Review: The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

Posted January 26, 2023 by Stephanie in 4 Stars, Fantasy, Review, Young Adult / 8 Comments

Title: The Stolen Heir
Author: Holly Black
Series: The Stolen Heir Duology #1
Publication: Jan 3, 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA Fantasy
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo
Rating: 4/5

Return to the opulent world of Elfhame, filled with intrigue, betrayal, and dangerous desires, with this first book of a captivating new duology from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black. 

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.

 

“My sister thinks that she’s the only one who can take poison, but I am poison,” he whispers, eyes half-closed, talking to himself. “Poison in my blood. I poison everything I touch.”

The Stolen Heir is the first book of a duology that takes place in the world of Elfhame. Instead of Jude and Cardan we’re now following Jude’s younger brother Oak and Suren a.k.a. Wren who used to be a queen of the Court of Teeth when she was a child but ran away back to the mortal world. Until Oak brought her back for a quest…

I have been highly expectating this book since it first was announced that Holly Black would be going back to writing about this world. I went into it pretty blind, only knowing that a 17 year-old Oak would be a big character in it so I didn’t really know what to expect but I ended up really enjoying this book.

The start of the book actually took me back a bit because it was extremely sad. I don’t want to give too much away but Wren was stolen away from parents and a sister who’m she loved and they loved her in return, only to be brought to court and be tortured every day by her fae parents. I felt so bad for her and really hoped she could revenge of what they did to her. It also speaks to the author’s skill that she can write such heartrending scenes.

The relationship between Wren and Oak was really interesting to read about. They knew each other when they were children, maybe they were even friends. Now that they’re older Wren knows she can’t trust Oak, that he’s manipulative and doesn’t care for her anymore but of course knowing something in her head doesn’t mean Wren feels the same in her heart.

The ending of the book was just FIRE. As usual with a Holly Black book, I hadn’t seen it coming and it does end in one hell of a cliffhanger so if you’re not a fan of those you might want to wait until the second book releases.

The Stolen Heir had a quest, magic, curses, kisses, trickery, plot twists… just everything that I would expect from a Holly Black book. I can’t wait to read the sequel!

 

 

About the author:

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels, including the Novels of Elfhame, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, BOOK OF NIGHT. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.

Website | Facebook  | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

 

 

8 responses to “Review: The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

  1. verushka

    Okay, now I am busting to know the cliffhanger as much as I hate knowing cliffhangers when the next book is nowhere in sight! Great review!

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)