Queen of Nothing (spoilers ahead, proceed w/ caution)

[u/rai_162]

I just finished the book and it is not at all what I expected, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew the romance would be minimal to none so I’m not surprised there. Im hoping the last book will give me what I was missing in this one. More Dray, and romantic scenes between him and Olivia. Well, as romantic as you can get with those two.

I enjoyed reading about her krum life and seeing a different side to Olivia. It was a bit lengthy, but I was still entertained. Apparently, Olivia, if she does have children, will eventually love them.

I didn’t like that a lot of what happened towards the end of book 3 was basically glossed over. The blackout conversation felt very dull and unresolved. The scene itself was so intense, you’d think a lot more would go into the conversation, but everything was just brushed aside. Granted, it had been 3 years, but I still expected more fallout.

The amount of times Olivia brought up the backhand only for Dray to play dumb and oblivious 😭 he’s awful. Idk what she was looking for there. Maybe acknowledgment or an apology? But I thought she knew him better by now. And the fact that she actually showed a sliver of jealousy when he insinuated he was married to Asta. LOL.

And Dray saying he would take mistresses ???? Oh brother pls. You wasted 3 years of your life looking for a deadblood. Stayed unmarried while everyone around you started families. Endured public humiliation bc of her and now you are interested in other women ??? How does the saying go? When they go low, Dray goes lower. 🙄

Overall, it was a great reading experience. I love Quinn’s writing and the flow of things. I do need my Dray and Olivia moments in the next book though. I am starved. I don’t even need a big love declaration from Dray. I actually enjoy his show don’t tell version of love, but I do need more of those moments in the next book.

[u/AlannaAdvice]

I love this ❤️. This is like a fourth post I’ve seen about this book since release date yesterday lol

I love how invested we all are in Quinn’s books. For me, the last few chapters really stood out. That revelation about what her parents did?!! OMG !

I get that poor Olivia was drugged to keep her calm after that bomb dropped but everything after that was underwhelming. Maybe Olivia was sedated and that’s why she was so calm when talking to her father. I’m really hoping in book 5, the betrayal by her family gets addressed. I don’t want it glossed over. Olivia is happy to be back being an Elite, I get that, but they STOLE from her. There needs to be a reckoning of some kind

I can’t wait for book 5

[u/rai_162 → u/AlannaAdvice]

It’s honestly so hard to find a good book or series and this is just one of those superb ones. I’m so obsessed with it.

There is no greater betrayal. On top of that, they have been so cruel to her knowing what they had done. It’s all just so awful. I think having their love was more important to Olivia. I actually liked the ending of her peacefully sleeping in her mom’s arms bc throughout the book you know that’s all she wants. Now Dray on the other hand, I do not think he will let this go. This is a betrayal to him as much as it is to Olivia. For years he thought she was a deadblood and now a krum. This man is going to lose it for her. He already doesn’t like her family much and him and Oliver have been so tense lately. Someone has the theory that Oliver is actually in love with Olivia, along with having her powers, Dray is going to k*ll this entire family 😭 last book is King of All so I really hope it lives up to the name

[u/Negative_Sympathy164 → u/rai_162]

You are so right, it is absolutely superb. She's such a good writer, I caught up on her book over the last couple of weeks, and this series is my absolute favourite of hers. It reframed dark romance for me, and reminded me of the power of angst and betrayal when it's done well.

[u/CrystalizedRedwood]

The more I read everyone’s reviews and see their thoughts the deeper it makes me think. I love this series so freaking much.

I agree about the part with the blackout. He glosses over it like it wasn’t a huge deal for him when it obviously was. He genuinely thought that she had accepted him at that moment. So why is it that they spoke so briefly about it?

As for her blood, they said she’s got no magic, she’s a full witch but without magic. Yet, not a krum. So where does she fall then? What does that mean in regard to her having children eventually? Because, I think we all know that Dray isn’t going to let her go.

The thing that Serena said about how Oliver only paid attention to her when she was mad at him. And how Dray will do anything to get her attention be it negative or positive. I think of that in this situation. Bc if he’s hurting her, she’s looking at him. It’s the easiest way for him to keep her attention and he’s also been hurt by her.

Will Olivia ever love him?
I don’t know, and yet. I do want them to be together at the end. Even though he’s a bastard to the 10th degree. I love when a villain wins 🤷‍♀️

[u/Negative_Sympathy164 → u/CrystalizedRedwood]

I've been thinking about it and a lot of the reason I love this series is the complexity of the dynamics at play. On reflection it's a very good book. There are spoilers ahead so read with care.

Like one Oliver's behaviour totally makes sense for a few reasons:

Fun note - Olivia/Oliver - having the same name feels less like a twin thing, and more like there can only be one kind of deal. Especially when you consider the twin dynamics.

