instead. The hospitality of knives.” and everyone is like hahahaha cheers (Jude included)-- meanwhile she’s sipping her cup like “Hah yes it’s true, I will murder you all without batting a eyelash.”

Heather and Vivi are also there with Oak and having a good time considering they have some stupid deal where when they go back to the human world, they’re going to break up and Vivi will erase Heather’s memory. It’s even sadder because Heather seems to be regretting it and Vivi seems to be all about it. Jude is like… when I’m done with this whole “murdering my cat dad before he can murder my king husband” thing, this is next on the list.

OKAY.

OKAY….

So like… after the party…

Jude and Cardan go back to their bedroom, and this is the cutest fucking scene. They start making out and it’s getting super steamy up in there– Cardan picks her up against the wall, and the second she shows any sort of hesitation, he’s like “Okay we don’t have to.” (So sweet) But Jude is like no no, I’m cool. One sec. And she steps into her closet to compose herself, because she hates how inexperienced she is and how he’s an expert.

So this badass bitch gets completely naked, and steps out of the closet just to see the look on his face. Then she kneels and asks if this is what he imagined she’d be like when he thought about her obsessively in Hallow Hall. He’s like um yes. Exactly this. But with more groveling.

“So what did I do?” she asks.

“I imagined you telling me to do with you whatever I liked.” - he says, kind of mortified and scared of her. Like this is such a cute vulnerable moment from him where she has his heart in the palm of her hand. And yay Jude for discovering her sexy self, which like every other personality trait of hers, is also terrifying. Cardan’s into it though. And they have very sexy sex on the floor, which is fucking adorable and sweet and I love it so much, and I also know this means something TERRIBLE is about to happen.

(This was in Chapter 21 by the way!)

In Chapter 22, Maddock finally shows up. He wants to come parlay as per traditional fru fru tradition. The Bomb is like “How about this? How about I shoot him with an arrow?” and Cardan’s like “Nah, I’m not a coward. But I’m not going to duel him either.” – So everyone is just hanging out gathering for this like spectators. Even Vivi, Heather, and Oak who REALLY shouldn’t be there and I’m surprised everyone is okay with this. While they’re getting ready to have the parlay, Jude and Cardan have a little moment.

Before they go out there, Cardan comes out and says that he LOVES HER, and walks away all cool before she can reply, which drives her nuts. Jude realizes she’s loved him for a long time. She loved him before they got married. AUGH so SWEET.

Maddock comes in there like “Duel me. Lookit my big sword made by this master smith. I’ll even let you use it.”

Cardan’s like “I’m not going to fucking duel you, dude. And you better put that fucking sword down in my throne room, kay thanks.”

“Want me to put it down? Okay.” And he DRIVES the sword into the ground, which causes an earthquake so strong it makes the throne cut in half. Like this hundnreddsss year old throne that Cardan’s family has been protecting for generations, just destroyed. God Maddock is an ASSHAT.

Then Maddock starts spewing his shit like “Do you think your people actually care about you? Like your stupid murdered family ever cared about you? The only reason you accepted the crown was because you so desperately wanted to be accepted by your family. Your subjects don’t even like you. My army is super loyal. You suck. DUEL ME OR I KILL THE SEA QUEEN with my magic bullet that moves if I tell it to.”

Cardan has this interesting introspective moment and says “A king is not his crown. You’re right that loyalty or love shouldn’t be forced. But Elfhame shouldn’t be won or lost on a wager, either. You fuckin weird bloodthirsty old man.”

Cardan CRACKS THE BLOOD CROWN IN HALF and is like “The people shouldn’t swear loyalty to a crown. They should support the king they want to support. Your choice is your own.”

And boom, democracy is born in Elfhaim.

The folk are bowing their heads and nodding, totally on board the Cardan train. But then Grimsen interrupts everything by FREAKING OUT about his precious crown and how upset he is that it’s broken.

Jude remembers that everything Grimsen makes is cursed, just as Cardan’s eyes turn black, and the roses over the throne turn black, and his eyes start fucking BLEEDING BLACK and before she knows it, her adoring husband from the night before TURNS INTO A GIANT FUCKING BLACK SNAKE!!!!! *Pterodactyl scream* NNOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Grimsen says “It will poison the land. No true love’s kiss will stop it. No riddle will fix it. Only death.”

Maddock jumps on the opportunity and wants to kill the snake. Jude is like the FUCK you will. Her army seizes Maddock and his little posse. Snake Cardan bites and kills Grimsen, which kind of solidifies that his brain isn’t in there, because Cardan is very much against murdering people. It’s just pure chaos up in the throne room. There’s a cute part where Oak tries to save his mother with a little toy sword. Everyone runs away and the snake gets stabbed a little by Maddock but is okay, and it curls around the throne as Jude is dragged out the room.

Babygirl has herself a much-deserved panic attack. Grima Mog is like “Get a hold of yourself” and Jude says “I fucking will. I’m going to stand up. I’m going to be okay in a minute.” Grima is like “I know you will be.”

I like Grima Mog. I like her even though she’s like a bloodthirsty cannibal. What is it with this book and making me really like murderers?????

Alright so Jude immediately swings into badass bitch mode. Calls the Bomb. Tells her to go get intel on who out there is plotting her assassination and who is vying for the crown. She says not to ask questions. Murder anyone who looks like they’re trying to murder her. The Bomb is like yep. Roger that. Calls her sister in. Tells Taryn she’s good at decorating things (like Locke’s house of debauchery). Asks her to make up a room to act as a throne room where she can talk to people and be scary and intimidating. Taryn is like yep. On it. She tells Grima Mog she is the new army general, because she doesn’t like the guy Cardan chose.

Jude gets all set up in her makeshift throne room since the real one is currently being guarded by a huge fucking snake. She sees the Living Council in there and starts planning on what to do about Maddock and his stupid fucking army and all of the courts that are currently splintering off trying to figure out who to be loyal to. She calls in Baphen and tells him to consult the stars for a way to cure Cardan. The Living Council is like “we should just kill the snake” and Jude is like “We’re not fucking killing the snake. Focus on Maddock.” So they talk that out and rally the troops.

Eventually the snake gets out lol it gets through the crack in the floor, and then runs around the land for a little bit doing snake stuff.

Wherever it touches rots and turns black. And people have gotten it in their heads that whoever slays the snake gets to be king, so it keeps getting attacked and killing indiscriminately. But eventually, it comes BACK because apparently the throne room is its den now. It curls around the broken throne and it’s snowing in there. The weather outside is also nuts and thunderstormy and hailing.

After her meeting, Jude enters the throne room and tries her hand at talking to the snake. She tries to see if there’s any recognition in its golden eyes, but there doesn’t seem to be. She tries to call on the land to heal him, but nothing happens. There’s a sweet part where she says out loud “Take my crown. Take my power. Take whatever you need, just heal him. Please.” — and even though the land or magic doesn’t answer her, I hope somewhere in there, Cardan heard her.

Okay so the prophecy said… that if Cardan ever came into the crown, the throne and the crown would be destroyed. But the prophecy also said that only if his blood is spilled, would a truly perfect leader emerge. I THINK this means that Jude is eventually going to have to slay the snake.

