'the stolen heir' by holly black: book review (non-spoiler + spoiler section) 

I might be biased, but I love Holly Black, The Folk Of Air, and read most of her books. And I am half done reading The Stolen Heir, and I love it so far! Wren and Oak, are very different to Cardan and Jude, but I love them already! And I love how Holly tells stories. I can't wait for the second book.

I liked the book. Some of the plot holes that you mentioned I do not see as plot holes at all. *spoilers alert* She walks out of her cell because her ally who infiltrated the Court of Teeth gave her the key. Suren can unravel curses because her borrowed heart posesses power of destruction. And if I were her (an abused girl with low self-esteem) I would also not talk to Aok after everything that happened. He is a skilled trickster and she is in emotionally vulnerable state. The only too convinient thing was her finding a piece of bone to restore her toungh in the hall were Lady Nore created her creatures. All in all, there is no happy ending. That is sad that Suren and Aok did not learn to trust each other. But psychological traumas do not disappear overnight just because people have romantic feelings for each other. So it is much more realistic this way.

* spoiler* you and I have very different opinions on this book. I personally feel like most of the “plot convenience“ are explained in the book other than the bone thing like Hyacinth gives her the key, and since she has the heart she can undo magic. Also oak and her “lackluster Romance“ is supposed to be lackluster. I felt like it was meant to make you think like Suran does where she’s like I don’t know if he’s being nice and doing these things because he actually likes me or because he wants something from me. I think it was very well written. Also, she felt betrayed, and she has trauma so the ending makes perfect sense for her. It was very on brand for her.

(my thoughts and response to your thoughts. 🐦 spoilers!!! also this is going to be long) . . . as other people have pointed out, a lot of the perceived plot holes weren’t plot holes, like she got out of the prison because the guy who swore fealty to her for saving him gave her a key. -she can undo curses because of her heart but also because she specifically mentions practicing this skill at the beginning when she is living in the woods; she would break the curses of the fae that hung out at the ‘satan tree’ or whatever to save the humans and spite that fae. -also, if you’re talking about the troll (i think they were trolls) scene with the poisoning, the trolls poisoned the whole crew’s wine with blusher mushroom and Oak guessed that so he quickly drank down his wine as well as Suren’s and the other guy’s wine to save them. Oak is immune to blusher mushroom because he had it in his system when he was born (his bio mom was poisoned and Oriana had to cut Oak out of her stomach). I also kinda assumed he does what Jude did in the Folk of the Air trilogy, and microdoses certain poisons to build immunity. -Bogdana is Suren’s biological mom because Bogdana held onto her infant daughter’s heart (the one she accidentally killed, it’s explained in the book) loooong before this time, and when making Suren out of snow Bogdana added her biological daughter’s heart to her, effectively making her a reincarnated version of her long dead infant daughter. just a bunch of weird fae magic essentially. but is also why Suren can break curses and is way more powerful than she realizes. Bogdana is an ancient being and her offspring had ancient magic, thus so does Suren. when Suren realizes this and tries to use the magic, it’s way too powerful for her to control so she accidentally kills Lady Nore. ~ all that explained and said, the only part of the book //I// personally didn’t agree with was that Suren didn’t understand Oak’s explanation as to why he ‘betrayed’ her. because he DOES explain it. quite simply- Oak and Suren are fae so they cannot tell lies. IF Lady Nore had somehow realized the deception and asked more specific questions about where the heart was and stuff, Suren could not lie about it if she knew. she could, however, lie about it if she THOUGHT she was telling the truth. he literally did not tell her so that she couldn’t be used against them. idk, to me that seems completely logical given that they can’t lie. and I had a hard time believing that Suren wouldn’t understand this. though, I do give it some grace because Suren is young and scared and insecure. she came into power very suddenly in the last few chapters and isn’t thinking particularly rationally. I think where they end the story off is fine. I also thought Oak and Suren’s romance was cute. not in a ‘sexy enemies to lovers’ way like Jude and Cardan, but in an innocent young love sort of way. where they’re both a little naive and confused but know there’s something there. ~ I also think I can understand and maybe speculate on why the book seemed lackluster to you. it is vastly different from the Folk of the Air series. you mentioned the lack of scheming being a negative in this book, which is valid because of how much FOTA had. but I think to properly enjoy this book and story is to understand that it is so very different than Jude and Cardan’s story. Cardan was abused, neglected, and spoiled his entire life. Oak was loved and cherished, educated, and spoiled his entire life. Oak is bound to be less conniving and cunning, but he has a martyr complex from watching his sisters go through so much for politics. he has big shoes to fill, and he wants to be that person. Jude was traumatized, ostracized and tormented by her peers for being different, but also was paradoxically cared for and taught by Madoc and loved by her sisters. she saw the place she wanted in society, but knew it would be harder for her to get and that she had to be smarter and stronger than others to achieve her goals. Whereas Suren was loved and cherished as a child in the human world before being dragged away and literally tortured in the fae world for a prolonged period of time, only to escape and be forced to isolate herself to keep herself and others safe. she didn’t want to be part of the fae world because it was scary and cruel to her, and had no one to lean on or trust. she had no formal education either. she is nowhere near Jude’s level of cleverness, and unlike Jude who used her bad experiences to fuel her fire, Suren’s bad experiences made her fearful and fueled her isolation. they’re both compelling stories but by nature of upbringing and experiences, they are nowhere near the same. I think Holly Black did a crazy good job at writing such distinctness between the two series’, despite them being set in the same world with overlapping characters. it makes everyone feel real and tangible. anyways these were just my thoughts, and I hope maybe with some added insight and context you might come to appreciate the book more, should you ever reread it. not saying everyone has to love it or even like it, but I feel like the dislike i’ve seen has come from a very specific place of misunderstanding and not really to the story or characters themselves. wish you all the best regardless! :)) .

