Holly Black - How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories.

Holly Black – How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Hi Everyone! Two reviews in two days, more than I’ve done in a while but I figured I might as well while I have the time to. We’re all going through a really weird time right now and I thank books and stories for helping me keep sane. I’m 5 books into my 60 book goal for 2021. I imagine I’m going to surpass that but heyho.

Today’s review is for How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black. Cardan was my favourite character from The Folk of the Air books, so to read a story that was wholly based around him was everything I could have ever asked for. Cardan was an amazingly complicated character with an awful back story who still turned out to be one of the good guys. This is what I loved about him. He had fantastic character growth so it was insightful to see how this growth came about. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts on this book.

Synopsis:

An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.

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

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

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

A Little About The Author:

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newberry Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son.

A Little About The Story:

This story was about Cardan. And where he came from, why he was the way he was. It kind of explains how he became the ‘cruel prince’. How this young prince closed his heart away and became shut off from everybody emotionally. It also shows his growth as a person. How he grew up and saw who he wanted to be and who he didn’t want to be.

The main character in this is Cardan, as this is just his story. The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing focussed more on Jude than anything else. Cardan was important but we never saw his side of things, we didn’t understand him as much as we could have. His voice is the only one in this particular story that mattered.

In this story we see Cardan meeting the same person over and over again, and this person tells him a story about a man who has a heart of stone. Each time she tells the story, it evolves, and changes. Each time she tells Cardan the story though, he has also evolved and changed. By the end of the book Cardan is the one telling the story. He tells her a story, one that fits who he is, and how he himself has changed and evolved over time. It is a great way of showing how Cardan has changed with each event in the three main books.

There isn’t much choice in terms of favourite characters. However, even if there was, I still think it would be Cardan. I have mentioned the character development already so I won’t again. I really like the way Holly Black writes characters. It is so easy to write characters as one thing or another. To have them be two dimensional. But every single one of her characters has a motive behind there actions, they have backstories and reasonings. The talent behind these characters is undeniable.

As I have said previously, these aren’t stories that I relate to, but that is never going to be a problem for me as I love hearing about new, novel experiences.

I loved this book. I loved learning more about a character that I liked already. The main three books of this series were not his story. He was a side character in Jude’s story. Granted he was a main character in her story. I love books like this that give a little more information on beloved characters. They add a lot to series that are already great.

My favourite part of the book was the end where Cardan does something stupid to stop Jude doing something stupid. I feel like this shows the extent of his love for her. I adore their relationship, I love their dynamic, how she’s the warrior and he’s the stay at home and have parties. This little switch in dynamic though it showed how far he is willing to go to protect her, despite her being the better protector.

I would recommend this book to everyone who has read The Folk of the Air series. It gives an insight into Cardan and his behaviour that we didn’t have before. We see his vulnerabilities and his growth and it is truly beautiful. I would also recommend this book to people who love fantasy novels and exploring new worlds. The Faerie world that Black creates is one that I adore, it is so wonderfully written and it was a joy to read about.

So there is my review for How The King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories. I truly love Holly Black’s writing so thank all of you for recommending her books to me. If you have read any of her work I would love to hear what you thought of it. If you haven’t read any of her work, I hope my recommendations encourage you to pick up a book.

Stay Curious! J x