Jude hangs out in the snowy throne room with the snake for like HOURS until the Bomb comes. The snake has gotten used to Jude’s presence and doesn’t seem to want to attack her, so that’s something. It’s still impossible to tell if Cardan is in there though. I mean it doesn’t react to his name.

Anyway the Bomb says “Hi. I killed a ton of people that were plotting against you. You wanna come out of the snake room now?” And Jude says “Okay.” Just as Grima Mog comes back with word that Maddock wants to talk.

So they move her whole complicated throne set up outside because Jude is livid and doesn’t want these people anywhere near her fucking home and her cursed husband. I don’t know if I mentioned it earlier, but the people from the Court of Teeth are weird. They’re like ice faeries and they have this little girl who is their queen, but she’s just a puppet for her parents who keep her on a literal bridle. When they get there, the bridle is gone, but her skin is all scarred from where it was. And she’s in these horrible chains that look just as painful. Maddock shows up with that lovely family and isn’t wearing any armor.

He’s like “Hey. I never wanted to kill you. I actually quite like you. You wanna strike a deal? I’ll give you this bridle so you can control your snake husband. It was made by Grimsen and gives you complete control over whoever you want to restrain. That way you can remain queen and make sure your snake stops running around rotting the earth and killing anyone who tries to pierce its apparently impervious scales.”

Jude is like “You threw a bunch of men at it and figured out it’s unstoppable, didn’t you? What are you up to?”

“Make Oak marry this tiny icy abused child and you get the bridle.” Maddock says.

AND TO MY SHOCK AND HORROR, Jude is like “Okay.” — well she agrees to accepting the bridle on the terms that the war should be put on hold and it’s better for everyone if there isn’t a deadly toxic snake running around.

She doesn’t agree to the marriage. She agrees to have a bridling… event? Where she is going to attempt to bridle the snake, and if she wins then yay. If she fails and it kills her, then the armies are all gathered and can duke it out. She thinks Maddock is trying to rule through her the way she ruled through Cardan. Oh gosh I hope she’s up to something and not actually considering putting that thing on the snake. That night, she throws a wadded up paper into the ocean that says “If you ever loved him, help me.”

Jude and the Bomb have a sweet convo and Jude goes to try to help the Roach, who is still poisoned. When Jude sees him, she’s horrified to find that he’s not just sleeping, he’s having like… nightmares. She tries to heal him, but the earth magic won’t come. The Ghost, who is part of the gang again (yay!) tells her not to force it, just let it come. AND IT DOES! The roach is back and confesses his love to the Bomb and it’s fucking adorable.

Jude takes the bridle to that old hag lady that once tried to trick Cardan into marrying her daughter. Now she’s good I guess haha. The hag tells her that if she followed the instructions Lord Nell or whatever his name is gave her, and tied her hair around the bridle, then she would have been bound to the snake as well. Basically, it was a trick that would have trapped both Jude and snake Cardan into servitude. Thank god she found this out.

Jude also visits Heather in the library who is researching snake-themed faerie tales looking for a clue. Heather tells her that she struck a deal with Vivi that when they go back to the human world, her memories will be erased. But Vivi will have to meet her again and win back her love. But do it properly this time and be honest about the faerie shit from the get-go. And if Heather falls in love with her despite that, she’ll get all her memories back. That’s super freaking sweet I love them.

There’s like a banquet before the snake bridling.

And Jude is doing her best to be a badass queen and make speeches, but she’s so nervous. She gets through it though. Her and Nicasia have this super sweet moment (after Kaye, Roiben’s lady punches her) where Nicasia is like “I know you’re a bloodthirsty monster who is only using Cardan for his power, but please save him. I beg of you.”

And Jude actually CRIES with her and says “Tell me the riddle I must solve. Tell me what to slay. What to sacrifice. And it’s done. I’ll do anything to free him. I promise you.” And they just stand there, two enemies, crying together and realizing how much they love this poor cursed snake boi.

Taryn and Vivi find a chest with some badass silver armor made for a woman, so Jude wears that to the big “snake bridling event” that is happening out in the woods somewhere.

The snake is out. Doing it’s thing. Turning the land to shit. The armies are gathered on either side, and everyone is watching Jude and waiting to see what happens. Will she bridle the snake or will she be eaten? It’s growing bigger too, so by now, it could swallow a car.

Jude has some internal monologue… where she actually wonders if bridling him is the right thing to do. She has no idea how to break the curse. This way, Cardan wouldn’t have to die. He’d be trapped as a poisonous snake forever, but at least he’d be by her side. But she also remembers what Cardan said before he got cursed. That no one should be forced to swear their love or allegiance. That’s the kind of thing you should decide for yourself. And she remembers that Cardan said something along the lines of “I was on my way to becoming Balekin. Becoming a monster. If I ever go down that path again, I want it to be you that ends me.” — SO SHE CUTS OFF THE SNAKE’S HEAD.

HE DEAD. There is blood EVERYWHERE.

And the second she does this, fighting breaks out. It’s just a bloodbath all around while Jude is in shock. Maddock’s army gets defeated because Nicasia shows up with the sea. But instead of trying to kill Jude, Maddock comes to help her up.

He tells her “You’ve already won. Look.” And turns her around to the snake where a bright golden light has emerged. And out of it steps naked-ass Cardan covered in blood and looking regal as hell.

“Only when his blood is shed will a great ruler emerge”

BOOM. He calls for the fighting to end and Jude runs and hugs him. They hang on to each other and it’s so sweet. THE BEST REUNION.

Someone literally is like “Welcome back, King! Here, you want this cloak?”

And Cardan goes “Nah. I haven’t worn clothes in days.”

And literally rides buck ass naked in the carriage, covered in blood. HAH. Like. Yeah nudity is a thing in Faerie world but alrighty. Here we go. Cardan is back and he’s not messing around.

Everybody gets a bath. The general mood is SO HAPPY and celebratory. There’s a big ole banquet where Cardan and Jude slip away to the pretty glowing mushroom room behind the throne (which he fixed with his magic and split into 2 chairs). They finally have a moment alone, and Jude blurts out “I love you.”

He’s like “You don’t have to say that out of pity.” — which breaks my heart. That he STILL thinks she hates him so much that she seriously never will love him. And he’s CONTENT with just being with her even if it’s just for power.

But Jude launches into this awesome, fumbling speech about how she liked him ever since they went out together during the revelrie, and he helped her learn about each court and how to win them over. She says being around him is fun. And walks through their whole history together to help him understand that despite her being a cold, unfeeling monster, she loves him to pieces.

And they kiss. And it’s fucking adorable.

Jude also asks him what it was like being a snake and he says it was hella weird. He definitely had an animal brain. And was filled with fear and strife and a feral instinct to kill indiscriminately. But he says, he knew Jude. That’s why he was calm when she came and sat with him. He always knew her. (Awww!!!)

The next day they have a formal coronation. Apparently 2 people have never ruled together. It’s always a king or queen who has a bunch of consorts. But they get the ceremony where the court gets asked if they accept their king and queen, and everyone says yes because Cardan is awesome and Jude is scary. But they like scary. Then they get to give out BOONS to all of the people that were loyal or traitorous.

Grima Mog gets to keep the earth-shattering sword and continue to be general. Taryn gets cleared of all charges even though she totally fucking murdered her husband. The ice princess with the bridle scars gets freed and her parents get put in her custody. And she gives a creepy shark-toothed grin that makes Jude think maybe her parents were keeping her in chains for a reason. But that’s their problem!