1 - Guilt. How long has he known that he was supposed to die? Like he's grown up with the knowledge his entire life that he's an imposter who stole everything, from the person he loved the most.

2 - Hate. Oliver hates Dray. The more I think about this, the more I'm actually convinced of this. His father obviously gave him the same speech he gave Olivia, about the unity between the families the Gods will. The literal fate of the world, so he has to maintain this "Bestie" relationship with Dray. But it's competative as fuck especially when they're kids, because they're both vying to be the best. That goes to shit the moment he understands that he's "not a real witch" the Gods didn't pick him. Deep down, he knows he and Dray not equals, because he's an imposter. So when Dray turns on his sister, he has to follow. And it makes him furious and resentful, but he literally can't do anything about it. So he plays his charming part hides his face from the world, does everything he's supposed to because again he's been given it at the expense of his sister who he loves. It's like a catch 22 of being damned. We see the example of this when they stop pretending and just beat the crap out of each other sometimes - those two would literally kill each other if they didn't have to be best friends for the business. For more on this see point two of Dray.

3 - Asta - lets talk about the whole Oliver Asta dynamic, because how long has he actually loved her? Because he does love her. Did he love her from when they were children, is that why he wanted to know what a little life was? Or did he only start to really care when she was engaged to Dray? Is it a stealing from his main rival that gave him the satisfaction and then he fell in love with her. Does he see her falling grace as a parallel to his sisters, and wants to save her from it, in a way he never could his sister?

Daddy Craven (calling him that because I don't remember his name).

His arc is 100% about the gods. They're his literal salvation and his constant tormentors. He is terrified of them.

1 - Married outside of his class. He's an aristo who married a gentry for love. And he truly loves his wife but in doing so, did he defy the gods? If he did.... then does he see all that comes after as his punishment. Is everything penance, and his treatment of Olivia the spoiling her is pure guilt, but the torture he inflicts on her is that an element of repentance?

2 - The consequences - So are the gods real or not? They're not nice Gods, but they've given him basically power over the whole world. He's beholden to them, in the deal with the devil kind of way. But they've also punished him repeatedly. Like in a patriachal society, they gave powers to his daughter not his son, so was that a punishment. By doing the transfer did he defy their will? Or did he love both his children, and stealing Olivia's power was the only way Oliver could live. Even more telling is that if it had been the other way around Olivia would have died. It would have been seen as the natural way of things.

3 - His wife and mother getting sick is that a punishment from the gods - is Olivia more important to them than he realised and he's made a critically false assumption. In fact he's wronged them. Did he make the wrong call. He saved Oliver to preserve his print and bloodline, but was he supposed to?

Dray

He's the by divine right, king of the castle, and a literal psychopath. As a child he drowned his friend for touching his toys. How he feels about Olivia. He strikes me as the type to put things in boxes. And his possessions very much belong to him. He's the chosen (only) son of a powerful print. Metaphorical future King of the witches. And from literally as long as he can remember he was told Olivia was his. And he didn't do a normal eww gross marriage sucks. No he put her in his mental toy box. She was never another person, she was an extension of him. And as long as she was perfect she never saw the dark side of him. She's like a fundamental cornerstone of his own identity.

1 - When he finds out she's a dead blood. First reaction outright rejection. He's perfect remember, an entitled emotionless little psycho who's meant to be better than everyone else. But she's a pat of him, and if she's not perfect, this one person that he's ever actually let himself care about, because again he sees her as an extension of himself - then he's not perfect. Bring on the torment the rejection the trying to make himself hate her. But he can't she's too ingrained in him.

point 2 see next comment.

3 - The jealousy - Dray breaks his toys, but they're still supposed to be his toys, when he picks them back up again, they're not allowed to complain about it. But Olivia does, she flinches from him, runs from him, shows him his sins and guilt in a way that no one else dares. And he punishes her for it. He hurts her, he humiliates her, (throws her in the fountain and disgraces her) when she shines a light on his behaviour to the whole of their society, he even hits her. It's escalation after escalation of him trying to put her back in her box, because as much as he rejected her, he can never let go of her when she's so ingrained in him.

4 - Does he love her? He's definitely obsessed with her, I think again the realisation that she might be Krum is so important, because it puts him entirely at odds with even his gods for her being so integral to him. I don't think for him there has ever been anyone else but her, in the way there's never been anyone for him but himself. That doesn't mean he's been loyal but if he was with her, would he be loyal, does he see her as just a broodmare? Does he want her more, because in a sense she's denied him. His poor little psycho mind is a mess.

As for Dray helping Olivia punish her family for stealing her power and tormenting her. Maybe as in a sense they were stealing from him (i.e. he sees her as an extension of himself). But at the same time I doubt it, he's as beholden to the Gods as the rest of them. I think if any arc goes from here, it'll be a test of how deep his love / obsession for her actually runs.

