I didn’t enjoy this as much as the cruel prince series, however I did enjoy being back in this world. Wren and Oak are both wonderful characters even with his creepy hooves lol. Some twist and turns which made it less boring. Overall it was an ok read.

Alway fun delving into a fantasy world of fae folk and other mythological creatures and Holly Black is a gem at creating perfect fantasy worlds - including everything you need from pace, plot and character development.
The Stolen Heir is book one of a duology from the world of Elfhame - where the fantastic Cruel Prince trilogy is based.
The Stolen Heir begins eight years after the closure of the Cruel Prince trilogy and now Oak has grown up into a charming and manipulative young man who we find setting out on an adventure, pitted against monsters and a revengeful, controlling evil.
Accompanying him is Suren and this is where the fun begins! Black is also great at witty, creative and duelling conversations as irritation melts into feelings and enemies into lovers.
Always fun - you can see why Holly Black is known as the Queen of FairyLand!

Nice continuation of the series. Felt like it was solidly landed in the world, and had a good hook to keep reading.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

5* review!

I cannot wait to read the full book, thank you so much for this sample. Love the trilogy set in elfhame and have loved what I have read so far!

I really enjoyed this sample of the Stolen Heir. It’s a testament to the skills of the author to have you care about a character from the very beginning.

Black’s writing style allows the reader to see the world she’s writing, without distracting from the tension of the story. It is very atmospheric and creates the perfect blend of fairytales and darkness.

The short poem at the start of the sample was a clever way to set the tone for the prologue.

Based on this sample, I will definitely purchase a copy of the book to continue reading.

I only had time to read this sample but I loved it so far. Since then I purchased the whole book. I'm sure It will be interesting *-*I love Holly's writing style.

4.75


In typical Holly Black fashion, she has stolen my heart (& my wallet) with an explosive cliffhanger ending.


To be fair, I was questioning my enjoyment throughout this book. It is really just one quest in 300 and some pages. At times I actually found it quite juvenile and wondered if her writing had gone downhill or if I had grown out of her style. But then the ending… the political intrigue… the angst … wow!!

This is something I said for Wicked King but like I need the next book now please

Holly Black strikes again! It took me a little while to remember where we left the story, but once there, it was an interesting tale with many twists and turns. I can't wait to read the next installment

Thank you so much for providing a sample before I received my copy on release date.

Receiving samplers for books to me, is akin to playing demos to games. It can absolutely get you hooked, excited and just plain giddy to received the full product!

I would love if you continue to offer samples before release dates!! ❤️

I also loved the Stolen heir series slightly more than Cruel Prince - I fully believed in the main characters feelings rather than them popping out of thin air...

Thank you to Netgalley for this Arc!

This book follows on from The Queen of Nothing, the third in the Cruel Prince trilogy. I really loved this trilogy, and it was great to be transported back to the world and characters. The Stolen Heir revolves around Oak and Wren.

This books was brilliant, the writing and world building was intricate and beautiful — this story added more to the already beautiful world Holly Black crafted in the Cruel Prince making it even more special.

The whole cast of characters were great and we got to see more in-depth descriptions of already seen characters which I thought was great. It was lovely to see Cardan and Jude’s relationship and it made me fall in love with them even more.

Overall, this book was a wonderful read and I would recommend to all fans of Holly Black and YA Fantasy!

Holly Black is one of my all time favourite authors, so I knew going int this what to expect and that I was pretty much going to love it. And boy did I!
This series follows on a few years after the end of ‘Queen of Nothing’, revolving more around Oak and Suren/Wren, who we did meet briefly before.
As usual this book is impeccable. Holly Black has a way with words that just sucks you in to her world from the first sentence and just never lets you go.
I adore all the new and old characters in this book, the new locations, and the tension and plot twists!
I couldn’t recommend this book enough to anyone who loves Holly Black and just fantasy in general!
Perfection!

The fantasy queen has done it again.

HOLLY???

(SPOILERS AHEAD!!!)

Okay I'm gonna start this out by saying that I didn't think I could love a couple like I loved Jude and Cardan, but Oak and Wren?? They are everything to me right now.

When I found out that Wren was going to be the protagonist as opposed to Oak, honestly I didn't have super high expectations for this, because I really wanted it to centre on Oak, but to say I am eating my words now is an understatement. Wren is one of those rare protagonists that gets *actual* character development over the span of the book; the Wren we meet at the beginning could not be more different from the Wren we are left with at the end, and I love her. Conscious of being too spoiler-y, all I'll say is: even if I guessed a fair amount of the plot twist, I still didn't see the VERY end coming, and how I will manage to wait for the next book I don't know. WREN??

Oak is another character that I was sort of surprised by, as a far cry from the cheeky boy we knew from the original trilogy. He's grown very confident and has picked up a lot of Cardan-esque charm, but he has an edge to him as well, and it was really cool to get to see more of him throughout the book.

Even the supporting cast of characters was really strong: Tiernan, Hyacinthe, Bogdana, Lady Nore, Madoc etc., all really added to the plot, and I find myself in the rare position of being genuinely invested in the fate of those characters as we move onto the sequel.

To summarise: I absolutely loved this, and it's started off my 2023 reading year amazingly.

An exciting excerpt of a much anticipated book! It drew me into the world of the Folk and I’ll now be going back to read the first ones of the series. Looking forward to reading the end of this!

5 stars.
This book took me over 2 months to read because around 30% it was so slow but after 45% the pace really picked up and i found myself staying up late to finish it. I love Wren and Oak and i cannot wait for book 2!

Not much to say as it is a sampler, but it's a great start to one of my most anticipated releases of the year! Can't wait to read more of this.

I loved this sampler and ran straight out to buy the hardback! It was great to revisit this world! Full review on my blog under January Books

Loved this universe and Holly Black beyond words - she has always hooked me with her writing!

Can’t wait to read the full book, I loved hearing from a new generation and perspective within the world of The Cruel Prince. I am very excited to follow this new story!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this glimpse into the new book.

As I suspected, sharp and engaging. Intelligent as all Black’s faery books. Have just gone and bought the full book

I have now read the full book and thoroughly enjoyed seeing Oak's progression from a young child in hiding to the heir in waiting. I was intrigued by Suren when she had her brief cameos in the original trilogy so was thrilled to get more of her back story and see her come into her own. Her relationship with Oak is fraught with danger as they struggle to work out if they can trust each other making for an intriguing will they/won't they that isn't leant into too hard allowing you to focus on some of the political intrigue in Elfhame. A joy to be back in this world again and can't wait for the sequel. Also hoping for more of the tortured side characters and their own torn alliances!

I love the world of Elfhame and this snippet of The Stolen Heir has me so excited to get my hands on the book so I can dive back into this amazing world Holly Black has created.