Maddock gets brought in and Jude sentences him to live in the mortal world for the rest of his days, and to forget the name he knows (she’s talking about the Ghost’s name). I like that her and Maddock totally come to this agreement. He’s like “Yeah, okay I lost. You’re absolutely a badass. I hate losing but I’m also pretty proud”. I think he was really sad when he thought he killed her. So this is a better punishment than getting executed for sure. Oriana decides to go with him and Oak is excited because he loves the mortal world and now his parents are going to live there too. YAY!

I love how this book ends. It ends with Jude and Cardan flying home with Vivi and Oak to the real world. And they find Cardan some normal clothes (a tshirt over his black pants) and they have a cute little party at Vivi’s apartment.

Heather is there and puts up a sign that is like “Congrats Newlyweds!” And says “Vivi has told me some wild things about ya’ll!” Jude just hugs her. They also got them a cake with little gummy snakes sprinkled on it. And Oak takes them to pick up pizza.

Heather also got everyone paper crowns, and there’s this cute part where Cardan tilts his paper crown at an angle, like he used to wear the Blood Crown and it makes Jude laugh. The book ends with them toasting to a new future, and pizza, and friends, and Cardan says “To scheming great schemes.”

I love that this is where we leave them. In casual real world clothes wearing paper crowns and eating gummy snakes.

Boy, I loved this book. I love the world building. I love the slow burn romance. The sexy times. I love that Holly Black makes me like and cheer for this cold hard bitch Jude. I love that Cardan, who at one time was SO NOT LIKEABLE it was CRAZY became one of my favorite characters in fiction.

I loved when that heel turn happened, when he was a prisoner of the spies, and was so cute and charming. We all fell in love with him at the same time Jude did.

Then we spent 2 books watching Jude be a complete idiot and be the last one in the world to realize how much he loved her. And how much she loved him. She loved him more than power, which was her single solitary goal this whole time.

This mortal girl overtook a bunch of magical immortals and it was completely believable and fun and baffling. Damn I can see why Holly Black is so highly regarded. That was SO GOOD. I am going to need a few days to digest this.

I just keep thinking of them all happy and celebrating together over pizza and paper crowns. EEEEE!!!

Deadass Rating: 9.5/10

#cruel prince #jude x cardan #queen of nothing #folk of the air #cardan greenbriar #books & libraries #currently reading #fiction #literature #writers #the wicked king #holly black #jurdan #deadass book reviews #book reviews #book recommendations

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the---hermit · 1 year

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The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

I read this book because I wanted to read a lighter fantasy novel to get me in the mood to actually continue The Witcher book series, plus I was intrigued by how many people love this book. It was not good, I really did not enjoy my time with it. I will admit part of this is on me, because I know that YA isn't usually my jam, but I wanted to give it a try, and sometimes I do like some YAs. This was not the case. Firstly a bit on the plot, although if you have been online for the past couple of years you probably have seen this book everywhere. We follow Jude, a human girl, who was brought to Faerie alongside her twin sister and their older half sister who is part fae. The focus of the book is famously enermies to lovers trope that happens between Jude and Cardan, a young prince of this land. The romance part of the book is very little, which I liked, as the plot tries to focus on the political aspect of things in Faerie. The thing I disliked the most was the main character, I really did not like her. She falls under the not-like-other-girls cathegory and is overall so annoying. Her way of narrating everything was frustrating, she always played the victim in every scenario, it was a painful experience to read. Of course me disliking the MC so much does not help at all my overall opinion of the book, but there's a few more things I didn't like. I felt like the narration sometimes was a bit weird, there was a few descriptions that were confusing. Avoiding spoilers there's one scene for example in which a character is described to be tied up, but then a couple of their movements are described as they if they were pretty much free, and then again it's said that they are bound. And this is just one example. There's also another thing which I realized at the end, so many actions ofthe MC have zero consequences which makes everything even less believable (I'll talk about it under the cut in the spoiler-y section). I liked the idea of a fantasy novel set in a world of faes, there was potential, but this book was overall not for me. What convinces me of the fact that the story had potential is that at the end I am curious to know how certain things will progress in the next two books, although I hated the main character so much. Another thing I really disliked, and that had a lot of potential in my opinion, is having twin characters. That could have started a really interesting narrative exposing how two similar people can react to the same situation in totally different ways. Instead the overall narration seems from the very beginning to yell at the reader that Jude is the superior sister, because she is a fighter (she is impulsive and has anger problems, which could have also been a great thing to talk about because she has all the rights to be angry, but at the end that's only used to make her "cool"), instead her twin is always exposed as weak, in need of protection, not independent, with no explanation of why she might be like that. What I didn't like is that from the very beginning you can tell that the author didn't think much of this twin, who is just there to oppose Jude and make her the cool edgy one, I guess. I could go on on why I didn't like the book, but I'll stop, I would really love to know what were the reasons people who read this book liked it so much, as I said clearly this book wasn't for me, but if so many people loved it there must be something to it I missed.

As mentioned under the cut there's a small spoiler-y section so consider yourselves warned.

I read this book for the twin character prompt of the winter reading challenge

In this spoiler section I want to explain a bit better what I mean when I say that Jude's actions had no consequences. I am thinking about mainly two scenes. Firstly Jude litteraly commits murder inside her house, the house of a general, and no one hears, but whatever. Let's also skip on how she managed to hide a corpes by herself, which seems highly improbable. There are no consequences to this action other than her getting a couple of bruises and her not having Valerian bother her anymore. No one seems to notice one of the sons of Gentry has disappeard, no one. I understand that the reing is going through a lot, but nor his family or his friends seem to give a shit about him disappearing out of the blue, and of course there's not consequences for Jude. Another action of hers that has zero consequences, and to be honest I have yet to understand how that was useful to the general plot of the book (although it may come up on one of the next novels of the series, but I doubt it), is her kidnapping a human servant from Balekin's palace. She gets this girl out of the place and back to her senses, for no reason, when she is supposed to just spy and lay low, and has her kill herself because of the trauma of realizing what happened to her. We are then told that the girl is brought back to life by those who live in the waters, and that's it, nothing happens. No one realizes this servant has disappeard, which is more believable than the Valerian thing, but this girl being brought back to life has no real impact on Jude. When we learn that she is alive again, I expected some sort of confrontation between the two, something that maybe would have endangered Jude's position, but nope, nothing happens. It would have been the same if the girl remained dead, and it would have been the same if Jude had not tried to save her. It's things like these that contributed to me really not liking the book, because at the end of the day it felt like the book wasn't curated enough, and if it were it could have been much better. Anyway I think I dragged this poor book enough, so I'll stop here.

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justmybookthots · 10 months

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The Stolen Heir

4.5/5 stars

I am shaking as I write this. Ms Holly Black, WHO ARE YOU AND ARE YOU REAL?!?!

In any case, I finally finished this book. After putting it off for months, I made myself start it yesterday—I told myself I must once I was done with Six of Crows—then finished it today. The first time I tried reading it months ago, my brain was caught in a reading slump, and I couldn't get into it. This time, I was immersed. About a third into the book, I couldn't stop turning the pages.

