Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings.   Today’s post is a review and analysis of The Folk of the Air Series by Holly Black.   I have finally read the first trilogy of books, and I will read the prequel book about Cardan’s childhood soon enough, as this series has quickly become one of my very favorite book series of all time!   I will also read the subsequent duology set in Elfhame once the second book comes out.   You see, the only reason that I did not read the first book, The Cruel Prince as soon as it was released, is that I did not want to have to wait until the next two books were published to finish the story.   I am so glad that I waited, as I got to read the trilogy back to back in order to get the whole main plot!     

So, I feel very glad to be able to review and analyze this book series now.    In this post, I will be going over the main characters briefly and then analyzing all of the important folklore that is rooted in actual faerylore which Holly Black used in The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and The Queen of Nothing.    Obviously, this review will be full of spoilers, so if you have not read the books yet, and you care about potential spoilers, I would read them before this post.   Since I will be analyzing folklore in addition to reviewing characters and plot elements, this post is also going to be a Magical Media Analysis post!   I will be going over plot points as I discuss the characters, so that is where you will find my opinions on plot points.   After that, I will analyze how faerylore is used in the trilogy.    As a side note, I will only be looking at the twelve most important characters in the series, who appear in at least two of the books.   Now, without further ado, let’s look at the characters.   

THE CHARACTERS

JUDE DUARTE~Jude is the main character and narrator of the series.   She is the human ‘daughter’ of the Grand General Madoc, who murdered both of her parents when she was seven due to his wife faking her death and escaping to the human world with her new husband.   Jude grows up in Madoc’s household with her twin sister Taryn and older half-sister Vivi.    As she grows up, she has a great desire to become a Knight, but she never becomes one, instead getting employed by Prince Dain before his coronation to be one of his Court of Shadows spies.   He even placed a Geas (or a magickal destiny or pact) stating that she cannot be swayed by Faery magickal mind-control, or as they refer to it to be ‘ensorcelled’.   She begins the series with an antagonistic relationship with Prince Cardan, another royal in the Greenbriar line, but this quickly turns into one of the best enemies-to-lovers trope plots I have ever read!    Jude goes from Spy and Assassin to Seneshal to the High King, to the High Queen of Elfhame.    She is firmly established to have not only found true love but also to have gained the magick connection to the land that Cardan has as High King due to their marriage!  Overall, she is an amazing character who is complex and has a great story arc, as does Cardan, and I adore both characters so much.   I have heard some fans who have discussed the books on YouTube (without spoilers since that was before I read them myself) state how unlikable both Jude and Cardan are as characters, but I truly do love both of them.   However, it must be stated that I often adore characters who are perceived as traditionally unlikable!   Yes, Jude is imperfect, has a lot of ambition, and has a history as an Assassin, so she has killed people, but she is also loyal to those who have proven they are worthy of trust and incredibly intelligent and brave.  

CARDAN GREENBRIAR~ Cardan is the youngest and most hated Prince of the Greenbriar line, who feels ostracized within his own family.   Cardan is known for his cruelty, which we learn was wrought due to his feeling loathed by his family, even his own mother did not seem to love him and there was a prophecy of his being the downfall of his family line of Queen Mab.   It is also made obvious that although Cardan was cruel and mean to Jude for years, he truly had deep feelings for her that he did not know how to deal with.   This leads to the true unraveling of their being enemies and becoming lovers, in fact, it is even Cardan who confesses his love for Jude first!   I really enjoyed how their romance was plotted out, with hints of Cardan’s feelings clear from relatively early on in the first book, even though he did not like that he was pulled to Jude.   I also appreciated that Jude may have been unaware of her burgeoning feelings at that point, but she was aware of her physical attraction to the handsome royal.   He becomes the greatest High King he could have been by breaking all the traditions to be a ruler his people would want to follow, far from the cruel and party-hardy Prince he once was.   In fact, he is far from the Prince who had to be tricked into being King by Jude having her brother (secretly a Greenbriar Prince himself) put the crown on Cardan’s head.   Cardan chose to marry (a moral at that, giving her magick in the process as the High King of Elfhame has a connection to the land), broke the crown (and was temporarily cursed into the form of a giant snake for it), and revolutionized his Court!   

