Summary from Goodreads:
You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike
again without tiring.
The first lesson is to make yourself strong.
After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.
When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.
The first lesson is to make yourself strong.
After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.
When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.
Review:
As I said on Goodreads, “Holly
Black, please never stop writing. This book was masterful. Just pure adrenaline
and toughness. Jude is a force in here. The power struggles, the political
manipulations, the captures, the battles, the survival. This book is
ridiculously good.
I loved the little nod to The darkest part of the Forrest. I loved, loved, loved watching Jude and Cardan grow into the badass characters that they are. The characters in here are all so intensely flawed and believable. And the plot twists are everything. I live for these plot twists, and I cannot wait for the next book.”
I loved the little nod to The darkest part of the Forrest. I loved, loved, loved watching Jude and Cardan grow into the badass characters that they are. The characters in here are all so intensely flawed and believable. And the plot twists are everything. I live for these plot twists, and I cannot wait for the next book.”
I feel like I’ve done nothing
but gush about this book since I’ve finished reading it. My book hangover from
it is so strong that I’ve only been able to convince myself to read graphic
novels/comic books since finishing it. Like my brain is incapable of digesting
more than that until The Wicked King
is thoroughly out of my system.
I always seem to forget that
my favorite authors all seem to be friends…In hindsight, it really shouldn’t be
so crazy that Holly Black thanks Sarah Rees Brennan, Leigh Bardugo, Cassandra
Clare, and Maureen Johnson at the top of her Acknowledgements Page, at the end
of the book. They are all authors that succeed in totally immersing me in their
ridiculously good stories. Add Libba Bray to their ranks, and that’s pretty
much all of my favorites.
Any way, back to the book:
this book was dark. Darker than book 1 –which is a feet in its own right. What
could be darker than a girl being brought up by her kidnapper/murderer of her
parents? Well…that same girl betraying her kidnapper/father, manipulating the
king of Fairy, escaping attempts on her life, falling in love with the absolute
wrong person, being abducted and tortured/starved, and still acting as the
under-estimated/long running of joke of the realm. And that’s only the surface
of this book. It was impossible to put down. The pacing was super fast. There
was another big betrayal in this installment, and several moments where my jaw
dropped in surprise.
The world building was even
more developed than it was in book 1, which again is another remarkable
accomplishment. I was fascinated by the kingdom under the sea. And I was
fascinated by the secret tunnels and political intrigue of the palace. Then, of
course, there are the amazing characters. I got to know Jude’s family a little
bit better. Her blood family and her chosen family of “spies.” Somehow, amongst
all the crazy darkness and twisted plotlines, there’s humor. I love all the
commentary between Jude and her sister, Vivi. I love Heather’s introduction to
magic. I love Jude and her stepmother’s weird “moment” of understanding. I love
all the power-plays between Jude and her “father.” Oh, and the romance in here
was on fire!
Really, there isn’t much I
didn’t enjoy. I have still yet to like Jude’s twin sister that much, though I
guess I’m not exactly supposed to love her…Still, the amount that Jude cares
for her still kind of baffles me…All in all though, this was a killer book 2. I
am beyond excited for the next book in the series to come out. Too bad I
probably have to wait at least another year. This gets a 10/10.
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