Cardan: my fave misunderstood fae king

*MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*
I don't think there's a single part of this book I didn't like. The fact that it's a bunch of vignettes, shedding more light on the fascinating and endearing character of Cardan, was one of my favorite things. The title of each was just so whimsical and made the tone sustained throughout the entire book feel so traditionally storybook-esque. I think these vignettes build upon the sense of story we get in The Queen of Nothing's prologue. In those few short pages, it's made clear Cardan is deeply misunderstood, and that the abuse he endured in Balekin's household is a result of one pivotal moment. What this book does is get us closer to Cardan's head and heart than we ever could when Jude was the narrator. Here, we see that Cardan decides to fully embrace playing the part of the villain, seeing as it seems like a role he's not only good at, but has been foretold by an illusive prophecy to play. I thought the structure of these vignettes was so purposeful, too. The three that take place after the events of the main trilogy feel like the centerpieces of the collection. The first one sets up another job from Bryern that Jude is willing to take, the second lets us see more of Cardan operating in the mortal world and reminiscing on how far he and Jude have come, and the third proves to readers as well as Cardan that he's capable of being the hero if he really wants to be! And the role Aslog plays in these stories is fascinating as well. She first finds him sleeping in the stables, discarded and unnwanted by his own mother, and begins to tell him the story we see morph and change as they meet again several more times. I adored how the story changed to fit new morals and lessons, of which Cardan always tries to guess before the end of the story and gets wrong. Little (and big) shifts in the plot all make the final telling of the story, this time from Cardan, all the more fulfilling. Because Cardan finds a way to make it about him and Jude! Their romance is unlikely, and I love how even Cardan, on more than one occasion, is like... how did we seriously end up married and in love? The fact that Cardan gets himself out of his own predicament and bluffed about Jude being on her way also made me smile. His realization that he's good with letting Jude do the daring, sometimes unnecessary anti-hero stuff just solidified how much I already loved them as a little couple. As for the rest of the vignettes, I think getting glimpses into how Cardan grew up fills in gaps that were beyond the comprehension of Jude as the main series' narrator. We see how Cardan not only met Nicasia, Princess of the Undersea, in an unlikely fashion, but actually grew to really care for her. He grew up always thinking about how he had to find and make his own power, considering his family treated him as the spare. Even forfeiting the land to live and rule in the sea (which gives him the heeby jeebys) was something he was willing to do to help himself. I just wanted to give him a hug so many times. And again, a round of applause for the writing style. It paints Cardan in such a light where you can't help but revere him just a bit, however much you may pity him as well. The different ways he describes the substance of his heart in relation to Aslog's story really got me. Because he really was made to be a villain in such specific circumstances. Even the incident with the horse Jude recounts, of when Cardan quite literally tries to run over his class drunk, is explained as a result of heartbreak, and very heavy wallowing in drink to soothe it. And knowing that he started this heavy drinking in the first place because of Nicasia's betrayal with Locke, mischievous lover of havoc-creating stories that he is, gives the book's title its meaning. And Cardan's consistent thoughts about Jude, from her uniquely human body to her fierce determination to hate him as much as she can, just makes how Balekin raised him to view humans make that much more sense. This poor Fae prince really had some deep trauma to work through. But so did Jude. They're a match made in some version of heaven. :) But, again, this book is Cardan's spotlight, and it brought me great joy to see the parts of him that even eluded Jude get assigned some meaning or backstory. Little details like Cardan's copy of Alice and Wonderland and the reappearance of characters like Oak and Heather only make this collection even better. I haven't even mentioned the art yet... and I'm not quite sure what else to say other than 'wow.' The art style is magnificent and captures the likeness of all these characters so well. The repeating illustrations of Aslog's story, with their subtle shifts and sometimes abstract interpretations, were some of my favorites. And the one of Jude with her sword under Cardan's chin. Cause c'mon, that entire scene is just great. 
I just know I'm gonna come back and read this later and know I forgot a whole other host of things I wanted to say, because I really could go on and on about this book. I didn't stay up way too late to finish it for lack of anything else to do, after all. I sincerely couldn't put it down and definitely recommend reading it all in one sitting if possible. It just made the reading experience for me, with all the interconnecting pieces, that much more satisfying. :)


Some of my favorite quotes from How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories:

"They are two people who ought to have, by all rights, remained enemies forever. 
He can't believe his good fortune, can't trace the path that got him here."

"Playing the villain was the only thing he'd ever really excelled at."

"'My prince?' The door's wooden face was the picture of distress. 'You're not truly going out like that, are you?'
'My door,' Cardan replied. 'I most certainly am.'
He promptly fell down the front steps."

"'I am nothing,' Cardan said, 'if not dramatic.'"

"'Very well, sir, I shall have it.' Cardan congratulates himself on his skill at passing for human."

"If he gets himself killed like this, she is never going to let him live it down."

"Everyone finds different lessons in stories, I suppose, but here's one. Having a heart is terrible, but you need one anyway."

"'She's forever getting me out of scrapes. Truly, I don't know what I would do without her.'"

"'There is one thing I did like about playing the hero. The only good bit. And that was not having to be terrified for you.'"

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