MADOC~ Madoc takes the twin daughters of his wife, along with his own daughter to Elfhame to raise because it is part of his honor code to do so!   He is a Redcap, a species of Faery known for their bloodlust, and I think it is well portrayed here with Madoc being the Grand General with a thirst for war.   He is married to Oriana and raised Oak as his son, eventually plotting to put Oak on the throne so he could rule the land.    He is thwarted time and again by Jude, the daughter he raised and who learned from him how to truly become even more powerful than Madoc himself.    I think his ending up exiled to the human world without the ability to kill is the perfect punishment that leaves him alive.   This is also a punishment that proves that Jude does still value the man who raised her, and her complicated love for him which is mixed with guilt over the fact that he is the man who murdered her birth parents.   Overall, the relationship between Madoc and Jude is explored well and is an interesting point in the plot of the trilogy.

TARYN DUARTE~ Twin sister of Jude and a character I like and dislike in equal measure as the story unfolds.   She begins as the softer twin who just wanted love and marriage, but soon is shown to be callous to her own twin sister, and I dislike that.   She does grate on my nerves, if I am honest, even when I did like her because of her perceived innocence early on in the story.   However, she gains bonus points for finally getting rid of Locke by murdering him (proving she has a spine) and showing true support to Jude and Cardan.

VIVIENNE ‘VIVI’ DUARTE~ The elder half-sister of Jude and Taryn and the only true-born child of Madoc, she is a Fae woman who desires nothing more than to live a happy life in the mortal world.   She even falls in love with Heather, a human, and tries very hard to prevent Heather from knowing the truth of her nature, even after her brother Oak comes to live with them!   She is a very loving and supportive sister, which I admire.   In some ways, she is a great counterbalance to both Jude and Taryn who were humans raised in Faery and found that they truly loved living there, even as they were often ostracized.

ORIANA~ Wife of Madoc and mother to Oak, who always seemed too harsh on Jude.   But as the series came to a close, Oriana began to grow on me.

OAK GREENBRIAR~ Little brother of Jude and ends up being the heir to Cardan, even though he never wanted to be King at all.   He lives in the mortal world with Vivi, and later his parents.   Mostly he is shown to be a sweet and loving Fae child, who can sometimes be mischievous and even slightly cruel (which is expected of the Folk in general in this series).

LOCKE~ Friend of Cardan who becomes Jude’s short-term boyfriend, until it is revealed he is also dating Taryn, and his relationship with Jude is a test of Taryn’s devotion.   I was very suspicious of his too-charming nature and interest in Jude from the very beginning, so I was equal parts unsurprised and annoyed when he actually married Taryn and tried to kill Jude. He is a terrible asshole character, who eventually gets his own when Taryn kills him!     

NICASIA~ A Princess of the Undersea and the ex-girlfriend of Cardan.   She left Cardan for Locke until he broke up with her for Taryn.   She is cruel to Jude and shows her much hatred, but they seem to reconcile by the end of the trilogy. 

THE GHOST~ Member of the Court of Shadows who is an Assassin and taught Jude many things.   He betrayed the High King and Jude, but they ended up forgiving him when he proved himself worthy! 

THE ROACH~ Member of the Court of Shadows who is in love with The Bomb, and stays loyal to Jude, even nearly dying trying to help the Court of Elfhame.

THE BOMB~ Member of the Court of Shadows who is skilled with explosives, poisons, and healing.   She is in love with The Roach, both being loyal to the Court of Elphame.

MAGICAL MEDIA ANALYSIS

~FAERYLORE GALORE~

IRON: Iron burns the Folk (another term for Fae often used in the series, which is appropriate), as we learn in the first scene set in Elfhame.   This is a common thing in much of the folklore of Faery.

DANCING TO DEATH: Humans are able to be caught up in Faery so much that they may be danced to death, which actually happens in several folklore stories and fairytales.

CHANGELINGS: Faeries replacing humans and vice versa is referenced in the series, and this was a very common belief in the Faery Faith through the early twentieth century.

GLAMOURS: The ability to change appearance at will that the Fae Folk have.   A common feature in folklore, and a common magickal practice by real-life Faery Witches (by using energy to change how you are perceived).

QUEEN MAB: The original High Queen of Elfhame and originator of the Greenbriar bloodline.   Her name is based on Shakespeare’s Queen Mab, often said to be inspired by Queen Medb or Maeve of Irish folklore, and is a very common name for Faery Queens.