(How BEAUTIFUL is this edition, by the way? I want to get my grubby hands on it so bad)

I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book. I went in with not-high expectations because I felt nothing could best Cruel Prince, which was Holly Black's magnum opus in my opinion—and most of the reviews seemed to echo that they found this installment lukewarm—but now that I've read it, I disagree.

It was like the main gripes I had with Cruel Prince were addressed here. I always found Cardan a little too weak, a little too uninvolved in the storyline compared to Jude, but Oak wasn't like that at all. For one thing, he could fight. I was veritably agape when that was revealed. He was a beast with the sword, and unlike Cardan, he was actually bloodthirsty. He was basically Jude—excellent swordsman, excellent strategist, very manipulative—along with Cardan's strengths: charming, silver-tongued, wry.

I saw reviews complaining that Suren stood out, and Oak did not, and now I can't wrap my head around those reviews.

If anything, Oak hogged the spotlight for the first half of the story for me, a great deal because he was an excellent combatant against their foes. Suren, despite her sharp teeth, was of little use in combat, but that's not to say I disliked her. I do like her, though I have mild gripes with some of her choices and characterisation. For starters, I don't get why she took Oak hostage at the end. I don't like it; it felt irrational and too emotionally driven. The better revenge would just be to send him home to let him stew, and sit with what he'd done. (In her defense, she definitely was emotional. I just wished there was some logic to excuse what she was doing, like trying to seize control of her court using Oak. But I don't get how keeping him hostage would help her with anything other than causing unnecessary war)

She also embodies a major trope I dislike—the Chosen One vibe. One of my criticisms of the story is how glaringly obvious the 'plot twist' was; I saw it coming the moment they introduced the heart. The "unmaking" was such a glaring hint. And the moment the hag talked about making a body out of snow and sticks and animating it somehow? Come on.

But I didn't care. Almost everything else was lovely. Oak's cleverness really made me SCREAM, specifically when he stole the bridle and casually continued his conversation with Suren like he wasn't at all up to no good, as if he hadn't just caught her in the act. And how, without even chasing after her, he got her to walk back to him.

Perhaps a large part of my love for this book is Oak's characterisation. However, I did enjoy the quest storyline, which I know isn't for everyone—but I was having such a blast when they entered the Court of Moths and Suren had to solve those riddles to save the prisoners, followed by Oak's duel and all those machinations surrounding that. The plot only dragged a little when they entered the Stone Forest, which I didn't care for, but once they were inside the Citadel, I was ENGROSSED.

I did not expect the tongue-ripping, and I can't believe Holly Black had the balls to go through with it. I LOVED it.

Also Hyacinth's reappearance made me GAPE. I totally forgot about him, and it was so satisfying seeing that piece of the jigsaw puzzle come to place. (Sorry, my thoughts are all over the place right now.)

(Edit: I also want to mention that the flashbacks to their little moments in the past were so fun to read. And that's coming from someone who generally doesn't like flashbacks in books)

Anyway, I saw someone write that the leads are just another universe's Jude and Cardan. I find that yes, Suren does come off as scheming as Jude, but it's clear she isn't as clever because there's loopholes in her control over Lady Nore. And it's true Oak does have mannerisms very similar to Carden, to the point that I had a hard time reconciling him with the little boy in the original series. But his upbringing is so different—he let himself appear like a coddled, spoiled, weak prince, but he was so much stronger and tougher than that. I love Cardan to fucking pieces and he owns my heart, but Oak was what I always thought an enhanced version of Cardan could be. (Still not sure how I feel about the goat legs, though, lmao. Maybe minus points for that.)

Of course, all this remains to be seen. Oak's characterisation can go downhill in the next book, due to be out next year (how am I supposed to wait?), and I'm in equal parts dreading and looking forward to it. Before I conclude this entry, I do want to say it's interesting to see the leads' roles reversed: Cardan—who has powerful magic—and Jude—a consummate swordswoman—compared to Suren, who has the magic, and Oak, who's excellent with the sword.

I know a lot of people were complaining about the lack of Jude and Cardan in this book, but come on. Oak and Suren captivated me to no end. Still… I think we will almost definitely see Jude next book, when she comes to the Citadel, raging war for Oak.

If Holly Black hadn't cemented herself as one of my favourite authors of all time before I read Stolen Heir, she has now. This was everything I had hoped for, and more.

- 25 July 2023

#stolen heir #the stolen heir #bookish #holly black #the cruel prince #cruel prince #the folk of the air

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cruelprincae · 11 months

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EXTENDED INCORRECT QUOTE OF AZ , MOR & CARDAN IN THE MOVIES ft @veritasumbra ( philo wasn't invited )

cardan: this movie sucks. mor: the movie hasn't even started yet, these are just the trailers. az: yeah, shut up cardan. cardan: what's the movie about ? mor: iceberg. az: . . . what ? cardan: I've already watched the titanic. mor: no, it's about that spy that lives in an iceberg. az: how is that even possible ? mor: ummm, iceberg is a country, az. az: there is no country called iceberg you dumbass ! mor: it's literally on the map ! az: iceberg isn't a country ! cardan: yeah, you clearly don't know your biology mor.

mor: he's gonna get shot. character: *gets shot* mor: told you ! and now he's gonna jump out a window ! mor: he'll probably get back to― az: mor, shut up. mor: what ! I wasn't even talking ! cardan: shut up. mor: don't tell me t― cardan: shut up. mor: that's the rudest― cardan: shut up. vivi: is there a problem here, guys ? cardan: yeah, kick mor out. mor: wow vivi: please keep it down mor:mor: the main character is totally getting punched by this dude cardan & az: MOR ! cardan: I'm gonna slash your tires.

the movie: *plays in the background* cardan: *throws popcorn at az* az: *doesn't react* cardan: *throws another popcorn at az* az: CARDAN STOP. cardan, huffing: I'm not even doing anything. mor: az, clam down. az: he keeps throwing popcorn at me ! cardan: stop acting stupid. az: whatever, I'm just gonna ignore you. cardan: *throws a popcorn at az* az: *doesn't react* cardan: *throws another popcorn at az* az: *doesn't react* cardan: *throws the entire popcorn box at az* az, falling back: OH MY GOD.

cardan: *phone buzzing in his pocket* mor: cardan, is that your phone ? cardan: yeah. az: turn it off ! cardan: no. mor: then put it on silent ! cardan: it will stop soon. az: you're gonna get us kicked out ! turn it off ! cardan: fine. cardan: *checks phone* cardan: omg it's jude ! mor & az, illuminated to the point where their eyes start burning: OH MY GOD. mor: cardan, turn it off ! cardan: let me send this text really quick. az: TURN IT OFF ! cardan: *turns phone off* cardan: cardan: I have to pee. mor: just wait until the movie is over. cardan: I can't. az: then go, but be careful because it's super dark in here― cardan: whatever. cardan, falling: aaah. mor & az: CARDAN ! cardan: *falls down the stairs* cardan: *falls butt first into the last step, gets up and exits* mor: mor: HOW THE FUCK ?

#( 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 ┊ crack )#veritasumbra #( veritasumbra | azriel )#( veritasumbra | morrigan )

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exoticalmonde · 9 months

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The Cruel Prince - Tumblr Book Review (19.08.23)

Hello big and small readers, those who are interested in the books because of the tags and those who enjoy seeing others freak out over something they like as well. Welcome to ExoticAlmonde’s monthly book review, where long after Covid I struggle to get back into reading as much as I used to.