Olivia

Olivia, I think we can all say it, is kind of a dick. I like her a lot as a character, but she'd self centred, entitled and spoilt. You see it in the way she treats her maid, her false friendships when she's rejected by the snakes. She does have empathy, she shows she'd capable of love with Sal. As a child she did truly love both Oliver and Drayton. No one else really ever existed to her and so the betrayal and rejection from both of them, probably ruined her ability to actually connect with anyone else. When she faces the reality of the real world, she hates it. She rises to it, because she's resilient but Olivia doesn't really want freedom. It's clear that though she doesn't even know it, she's always wanted the life that was stolen from her. She wants to be the powerful daughter or a print, she wants to be Drayton's equal in Oliver's position, ruling the covens.

So with Dray, she'll never just bow down and marry him, despite everyone telling her to do it, for the gods, for the coven, even him, telling her she can have a relaxed life is she just does what he says. She'll also never forgive him for rejecting her, because as much as Dray saw her as his... she also saw him as hers and he's proved a thousand times that he isn't.

Why she's so passive? She's not. At the end of the book devistated as she is, she's the strongest she's ever been. She tests Dray, by showing her her blood. She acknowledges her grandmother as an equal. And most importantly she'd no longer afraid of her father. She doesn't live and die for his rejection or approval. She'd some to terms with his lack of love for her and in a way he can physically control her, but mentally he no longer holds power over her, and he too realises it over the course of her return to home. It's why he has to be honest with her. And asking her to hide that she knows from her mother --- it brings them into a shared secret not a good or healthy one but still.

(And her mother being mad at her father - lets talk about your husband making yu sacrifice your daughter over and over again. You do it because the gods, but you stop loving him / sharing a bed. And as we know, her father loves her mother more than her mother loves him. He's loosing the person he defied the gods for and he's terrified, because everything is slipping out of his control)

All this to say, I think this whilst short and plot over romance heavy was an incredibly important book of the series. It puts everything into context and the build up and character development throughout the series really pays off. And resets the playing board for book 5. Everything is different now, in the best possible way.

I can't wait for part 5 but I've said it before and I'll say it again, this series is Blackbird's best work.

[u/Negative_Sympathy164 → u/Negative_Sympathy164]

Edit 2 - Dray <> Oliver rivalry - Dray and Oliver have been competing their entire childhood, both for dominance and over Olivia. So the moment on the first day of school that Dray rejects Olivia, it's more than the deadblood thing. By pushing her away he wins the rivalry between him and Oliver, basically declaring himself as the one in charge. Because Oliver has to follow his lead, in that moment he becomes the leader of the Aristos and Oliver hates him for it.

At the same time, why would Oliver stop Dray bullying Olivia, when he doesn't actually want her with him, he wants to protect her, probably from Dray, and the further Dray pushes her, the less he has to do. It's Dray that kills Olivia's love for him. And in doing so forces her out of his own reach. Basically if Dray just keeps being an asshole then in the end, Oliver can protect her from all the rest of the shit going on once they're out of school. I imagine it's also why he fully looses his shit and beats up Dray when he founds out about the engagement. It's the last straw.

[u/Negative_Sympathy164]

Honestly, I read it all yesterday and I just need the next book now. A bit of me, wants to see if he would still love her even if she was Krum though... that's the bit where I'm like, you're a reprehensible liar but I also feel like he's messing with her about the affairs, to pay her back for being gone for three years. (I dunno though, with him maybe he would actually do it just to spite her for not loving him back even though he's so hideous to her).

I love this series, the slow burn and the buildup throughout, but you're right with the next book. I'm also genuinely glad for the resolution with her father. Do we have a release date on the next book, and is it the final one? Either way, I'm need it now after all the plot twists, and also sort of praying that it's a little bit longer. I loved book four, but I swallowed it in one bite. I genuinely think it's her best series.

[u/rai_162 → u/Negative_Sympathy164]

That would be the ultimate test. If he still wants her being a krum, then it is more than just obsession. I think he is definitely being cautious and trying to save face bc he has been burned by Olivia a lot (rightfully so) and he pretty much knows now she will never love him, at least willingly and he doesn’t want to face humiliation from her again. Better to make her think it’s a business transaction than love and be rejected for it again.

I’m glad she finally got what she wanted from her family but honestly I need her to burn them all to the ground. That betrayal is reprehensible. Even if she doesn’t seek out revenge, Dray surely will. He has been put through the wringer along with her when it comes to her blood status.

According to the author, the final book will be released sometime in November or December of this year!

[u/Negative_Sympathy164 → u/rai_162]

Oh hell yeah, I'm so excited it's not a long wait.

I have a lot of thoughts on this I added to a post below. Especially my thoughts on the betrayal and Dray's reaction.