Review of The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology #1) by Holly Black.
“It is hard to explain the savagery of hope.”
– The Stolen Heir
Holly Black
Back to Elfhame: The Stolen Heir is an enchanting adventure with familiar and new faces
Synopsis
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.
Review
In Holly Black’s latest book, The Stolen Heir, readers are once again immersed in the world of Elfhame, which is just as enchanting as in her popular Folk of the Air series. Introducing new characters but also old acquaintances, the story offers a journey through a world full of intrigue and mysticism.
Suren (Wren) and Eik are our main characters in the journey through Elfhame. Eik is an old acquaintance and yet his character felt very new and surprising. When we last saw him, he was 8 years younger and now he has grown into a young man who has his own desires, demands and personality. I found him quite mysterious in the beginning and wasn’t sure how to assess him. His intentions were not always clear and I changed my mind about him several times. I found him a fun character to follow.
Wren surprised me most as a character, but maybe not in the way I hoped. I thought she was going to have more spunk (yes, I’m basing it on Jude and Charlie Hall). I get that she has been through a lot in her break-up and that makes her a very complicated character. But still, I found her a bit passive and just plain boring at times. I like reading books about characters who have struggles and insecurities, but in The Stolen Heir, only those insecurities came out.
I loved the side characters Tiernan and Hyacinthe. I so want to find out more about them! Their presence adds an extra dimension to Elfhame’s world.
There is not much action in The Stolen Heir. This book is more of a gentle fantasy where there is more focus on world-building. Action is not always necessary, but sometimes I found the plot a bit boring, and it seemed like the characters did not really progress in their adventure. The dialogues were not always interesting either.
I occasionally struggled with the pacing of The Stolen Heir. Sometimes there are extended conversations between the characters with lots of details, and other times there are fast-paced action scenes that are only briefly described. At times, it was good that there was a lot of focus on certain conversations as we get to know the characters better. A good balance between speed and depth is important for an engaging story, and that wasn’t always right here in my opinion.
One of Holly Black’s greatest strengths is her writing style, which captivates the reader. She seamlessly combines the ordinary contemporary world with the fantasy world, creating a unique and compelling urban fantasy.
Holly Black has once again proved that she is a master at creating immersive worlds. The world-building in The Stolen Heir is so good, allowing readers to fully immerse themselves in the magic and intrigue of Elfhame. It was nothing new or exciting, yet there is something comforting about diving back into her world of faerie. As with all Holly Black’s books, I could fully find myself in the world which made the experience feel more genuine.
Oh yes and that ending… I didn’t see it coming. At 3/4 into the book things get really interesting and that part also surprised me the most and I found it rock solid. So uhm, where is book 2?
Would I recommend it?
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black is a fun book and highly recommended for fans of Holly Black’s earlier works and for anyone who likes enchanting stories. The pacing could be better as far as I am concerned, and the storyline was also not one hundred percent in this book yet. But then again, that ending makes me very excited to read the sequel!
Rating
7/10
Details
Trigger warnings
Alcohol, animal death, assault, attempted murder, blood, bones, child abuse, death, gore, kidnapping, murder, poisoning, pregnancy, self-harm, skeletons, violence.
Representation
Lesbian side character
Genre
Ubran fantasy (young adult)
Pages
356
Publication date
January 3rd, 2023
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
About the author
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. 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.
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