I’m greedy for attention and I want to share with potential bookworms my literary accomplishments between updates about my own works. So, this will become a thing. Might be more often than a month, but the overall goal is to just not let myself go.

To Note:

I’m no good at giving proper judgment over anything, probably that’s where I should start from today. I like way too many things and am soft for obstructive criticism in the sense - I feel the need to immediately praise something good even if I share something unsavory about it prior.

Some of the works I will be talking about are translated into my mother tongue, so sometimes there could be differences between the tone and scenario that took place and how I personally understood it.

So with all of that in mind, here’s what I think about this month’s book - The Cruel Prince (from the series ‘The Folk of the Air’) by Holly Black.

ATTENTION: Spoilers

How I obtained the Book:

The Cruel Prince.

It was definitely popular back in my day when it came out in 2019. The first time I tried to read it actually was the first time I went to the seaside with a group of friends. We had just graduated and it was the first year of uni behind my back. I felt more accomplished than I ever realized I would feel.

I actually got it in English the first time. My first book in English was ‘Assassin’s creed Black Flag’ but this was the second one. It’s because me and mother Almonde love reading the same style, so it’s not befitting to get a book I know she would like in a language she doesn’t understand when I know she’d want it.

A guy friend of mine brought HIS in my mother tongue. So, then, over the course of being at the beach my friend and I realized that we would prefer the others' book. And we switched.

So that is how I ended up collecting the full series in my mother tongue. The last three weeks. I’ve had the Second book for a while but the Third was actually a very insecure obtainment. I didn’t know if I will like it, so—

Ah, but there is no shame in that, considering I got to read it much, much later. Much... Much after the hype train.

How long did it take to read:

I grabbed it anew on the 29th of June for another seaside escapade. Unfortunately my friend had a lot of plans for me, so I never get to reading it in depth the way I wanted. 60 pages in, I had to leave it behind between errands and then picked it up on the 14th of August. All 337 pages read for a total of 4 days.

Book cover and alternatives:

The cover of the version I have is this, except the synapsis is different for mine because that is how differences between translated versions work.

Here is what it says:

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Alternatively, this book cover pops up when you look it up.

Personally, I have a gripe with white book covers like these because they turn yellow way too quickly. Mayhaps it's how they produce them here. I'm also more interested in soft covers because seriously, hard covers are like +10 in any currency. For every 4 of those I could get 1 for free.

That aside, I adore the font, the barren branches and the beetle. It's, I think, photoshopped together pretty nicely. Though after being spoiled with original commissioned art for other writers' novels it's lackluster but overall memorable. You see this and think 'Yeah, Cruel Prince'.

‘If you are so imaginative what would you have for the book cover then, Eve?’

Glad you asked. I have no idea. I’m biased towards the works of Charlie Bowater, so there are some scenes from the book that might look fantastic involving the main duo. Actually, my only gripe is the crown. I probably need to re-check and come back to this paragraph but I thought the crown itself is made out of branches/thorns and the one on the cover is…

Mm, with that said, I haven't seen any interviews with the writer, so maybe she has explained why she chose that but OVERALL - memorable and it looks good when all three books of the series (four, as of now) are put together.

Actually, it's impressive that it's the same crown all around. That's really nice.

The story:

As stated, The Cruel Prince tells the horrible tale of a pair of twins - named Jude and Taryn Duarte - who were kidnapped from their family home and were dragged into the fairy realm by their mothers' ex husband Madoc.

Who was, understandably, absolutely enraged she disappeared back into the human realm, remarried and got two new kids, since he was actually made to think their home burned down and found two corpses - that of a woman and a child.

He did have a child with her initially. It's very difficult for female elves to carry an offspring, so eventually you learn that many would pick up a human wife to keep the population going. Her name is Vivienne. The kid.

And like with any fairytale you learn that fae folk are very unaccomodating to people. So we got:

Magic fruit

Salting all food to break magic food as a must

Music that makes humans dance until they die of exhaustion

Wine that makes them fantastically drunk

Magic spells to control humans

Brainwashing humans into thinking they are somewhere nice (human trafficing)

Overall racism towards humans is roiling because they are mortal, easy to kill and utterly unimportant and numerous in the face of the better, prettier, more elegant and rich fae.

Jude sticks out as a person who is very selfless and headstrong. She's stubborn as a muel for what she wants and she knows exactly what she deserves. This girl wants to be a Knight in the fae lands and wants to embrace a part of this life she's grown to love-hate despite the bloody past her childhood is matted with.

Apart from that, she remains very human in the emotional sense. She's afraid and knows it, so to survive she hides it behind an infuriating facade of striving that sometimes brings more bad than good. Simple and easy, yet she keeps slipping. Accident after accident, after a couple bully scenes and after belittlement you can see she's getting affected by it because deep down, yeah, she wants to be like them since they're obviously better. When surrounded by all this negativity and being uncontrollably different it's much easier to submit to the mass opinion of your flawed nature. And through the story it's potentially getting better due to a small turn of events.

Her ability to don dresses and dance and still come out and think 'Wow, can't wait to wear armor' is a classic and worn-down state of girlhood in teen books but that's exactly what I read it for. Jude is famous for a specific look of hers and even a certain artist comes to mind when it comes to the look of ‘Jude’, however I’m really curious to see what her other dressed looked like: the one she wore to the crowning ceremony and the one she wore to the other crowning ceremony where it actually worked out.

Contrary to her desire for military accomplishment, her sister wants to fall in love with somebody and be a part of the fae the other way you can imagine - marriage. We even learn she has somebody who has been wooing her and for a split moment you feel like 'Okay sounds good if it works out' but you know it might not. All throughout the book any note of love between species is a little off in a way and with such a dramatical start... You aren't sure you want that now.

Madoc leaves me in shambles.

Maybe with him I shall introduce the world of the fae which is full of any folk creature you can probably imagine like bog spirits, fairies and half-person half-creature people.

We've got kelpies, we have selkies, trolls, goblins, we have redcaps. And not the type of red caps you can imagine (like me - thinking garden gnomes), but red cap comes from these types of fae that relish dipping their special li'l hat in their victims' blood. To make it reddish brown.

That happened to Jude's mother. It will happen again. Madoc keeps it under a glass cover like some relic. He freaks me out but he is also obviously some type of father figure. Jude reminds us every time something happens that he DOES love them as his own children, he does what he thinks is best for them and gives each of the sisters their individual type of training. Jude being more combat and tactical planning while Taryn gets their stepmom Orianna to teach her etiquette and elegance of the fae.

The fae lands are also split into many types of kingdoms, the main one of which the ruling Kingdom of family Greenbriar.

Dark fae, Light fae, Under-The-Sea fae, you name it.

But I suppose it's important to note that not all fae are against people.

You could find some of them being genuine lovers. Some of them eat chinese take out together. Some fae would rather live in the human world - like Vivianne who has a girlfriend there.

DID I MENTION, this is tagged LGBTQ? Well, it is. We have all kinds of couples happening and it's endlessly endearing.

We also have romance that Jude can indulge in with a man named Locke, whose foxian eyes and smooth talk is way too enticing to look away from, especially when he’s been treating her better than Cardan’s group for long enough to earn the benefit of the doubt.

