How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Actually pretty disappointing. Cardan seems a bit of a wet towel in this - I find him much more compelling when he???s playing the villain. I like that we did see a little bit of his life before the events of the main series but not nearly as much as I expected. The art also is very mediocre for being one of the main reasons this was published. I???ve seen fan art of these characters that is 100 times better.
Overall this is the quality of a freebie most lesser known authors publish to their websites so it feels a bit of a rip off when you paid $25 and waited six months for it.

Enjoyed this a lot. The art was stunning. The stories were good.

It filled in some of the gaps from the trilogy like where the Alice in Wonderland book came from, what happened with Nicasia. The present day story was nice. Cardan's POV was a lot different than I expected.

The different versions of the boy with the wicked tongue and the artwork in the margins complementing the stories was my favourite

I loved it. I have to say I'm one to love faerie tale like stories and Holly didn't disappoint with this book - and most definitely not with the other ones! Her faerie world building and narrative is one of the best there is. I'll never stop saying that.

Cardan's story felt like a bedtime one where you just want to know more and more even after it's finished.

It was so very different as to what I was expecting, but I feel like it was so much better and so much worthy than what I thought it would be❤️

Soooo, I read this book wrong.

I full heartedly thought it was a short story collection. Expecting tales or folklore out of Elfhame with a few mentions of some beloved characters here and there...

So my monkey brain read the first story and was like “ohhh nice, very cool - off to the next one!” completely and utterly forgetting what happend as I started the next chapter. Meaning I was rather confused to find Cardan appearing in all of them, but I didn't think much about it nor connected the dots to the main trilogy. To my defense I exclusively read it before sleep (hence I was only like 40% awake) and the whole plot of the Cruel Prince is nowhere to be found in my brain anymore.

So no, this wasn't a random short story collection. I take full responsibility. This ones on me.
That my friends, happens when you don't read the blurb.

But nonetheless: It was so enjoyable! I am a sucker for Blacks atmospheric writing and Rovina Cai creates such well drafted and mesmerizing artworks that i was pleased before even opening the book. I am a simple woman what can I say.

This is a definite recommendation for everyone except those who loathe Cardan with all of their soul.
But that begs the question why are you still reading this? Maybe you too thought it was about short stories... then you're welcome to stay, my confused comrade.

The King of Elfhame Visits the Mortal World: ★★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Is Rude: ★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Hates (Almost) Everything and Everyone: ★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Gets a Moth Drunk: ★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Is Mildly Inconvenienced: ★★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Gets Wet: ★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Is Given Two Stories: ★★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Learns to Hate Stories: ★★★
The Prince of Elfhame Stomps Around: ★★★
The King of Elfhame Tries to Do One Good Thing: ★★★★
The King of Elfhame Gets What He Deserves: ★★★★

Overall: ★★★