ELFHAME: The usage of Elfhame as the name of Faeryland is a very common folklore name of Faerylands.    It is also spelled Elphame, Elfame, Elphin, and Elfin.   This plays into the Scottish Witchtrails where witches stated they were servants of the Queen of Elfhame!   So this is a great folklore and history reference rolled into one.

REDCAPS, SELKIES, UNSEELIES: These are names of species of Faeries.   They come from actual folklore, famously Scottish lore.   As I already stated Redcaps are bloodthirsty, but did not yet mention that they dip their caps in the blood of defeated enemies (which is used in the series in a perfectly gruesome way).   Selkies are seal women who are shapeshifting mermaid-like figures.   Unseelies are the more dangerous Court of Fae in Scottish folklore, they are often dangerous to humans in old folklore!

FAERIES CAN NOT LIE: I love the inclusion that the Fae cannot lie in this series, as this is something often stated in folklore, where the Fae have to be clever and misleading in speech in order to trick people since they cannot lie!

LOW FAE BIRTH RATES: The fact that the Fae have low birth rates plays into why the Fae often took Changeling babies and why they would take humans as lovers (which is also stated in the book series) in order to keep their population growing.

KING TIED TO LAND: This is very interesting, as Fae Folk are often seen as directly tied to the land in many stories and folklore accounts.   I love that this was adapted as the High King is the force that made the land green and fruitful.   The fact that this was passed to the Queen when she became his wife is also a lovely inclusion in the magick system of the books!

IMPORTANCE OF TRUE NAMES: This fact is often stated that Fae will not give their true names and you should not give the Fae your real name because of the power they hold.   This is used as the Fae Folk can be controlled by true names, which is very well done in the series! 

ROWAN BERRIES: Rowan is a famous Faery tree that is both used to help the Fae and to protect against attack, and the berries are used in the books to protect from being ensorcelled.   I think this was a lovely inclusion, along with all of the herbal lore mentioned.   As an herbalist, I was so happy to read about characters drinking Nettle tea (yeah I am that big of a nerd for plants) and using Rowan berries in this way.

DANGER OF FAERY BARGAINS: One of the most common features of darker Faerylore is the prohibition of making deals with Faeries.   The danger of these bargains is written into the books plainly.

DANGER OF FAERY FRUIT: Another one of the most common folklore prohibitions is eating Faery fruit.   In the series, it is called Everapple, and Jude is forced to eat it at one point to disastrous results.   It is after this that Jude sets about poisoning herself in hopes of building up a tolerance to Faery toxins, which is twisted but a really interesting plot point that shows her strength and determination. 

BRUTALITY OF FAERYLAND: I love that this Faeryland is not just sunshine and rainbows.   There is much brutality and darkness in Faeryland, which I very much appreciate because it shows the more complex nature of Faery.

OTHERWORLDY VS HUMAN BEAUTY: I love that there is a discussion of the difference between Fae beauty and human beauty, with humans being generally more robust (curvy and voluptuous given they are fertile in a way Fae are not).   It is a nice little inclusion to prove an established plot point, even if there is nothing stated in the older folklore that shows this since Fae are so varying in appearance (which they are in the books also but usually appear thinner than humans).

CONSORTS VS QUEENS: There is much talk about why most Kings never take Queens, only consorts, because they do not want to be forever tied to another person.   Besides that, marrying gives a Queen equal or near equal power to the King!   I love this inclusion as it is both very folklore oriented where consorts are more common than marriages, as well as relating to the royal history of Kings taking many lovers outside of marriage.

~Wow, so that was an incredibly long post, and definitely one of my longest reviews written.   Clearly, I adore this series, which is my favorite fantasy series to be released in the last decade, and one of my favorites of all time.    I would highly recommend this book series to anyone who loves faeries, faerylore, and fairytales.   It is also an amazing read for anyone who loves the enemies-to-lovers trope done right!   At the end of the day, I hope you have enjoyed this very long post reviewing and analyzing The Folk of the Air Trilogy.   What is your favorite of the three books?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is an artwork of Jude and Cardan.   I found the image on https://folkoftheairfanart.tumblr.com/post/690687705584156672/jude-and-cardan-by-bethgilbertart.

Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• The Wicked King by Holly Black
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black