But in book one, we get to have a real look mainly at Jude and her arch nemesis, the youngest prince of the High King, Cardan Greenbriar.

He is the cruel prince. It's about their hate between them, about their incapability to sit together in class without him being fussy or some kind of nuisance. Him, and his band of high faelings, who have absolutely nothing better to do than get high off golden pollen, wine and bully the life out of Jude.

During a contest where knights have to prove themselves in front of the royal family, Jude arrives, without the blessing of Madoc. She's allowed to participate but not compete for the attention she has so much desired and it’s crushing to watch.

From time to time it really gets me with how it feels like a kid anticipating asking a parent for approval. And even when refusing to allow her to compete over dinner Madoc isn't cruel or mean. He explains why she's not allowed to do that and she reluctantly follows his command in spite of me expecting she will not.

After winning though on her side of friendly spars and games, Jude encounters Cardan and they have a little carfuffle. That's what gets the second eldest brother Dain into Mardoc's office.

But instead of scolding her, he offers a position. Work from the shadows. Work for Dain. And when he is on the throne she will be able to have a title and the comfort she wants. Overall Dain’s character reveals a good and worthy king to the fa nation who would be such a better option than Cardan or his other brother that’s interested in the power.

So through that we get invited into a bizarre world of underground, almost found family-esque group of people, all without a proper name:

- The Roach

- The Bomb

- The Ghost

Jude's yet to earn her title, so they call her by her name most of the time. She's a fast learner and suddenly she belongs. Juggling with sneaking out, learning more battle tactics with Madoc, ingesting poisons for immunity and different other exercises with the gang alongside going to school and doing as well as to not rouse attention... Wow, sounds like me.

Gym, school, food poisoning, meeting family. The cycle continues, am I right?

But with all great things come the problems.

You see, the High King is getting old and he's experiencing some vague sense of probably dying, so there's a Ball that's going to happen in some time. The crown of this High King is inherited only by whoever he thinks deserves it. And since the crown is sacred and cursed, nobody can put it on if it was not bestowed by a direct descendant.

Everything lead to Dain being the future ruler. everybody supported him, including Madoc who is a very good friend of his, his entire family, the guard, other fae and Jude, who has also been allowing others to assume the reason Dain is visiting her so often is because she has some sort of intimate interest in him.

Well, in truth, it’s not really like that.

Jude, through her time of training, went through a lot. She managed to sneak into the first eldest prince’s castle and stole a letter from his office. Unfortunately there she encountered a scene which I think would entirely change the way she views Cardan.

You see, he’s getting abused there. Struck with a stick until he can’t get up from the floor, belittled, all because he has been showing subzero interest in using a sword, or learning how to use one in general.

His words about how he doesn’t want to be a murderer will echo back some day, but for now it’s just a very dramatic and unfortunate scene. Makes you want to pity him. Bullies always come from a difficult place, otherwise why even put up the effort in being a disturbance.

Beforehand, Jude had snuck into Cardan’s bedroom by mistake and accidentally found a book she’s been missing from the human world - Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. She steals it from him because why would he even care about that book right? He hates humans, it shows with every word, look and gesture.

After returning from that mission Jude realizes that things aren’t as simple as that. In that book was tucked all the evidence she needed to understand just how deep Greenbirar’s hatred towards her specifically ran.

That’s the least of her problems. Suddenly one of Cardan’s cronies - Valerian - turns out way too vengeful out of nowhere. He almost kills Jude once, orders her through magic to commit suicide (which Dain had enchanted her to not be affected by since that was one of her conditions when she wore to follow his commands) and then in a fit of drunked rage had crawled through her window and attempted to murder her himself.

The outcome of that fight was traumatic to say the least. And it all comes from Cardan probably getting tired of Jude’s existence overall.

And that is enough to distract us from anything else that was brewing around Jude until the focal point - Madoc’s betrayal. He actually sided with the eldest son, Balekin, to seize the throne. In one night, more than half of the Greenbriar family has been murdered because everybody from the youngest sisters to the King and his Consort refused to crown this fratricide.

Jude was not supposed to be there. Her family had been escorted outside the ballroom before anything while she was stuck in the crowd and witnessed everything. Mind reeling, she realizes that Cardan, in a blink, would become the most anticipated person to show up at the party.

Of course he’s gone. Drunk in some corner and probably not even knowing what’s happening. That’s the opinion we’d all have after 200 pages of ‘What’s his problem’ scenarios. In the end, Cardan is the one who finds Jude hiding under a couple tables because in the outside elves are continuously partying despite the stench of blood and the presence of royal bodies on the podium.

They make for the exit and end up in the hideout Dain had prepared for his shadows. Except, she’s not even there to help. It turns into helping after a couple conversations since the long and twisted tale of the royal family and all that happens in the shadows spills out only when Cardan is tied to a chair with an arrow pointed at his heart.

Consorts poisoned, child murder and the King toyed with believing Dain is the better option - this entire story is not at all as clean. Cardan wants nothing to do with the throne. All he wants is to live peacefully somewhere away from here and to drink himself into oblivion while nobody ever looks for him. He’s not a threat to the throne but he is a pawn.

While devising the plan Jude goes back home to Madoc as if nothing happened, because she wanted to know just how much any side is willing to give for Cardan and her life’s improvement in the fae realm. Instead, she gets a face full of her twin sister Taryn and the man Jude had been spending some romantic time with - Locke. Having… Been engaged.

Ouch. I personally expected Taryn would do something bad like marrying Valerian and then when he was killed by Jude she’d be momentarily weepy because her betrothed ran away and never engaged with Madoc about her hand, but instead… Locke.

Well, now her mind about Cardan is definitely made up, right?

Wrong. He’s still a pawn.

Jude’s pawn. Since her young brother Oak ends up with a backstory that nobody anticipated. And blood which allows that cute seven-year-old to put the crown upon the head of whoever he’s told to. He’s the perfect person to be crowned by Cardan in return, to escape into the human world so he’d come back liking humans more and would be more willing to rule righteously.

They had a plan I never thought I could see summarized in 4 points which begin with: 1. Get in and 4. Get out. Anything in between I am pretty sure was a ‘depends on the situation’ scenario.

It worked though. Technically. Oak, the little brother, was meant to be crowned, but at the last minute, Jude changed her mind. The only way to save the throne for his grown-up little brother is if someone is already sitting on it and protecting it.

And with the risk to truly turn this semi-ally into an enemy she’d never imagined she’d have at this scale, Jude allows Oak to crown Cardan before they escape. As a better alternative, the fae folk are actually willing to support HIM even if he’s also not the ruler everybody was hoping to have.

The final pages sent chills down my arms. jude wanted to go apologise for betraying Cardan in this way and forcing him upon the throne he hated so much. As it happens, nothing of the like comes out of her mouth and we end up with one of my favorite quotes.

Memorable Quotes:

—

“In Faerie, there are no fish sticks, no ketchup, no television.”

(This is how the novel starts.)

—

“It's shocking," he says, as though he's giving me some great compliment. "I know humans can lie, but to watch you do it is incredible. Do it again.”

(Fae folk cannot lie, so when encountering humans some of them can sense the lie. In this particular instance I probably laughed until teary-eyed because Dain was treating Jude like a monkey. ‘Do it again.’ he says.)

—

“Guard your mortal heart.”

—

“I am no murderer,” says Cardan, surprising me. I would not have thought that was something to be proud of.

