The Queen of Nothing

This book follows the events of the Wicked Prince and how those affected our beloved characters.

On the one hand, we have Jude Duarte, the new Queen of Fairy and exile in the Human world. On the other, we have Cardan, the High King of Fairy, and his knowledge of his mighty power, ruling alone despite his repulsion. Lastly, we have Mavok and his half-army plotting against the crown.

This book began (mainly) with Taryn Duarte coming to the human realm to ask Jude for her help. Taryn killed her husband, Locke (I know, spoiler), and now she is being investigated by the crown. Taryn is pregnant and does not want to be found guilty of her crimes, but she cannot lie to the crown; Cardan will enchant her to ensure she does not lie. Jude is willing to decline her sister's offer (if you remember, Taryn betrayed Jude on the Wicked King). Still, her willingness to return to Fairie is more potent than her thirst for revenge over her sister; besides that, Taryn is pregnant, and Jude does not want to risk her future nephew or niece.

It is essential to remember Jude's pact with Prince Dain during the first book, which protected her against spells, so she could not be enchanted to do Fairy will. Also, only a handful of people know this "ability" (which is absurd, based on all of the things Jude has achieved so far in the story).

Jude decided to swap with Taryn and head back to fairy. It should be an easy job. Here is where I ask you, dear reader, how is it easy to go back to your "Homeland" where you are and exile, face the person you love, but you should hate, see him in the eyes, lie to his face and then walk away as if none of that happens?

So yes, Jude faced Cardan, and she lied to his face; the only problems were 1) He immediately knew it was Jude and 2) Her father thought she was Taryn and sent a group of soldiers to "save" her, ending in having her trapped in the fairylands.

After that, Jude got caught between her father's plans, Cardan trying to save her, her sisters coming to fairy, and the "biggest epic battle for the throne."

MY THOUGHTS!

Still, I wouldn't say I liked this series; overall, it is three stars (a solid three). I can recommend it to my cousins, someone who has just been introduced to fantasy, or someone who enjoys YA. But it will not be my first recommendation.

I went into this book expecting to read about the damnation of the fairylands. It made sense to me. Think about it for a second:

1) A kingdom forced into the hands of a teenager who never wanted to rule.

2) A vengeful human raced on hate.

3) An unexpected secret marriage leads a human to be the queen of the fairy.

4) A mortal with the ability to lie and not be subjected to spells (so she cannot be bound by the fairies).

5) And no one but two prophecies predicted the doom of the kingdom (one about Cardan being the destroyer, and the other referencing Jude as the biggest weapon of the realm).

Can you blame me for going full in, expecting destruction? War? Blood? Death? Jude earning the crown, but to rule over the ashes of what once was known as Fairyland?

Unfortunately, that didn't happen at all.

The fact that the events of the book happened a year; and a day and that the characters were able to achieve and transform the scenery so fast didn't sound right.

We are talking about teenagers, who were not prepared to rule, who were not looking for this level of responsibilities, facing long-time generals, Old queens, kings, and courts older than time, and in less than a year and a day, they were able to 1) Win a war 2) Bring together the fairylands and earn and voluntary approval of the different lands (besides the prophesies) 3) Earn the acceptance of a human queen (even when everyone hated humans, and only use them for selfless purposes).

It was a fantastic story, but the more I thought about it, the less sense it made to me, and I wanted to like it.

This book (and the series) is for teens still in high school. Cause it will give them the sense of rebelling and that "I know I can achieve everything besides my age" feeling; but is it not for adults looking for conflicts, real politics and eager to read about war unfolding?

The magic system and the rules of the realm were well crafted and were consistent across the three books (that I liked), and the "abilities" Jude had were established since the beginning of the series and had a reason to be. She didn't have those abilities just because she was "The chosen one."

I'll love to read your comments if you read this book or this series.