The Stolen Heir by Holly Black features Suren, a former Queen of the Court of Teeth of
Elfhame. After the events of The Folk of the Air series, Suren finds herself back in the mortal
world scavenging for food and secretly keeping an eye on her former foster family, longing to be
a part of them once more. She is constantly being hunted by a hag from her old court known as
Bogdana. One day, as she’s being pursued, she runs into and is saved by Oak, the current heir
to the Elfhame throne and her first friend. Oak takes her to his current hideout where she meets
his guard, Tiernan, and his prisoner, Hyacinthe. He informs Suren that her mother has taken his
father captive and will only return him in exchange for the heart of an old being known as
Mellith, in which he needs her help to do so. She agrees, hoping to rid herself of her birth
mother and Bogdana once and for all. After a duel in the Court of Moths, a sudden storm, secret
phone calls with her mortal family, stealing from the market, Suren and the group finally make
their way to the Citadel, where her mother resides. There, she learns of her past, as well as the
true reason Oak needed her. Now, she must make a choice: her feelings for Oak, the heir and
Prince of Elfhame, or revenge on the royal bloodline.
The Stolen Heir was honestly a wonderful continuation of The Folk of the Air’s story, building
even more to the already immersive world that Holly Black has written. Suren and Oak’s story
was teased at the end of Queen of Nothing and I’m happy to say the story was everything I was
hoping for and more. I must admit, though, that in my eyes Oak might always be that sweet little
nine year old boy. Seeing him so flirtatious and vain was so jarring at times, but I also loved it.
Although she’s the main character, I can’t say that I have many thoughts on Suren throughout
the first two-thirds of the book. I of course did relate to her at some points, but compared to a
character like Oak, whose personality was so vibrant, hers was kind of dull. However, I did like
her resourcefulness and strong will, using what she had to get out of tough situations. Out of
everyone, I think Tiernan had the most development throughout the story. At first, he was close
minded and did not want Suren around at all, but he gradually learned to tolerate and somewhat
enjoy her company. Still, I wish we would’ve learned more about him and Hyacinthe, besides the
fact that they were once lovers. There’s still another book to come, so we’ll see. Honestly, the
antagonists in this book were kind of lacking, not really doing much to thwart the protagonists.
The ending kind of gives the reason why, I suppose. Holly wasn’t writing them to be the true
villain, only mild annoyances that eventually help the true villain understand their role. Overall,
this book was just plain fun. I love roadtrip shenanigan stories, so I had an absolute blast. Was
the story as strong as The Folk of the Air? Not really, but the ending sets up a huge conflict and
an incredibly interesting concept for the next book, giving the duology incredible potential to
blow us all away (as well as let us see some familiar faces).