—

“I stand in front of my window and imagine myself a fearless knight, imagine myself a witch who hid her heart in her finger and then chopped her finger off.”

—

“Get down here before you’re recognized.”

“Playing hide-and-seek under the table? Crouching in the dirt? Typical of your kind, but far beneath my dignity.”

He laughs unsteadily, like he expects I am going to laugh, too. I don’t. I ball up my fist and punch him in the stomach, right where I know it will hurt. He staggers to his knees. The goblet drops to the dirt, making a hollow clanking sound. “Ow!” he shouts, and lets me tug him under the table.”

(... *stifling a chortle*)

—

“Faeries make up for their inability to lie with a panoply of deceptions and cruelties. Twisted words, pranks, omissions, riddles, scandals, not to mention their revenges upon one another for ancient, half-remembered slights. Storms are less fickle than they are, seas less capricious.”

—

“I can feel the moment he gives in and gives up, pulling me to him despite the threat of the knife. He kisses me hard, with a kind of devouring desperation, fingers digging into my hair. Our mouths slide together, teeth over lips over tongues. Desire hits me like a kick to the stomach. It's like fighting, except what we're fighting for is to crawl inside each other's skin.”

—

“But I will not stand in front of your happiness. I will not even stand in front of misery that you choose for yourself.”

(This line is spoken by Madoc when speaking to Taryn and jude about Locke. He thinks that Taryn shouldn’t be marrying him. He won’t stop her from doing it though. Jude at this point has better problems than Locke.)

—

“So I am to sit here and feed you information,” Cardan says, leaning against a hickory tree. “And you’re to go charm royalty? That seems entirely backward.”

I fix him with a look. “I can be charming. I charmed you, didn’t I?”

He rolls his eyes. “Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.”

(Devastated.)

—

“How will I know when I’ve learned it, since I don’t know it now?” he asks.

The question sounds like a riddle. “Come back when returning feels like a hard choice instead of an easy one,” I answer finally.”

(Baba Oak ends up living with Viviene and her girlfriend in the human world for a while and this is a conversation they have with Jude. I used to find him a little spoiled and too much of a rowdy brat /affectionately/ but now I really do like him. I wish to know what happens to him in the future.)

BEST QUOTE OF THE ENTIRE BOOK:

“He rises from the throne. “Come, have a seat.” His voice is replete with danger, lush with menace. The flowering branches have sprouted thorns so thickly that petals are barely visible.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he asks. “What you sacrificed everything for. Go on. It’s all yours.”

Overall Experience:

Very pleasant. I'm happy to have given it another chance and I will continue next month's (if not sooner) book commentary on 'The Wicked King'.

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

4/5 stars

Seeing the quotes, I've become envious of the English version. It's so prettily worded, all of it. I need to learn.

#the cruel prince #holly black #cardan greenbriar #jude duarte #book review #book commentary #1st person pov #personal opinions #drama #fatasy #emotional damage #heart damage #good experience #recommendation #book 1 out of 4 #first time doing a blog like this #fantasy

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pollyaunt · 2 years

Note

Can you make a fanfic that is canon divergent as it’s in the same setting where Cardan and Jude are enemies to lovers but Cardan is a brooding boy and Jude is a gentle girl? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BroodingBoyGentleGirl

WHEN LIGHT MEETS THE DARK: one-shot

Fandom: The Folk Of The Air

TW: Mentions of smoking & some swearing.

Summary: He broods, she smiles. He grunts, she chuckles. He scowls, she pouts. Total opposites, yet they still somehow are meant for each other.

a/n: i tried my best 😬🥂

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I lit up my cigarette before taking an inhale, enjoying the taste of husky smoke in my mouth and made my way towards my jeep in the nearly empty school parking lot.

I took another inhale when I felt a presence hoovering above me but I didn't get a chance to look what was happening because the next second, I was smashed onto the ground with a girl's body above mine.

"Ow, ow, ow. I'm so sorry, oh my God! I didn't mean to push you-"

"Can you shut the fuck up?" My voice came out harsher than I intended and she scrambled away from me, causing me to wince in pain.

I sat upright after a few moments and noticed a few scratches on my tattooed arms all the while the girl was babbling about how late she was going to be and how sorry she was.

"Are you always this annoying?" I scowled.

She looked up at me for the first time since she started recollecting her sharpies and other art crap from the ground causing my breath to hitch.

Her hazel eyes were lit with a burning fire despite their softness, her brown chestnut hair were neatly blow dried with a black polka dot bandana across it. She was wearing a white mini skirt with a pale green crop top and matching white sneakers. The sun made her tanned skin turn radiant and the clothes she wore stuck to her curvy figure as prominently as possible.

Holy fucking Gods, she was definitely the most beautiful girl I had ever met.

Her eyes widened and I followed her gaze at my arms where blood had started pooling due to the road, stones and sticks I fell onto. She started chanting under her breath and said, "No, no, no, no. Follow me, I've a first aid kit in my car."

I glared at her, "I don't need your help. You've caused enough damage to me so I'd like you to go and leave me the fuck alone."

She winced at my jarring words and a pang of guilt went out in me before it got dissolved as equally as it came. Despite my rude behavior, she looked at her watch her face portraying her emotions easily to make me realize an internal debate was going before she finally came to a conclusion.

In a much softer and gentler tone she said, "Let me help you with those or else you'd get an infection. It's the least I can do after knowing I was the cause of them and it'll make me feel equally guilty-"

I clenched my jaw and raised a hand to stop her rambling, "I got your fucking point. Now, stop talking it's giving me a headache."

Lies. Such dirty little lies I spoke and if the flash of hurt that occurred on her face was any indication, it just made me feel ever more guilty. Yet still I said, "Let's go to your car."

She nodded and I started following her towards the end of the parking lot where a light yellow convertible stood. She quietly went and took out the kit from the trunk before motioning me to sit on the hood.

The silence was killing me. Even though I had met her for only a few minutes, I knew she was the polar opposite of me in every way. So just to see her mood lifted back for whatever reason I said, "I'm sorry."

She looked at me with surprise, pausing her ministrations on my scratches and gave me a kind smile, "It's okay. I'm sure you must be having a bad day."

I kept looking at her while she dabbed the cotton with the lotion on my arms and neatly wrapping them in bandages. I noticed how a single strand of her hair fell over her face, the way the light in her eyes remained unblinking and most importantly that innocent and warm smile that was always on her face.

"There all done."

I didn't realize it was over so soon and momentarily comprehended how my cheeks were burning. Goddamn this had never fucking happened what the hell was wrong with me?

I coughed and stood up from her car meanwhile she packed her stuff and went back to keep it in the trunk. Not sure what to do with how my body was suddenly feeling flustered, I remained there when she returned with a piece of paper and a number on it.

She extended it to me with that still gods damned smile on her face and said, "You can call me if you need anything, here's my number."

I took it from her absentmindedly, my mouth working on it's own accord, "Why? Why are you being so nice and...kind to me? Especially after how I treated you."

She sighed and turned around to settle in her car. When she started the engine, I moved away from my spot and she softly replied to, "In Harry Styles's words, Treat people with kindness."

With that she left leaving me standing alone in the parking lot, only two things on my mind. First, the world had never treated people like me with such gentleness until now which is why I was quite surprised to find someone like her.

