This cover is exquisite, just like the illustrations you find inside.

That being said, this novella is formed by 11 short stories, most of which are set before The Cruel Prince. We see Cardan as a child, how he came to live with Balekin or how he came to befriend Nicasia. However, the last couple stories follow Jude and Cardan in a visit to the mortal world after the events of The Queen of Nothing.

As much as I liked baby Cardan, I was expecting more Jude and Cardan stories told from Cardan's point of view, maybe how he felt while she was exiled to the mortal world or taken by the Undersea, his thoughts when she took him to the Court of Shadows, his training with the Roach, or how/when he realized he was in love with Jude.

Overall, the stories were fine but I wasn't really invested in them. I was all just kinda meh.