Completely completely agree! Her writing was so good so that’s the only reason I liked it. Everything else wasn’t my fav. This was my first holly black book too. Too much of wren running away and then coming back. All of the back and forth got annoying after a while. I definitely guessed the ending and everything happened too quick and swift at the end. Seemed a bit rushed for everything they went through to get there.

You literally expressed my exact thoughts of this book! 🐦

Would like to see Jude & Taryns parents with Madoc as a prequel to cruel prince. I have so many questions still!

There’s so many amazing fantasies out now that a lot of other authors that were amazing in the past just read….different now

🐦 I agree, I loved The Cruel Prince, but this book was a bit of a letdown for me. Although the writing was beautiful throughout, I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like about the story... Actually, I think it's Oak! He reminded me of my ex husband! Just sneaky and disingenuous. I just wanted to grab him by his horns, put him in a headlock and choke him out. 🤣🤣🤣 And the part about her miraculous tongue restoration was conveniently BOGUS! 🤦🏾‍♀️ I literally read this entire book thinking, "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?". 🙄 We were on a journey to save Trashbag Madoc on almost every freakin page of this book. 🤦🏾‍♀️ Will I continue with this duology? Probably so! I love Holly Black's writing style. 😍 Great video! Thanks so much for sharing. Happy reading! 📚📚📚

I don’t agree with the plot hole/convenience moments you mentioned. I think everything Suren learnt along the way explained how the ending happened. But I do agree that it was slow and boring none the less 🙈 the journey plot was like 100 pages too long. I LOVED how it all unraveled but it was too little too late by that point. Oak felt unnecessary too in my opinion, he added nothing. I didn’t want a romance from them but I’m unsure if Holly Black was TRYING to make it romantic and failed, he’s defo not a Cardan. I hope book 2 is epic 🙈

honestly, in my opinion, I stopped at chapter 5 because mostly Holly Black went overly describing things out of the plot. The thing is it made me bored how long it took for them to begin such a journey only to have some simple plot twists that didn't trigger the story as the cruel prince and the wicked king's ending. which made me bored and just made me watch this video because I just wanted a simple explanation and a quick description of the ending like 350 pages for what? only for a journey? The Cruel Prince trilogy was interesting and it was serial and the plot was really intriguing but I don't know if it's me or if Wren's POV is just too boring and overall dramatic? like why do you yell and growl? I am seriously annoyed just talk normally bro. mostly I didn't like this book because it's overly described when it's only about a journey to kill Lady Nore and whatever they have to do with Madoc and above all of that it took 350 pages for such an ending??