Second, I never got to ask the girl her name.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PHEWWW ITS FINALLY DONE OMFGGGG

I HOPE ITS GOOD CUZ THIS IS THE BEST I COULD DO.

@jurdannet @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @thewickedkings @thekingdomofelfhame @greenbriarxrose @cinnamonsketchdust @charincharge @clockworkgraystairs @jurdanhell @rhysandswingspan

#jurdan #holly black #tfota #tfota fic #the folk of the air #cardan x jude #jude x cardan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tcp #twk #tqon

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sugar-and-pearls · 1 year

Text

F/O List

Hiya, as you can see from my pinned post I am totally alright with sharing FOs. If you have a FO from the same source or we share one please DM me or even gush in the askbox, I’d love to talk about our FOs.

If you click on a FO’s name it will take you to that their tag and if you click on that FO’S source it will take you to their wiki.

Romantic F/Os

Dabi from Boku no Hero Academia

Hei from Darker than Black

Dominic from Trese

Marko from Lost Boys

Angelo Lagusa from 91 Days

M'comm M'orzz from Young Justice

Dream of the Endless from The Sandman

Jacaerys Velaryon From House of the Dragon

William James Moriarty From Moriarty the Patriot

Queerplatonic F/Os

Klarion the Witch boy from DC

Helaena Targaryen from House of the Dragon

Platonic F/Os

River Song from Doctor Who

Alucard from Hellsing

Rin Okumura from Blue Exorcist

Chise Hatori from The Ancient Magus’ Bride

Hellboy from Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy and the comics

Milo Thatch from Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Howl Pendragon from Howl’s Moving Castle

Coraline Jones from Coraline (both the movie and book)

Mazikeen from The Sandman

Familial F/Os

John Constantine from DC (Father)

Morticia Addams from the Addams Family (Mother)

Gomez Addams from the Addams Family (Father)

Oberyn Martell from Game of thrones/ ASOIAF (Father)

Ellaria Sand from Game of thrones/ ASOIAF (Mother/ Aunt figure)

Dr. Montgomery “Monty” Montgomery from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Film (Father)

Mysaria from House of the Dragon/ASOIAF (Mother)

Rhea Royce from House of the Dragon/ASOIAF (Mother)

The Storyteller from Jim Henson’s The Storyteller (Grandfather)

Grandmama from the Addams Family (Grandmother)

Kabane Kusaka from Kemono Jihen (Son)

Cardan Greenbriar from Folk of the air (Cousin)

Nico di Angelo from Riordanverse ( Younger Brother)

Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan (Younger Brother)

Numano Himemiko from Kamisama Kiss (Younger Sister)

Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians (Brother)

Bart Allen II from Young Justice (Grandson)

Inuyasha from Inuyasha (Older Brother)

Wednesday Addams from the Addams Family (Sister)

Pugsley Addams from the Addams Family (Brother)

Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Film (Sister)

Klaus Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Film (Brother)

Sunny Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Film (Sister)

Joanna Constantine from The Sandman (Older Sister)

Titania from The Ancient Magus Bride (Grandmother)

Oberon from The Ancient Magus Bride (Grandfather)

Mephisto Pheles from Blue Exorcist (Uncle/ Godfather)

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onewomancitadel · 18 days

Text

I read a book series someone I admire on here was talking about because I wanted to be included and it was - shock horror gasp - YA which I was willing to have an open mind for, because I love fairies, yes it was Folk of the Air, and you have to imagine my surprise at reading a review calling it 'slow-paced'.

Forgive me for making this comparison but it was like eating fairy floss. All spun sugar, all the time, bright pink. It's breathlessly paced to the point there is no room for introspection, in typical YA fashion - all edge and no point. I was also surprised to see a review calling it unpredictable - the foreshadowing is basic and so are the political set-ups. That's not necessarily a bad thing at all, although it does feel a little bit like the author is trying Very Hard to make you understand what's going on where the protagonist can't see it, so that her flaws are more evident.

Formula is not necessarily bad. This is not the angle in which I knock YA, though formula can be taken too far (like in romance novels) - although you'd not find a more voracious reader than someone loyal to romance novels, and perhaps now YA too. It is the nature of that formula which is offputting, and you need to be able to talk about what makes that adherence to formula different from others. All narrative is repetition.

Sometimes what sticks out most prominently is a slavish dedication to formula, like a compromise on part of the author - running to get to the destination and then when you're there all the tension is sapped out to get to the next point. I am not exactly sure why I am here, except that I am being led there.

But most interesting to me is that I think this might speak to adherents to the YA genre vs. those like me who are not voracious readers of the YA genre. There are times where you might call it slow-paced because it ruminates a little longer on faerie lore than another book series may do so. The political intrigue is aspirational, trying to marry faerie chaos with structural order. It's very evident that Folk of the Air is trying hard, and I wouldn't denigrate it for such aspirations. Yet it seems like my point still stands: you are working against the genre when you are trying to do this. It must compromise itself for simplistic YA ends. It just has to. That's the nature of it. It doesn't elevate the genre; it highlights its inherent contradictions.

This is nothing to say of the cast or the overall plot. I didn't enjoy Jude, not even a little bit, and I could feel the clear influence of the the acceptable YA archetype - cutthroat, deadly girl who can still be feminine with a knife to your throat - and Cardan had that clear glimmer of getting absolution because he is the Love Interest, not because he is a redeemed naughty baddie. I'm always fascinated with the idea that it's bad when we empathise with baddies but it's totally okay when the designated Love Interest gets off scot-free in these stories. I am actually pretty disappointed that Cardan is cruel, but never is he truly villainous; all sins forgiven as a consequence.

I got the sense with Jude that the author was simply trying too hard to write somebody aspirational with a few designated Flaws, and never wanted to write somebody humanistic. Perhaps that's why I ended up liking her sister - whom I found out the fandom hates, LOL! - and thought the teased romance with the Ghost was the most interesting thing she did outside the murderfather Madoc.

But this is also what I mean about lack of pedagogy in YA - what does it mean to write fiction specifically aimed at twelve year old, thirteen year old girls? Is it supposed to be didactic? Is it pure fantasy? Should Jude be someone these girls can see themselves in, or is Jude something else? It is condescending to me to presuppose that twelve year old girls cannot see themselves in all storytelling, that there is some particular affliction of young girls which requires patronising storytelling. This is not the same as representation - I am talking about psychological reflection and moral learning in storytelling, and a seventeen year old girl, after all, does not represent a twelve, thirteen year old girl. But then you simply have to accept it seems like a lot of grown women read YA, and the question is why. I'm not about to call them immature - but there is some sort of reliable simplicity they seek. (But I also think YA is a common genre which marries plot-level stakes with romance, when the romance genre as we know it is almost always only concerned with the romance).

But then you might be inclined to call them immature if you have ever been condescended to as to be told that all storytelling abnegates hopeful resolution, and as such YA is the last resort for warm humanity. How dire! I have never felt so cold as reading YA.

I did enjoy some of the faerie escapism, I enjoyed the glimmers of interesting ideas which don't fit into the traditional paradigm, I enjoyed when the faerie stuff got to be silly before it had to be YA structured. It is not without some redeeming qualities.

But like eating a packet of fairy floss, I am left with a dry mouth, sticky fingers, and an empty stomach.

#stirring the pot

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