Joined in 2023 
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I am thrilled to finally get to tell you a bit more about the sullen, annoying, and enigmatic High King of Elfhame and I am especially excited to be partnering with Rovina Cai, whose artwork is witty and atmospheric and absolutely perfect to go with this tale. This illustrated novella is not one story, but multiple—an interconnected collection of Cardan’s memories before, during, and after the events of the trilogy, in both the mortal realm and the land of faerie. Sure, she's an important character, and I don't completely hate her anymore because of the third book, but seeing Cardan and Nicasia but not so much of Cardan and Jude?
Black continues to build an ever expanding mythos with her Faerie stories, and while this volume requires prior knowledge of The Folk of the Air trilogy, it offers new delights along with familiar moments retold.We get to see Locke, and his empty house and even emptier heart, teach Cardan the word “cruel” on every page. In this story, Cardan’s life is very much impacted by a troll named Aslong who was wronged by Cardan’s father. I truly think reading this book a day before release (bless you Waterstones and my mail person) was the best reading experience I’ve had all year, and for that alone this book was probably the easiest five star I’ve given in a year of not a lot of five star reads.
Cardan is my favorite character in The Cruel Prince series (or any of Holly’s books, I think) and this truly was such a magical, wonderous, unforgettable addition to this world. And how this lead to him liking human tales, being surprised by their imaginations, and collecting more human books. I feel blessed to read about each time Holly gives us a new book, and this will for sure be a favorite of mine for all of 2020. A rare second volume that surpasses the first, with, happily, more intrigue and passion still to come.None of them will leave me wishing that i was the one who wrote that book because this entire series has everything i could ever want in a book. Aslog’s story changes as Cardan does, with a new ending and meaning for each retelling, each stage of his life.
This book does not have the turning points, the plot twists which we are all accustomed to whilst reading about Elfhame.I feared that there would be too many scenes from the original trilogy that would be from Cardan’s point of view. I also adored the tale that was woven throughout this collection and watching how it changed and grew. It takes us from the feral, unloved child ignored by his mother, shaped into a cruel, spiteful thing by their brother, to the King we know and love. This felt exactly like that one (1) book of fairy tales I had when I was little, filled with drawings and old stories about fairies and kings and queens and witches.
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