What I didnt like is that Bogdana told Wren about the heart like 100 pages before the ending and Wren is still shocked at the end, uh girl Bodgada told you the big rebelation before isnfisnd

I have to disagree with you on the “inconvenience” of the plot. It makes absolute sense these things were added because it’s forming how wren begins to trust someone again, that’s why she’s so devastated to know the only reason he needed her was to use her ( or at least in her eyes ) and that he just flat out lied to her. I think people always have higher expectations on sequels then they do the first book which I think is odd. In all the book was so good, just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad.

i’ve just finished reading, and i loved it!

I’m halfway through and it’s definitely been kind of slow. I thought I was going to fly through it like I did all 3 books in the folk of the air trilogy, but it’s definitely taking a little longer lol. however, my hope is that all of this build up is going to make for a really great 2nd book. i feel like a lot of fantasy books are like that sometimes, where the first book is kinda meh but then the second book is INCREDIBLE (ACOTAR & Plated Prisoner to name a couple) 🫠

I am almost done The Cruel Prince I am reading it for the first time!

I first heard about this book thanks to a very obnoxious tiktok advert, which pretty much killed all interest in reading it. However, it did also drive me to hear about it more, though from someone more chill haha. So thank you for this review. I might just pick it up now.

I wanna just know about Jude and cardan... What happens to them? Are they still high king, high queen the end? I don't really like oak customer I feel like he's a bit ungrateful aah like literally Jude literally went through HELL to secure that throne for him! Can anyone just tell me the Jude and cardan momenta only! I kinda feel that oak has (from all the reviews) grown into a kind of a spoiled brat.... I loved little oak but older oak uhh

do you think you can read this without reading the other books

🐦🐦🐦 Wow...that book sounded crazy but also thanks for including your spoilery review in this video...I can't tell you how informative your review was. Like I honestly was going to get a copy of my own but now...I changed my mind. 😂 💕

!!! **SPOILER** !!! OK .. I don`t think you got the plot tbh. Yes the book is about the journey, and the romance isn`t supposed to be all hot and heavy, because Wren is severely traumatized... and had major trust issues :D She has no idea what love is.. and how to give it .. she has the impulse to BITE HIM :D because of the intensity of her feelings and not knowing what to do with them. She got out of prison , because Hyacinth GAVE her the key at some point in the soup they were eating in prison. I do agree the bones were a bit convenient :D, but maybe lady Nor dropped them while doing magic on Wren the other night :D Also Bogdana is Wren`s mom, 1st because her heart is the heart of Bogdana`s daughter, Bogdana sacrificed her daughter , in order for lady Nor to have a child, that was made out of snow and twigs and 2nd because she (bogdana) did the magic to actually bring her back to life again. Oak poisoned himself(to save the others from being poisoned), because he`s immune to blusher mushroom, as his mother got poisoned by it when she was pregnant with him. Wren`s tongue got cut off because the only way she could control lady Nor is by telling her what to do.. and how could she with her tongue cut off? Also yeah.. the ending was a WTF for me :D i seriously needed more than ok I`ll leave you in prison and not talk to you at all xd :D just spy on you from the shadows , like BRUH... :D you remembered who you are and the power you posses , yes it`s scary but at least talk to the dude for a minute , if he`s doing the charm magic on you YOU CAN REVERSE it right :D you would be able to feel it.. but yeah she`s traumatized as fuk so i guess she needs time :D

Enjoyed the cruel prince trilogy but I’m 85 pages into the stolen heir and I am so bored I think I am going to have to DNF it

i am ready.

I don't know if I want to read this book because I didn't enjoy the last book in the cruel prince series

spoiler free, here we go. spoilers…i’m coming back for you!

I did not like the Cruel Prince series so I decided not to try this book

🦅

I am not even tempted to read this one after feeling really let down by the Queen of Nothing. It was such a mess. I doubt I’ll pick another book by her again.