THE STOLEN HEIR by Holly Black- BOOK REVIEW

Synopsis 

A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both. Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods.

Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets.

Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years. Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He's on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren's help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind. #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black returns to the opulent world of Elfhame in the first book in a thrilling new duology, following Jude's brother Oak, and the changeling queen, Suren.

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In classic Holly Black fashion, The Stolen Heir was filled with intriguing characters, court politics, betrayal and cunning fae creatures.

I love the original Folk of the Air trilogy so I already knew about a lot of characters from this book, including the MCs.

Oak was such a charming love interest , I adored him from page one! Suren was quite different from Jude but I felt for her all the same (if not more) and did really like her as the main POV. Her desire to help everyone made me warm up to her. She’s so unlike regular clever fairies.

“My greatest weakness has always been my desire for love. It is a yawning chasm within me, and the more that I reach for it, the more easily I am tricked. I am a walking bruise, an open sore.”

^One of my favourite Wren quotes from the book that tells a lot about Wren’s character.

I loved that Oak and Wren’s relationship was less of a romance and more of a friendship! Really enjoyed seeing the flashback scenes from their childhood as well! I’m eager to see them learn to trust each other and let their relationship develop in the sequel!

Tiernan and Hyacinthe were very interesting companions and I’m really looking forward to getting to know them (and their back stories) even more!
It goes for all the characters, I feel like I don’t know Oak and Suren all that well yet but I’m nonetheless looking forward to The Prisoner’s Throne.

The story in itself was quite well paced and I wasn’t bored at any point of the time because I was very busy making predictions on who’s going to betray whom and what are the intentions of certain characters.

Court politics is one of the things I enjoy the most in my fantasy books and it’s also the reason I loved Folk of the Air trilogy. I’m happy to report that it was very well present in The Stolen Heir as well though not as much as it was in FotA. This book has the quest as main focus rather than the court itself. I think that will be explored more in the sequel.

I also need to mention that The Stolen Heir shouldn’t be read as a separate series or before Folk of the Air because it’s not meant to be read that way. You will be very confused about almost everything if you do that.

The plot twist towards the end had me gaping at my book because I was not at all expecting that. I’m definitely very, very scared for my faves and can only hope that Holly Black treats them right.

Of course, the cliffhanger ending is going to make waiting for the sequel torture. 🥲

Anyways, if you’re strong (unlike me) and can wait a year to read the sequel then I will definitely recommend that you pick up The Stolen Heir. It’s not quite Folk of the Air but I’m pretty sure all the fans will love being back in this world and getting the Jurdan crumbs lol.

A huge thank you to AfterSchoolTales and Harper Collins for sending me a finished copy of one of my most anticipated reads of 2023!