The Wicked King

This was definitely an improvement. Unlike [b:The Cruel Prince 26032825 The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) Holly Black https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574535986l/26032825.SY75.jpg 45959123] it does not spend 120 pages on meaningless nonsense. The writing is improved, Jude is... alright, I guess, and Cardan became the ‘I was abusive because I was abused' trope but, same as with the first book, I can forgive that. It's a fun trope.The plot here is actually important. Jude can be as wince-worthy self-poisoning anime protagonist as she likes and it won't stop the plot from being fun. Mithridatism might be a real thing that can work but it really doesn't need to be mentioned so often.Honestly, I have so much less to say about The Wicked King. It was fine. The definition of fine. It improved a lot, it got original, the political schemes were not totally stupid even if the whole premise for it is extremely non-sensical because Jude is very stupid but I was able to suspend my disbelief enough.Indeed Cardan never got any comeuppance for his abuse of Jude in the first book. Instead she comes to love him for whatever reason and he continues to be enamored by her even though he hates her and she did make him her magical slave. It's a very toxic relationship and I wish the book acknowledged that and had them work through it (hopes for The Queen of Nothing).I do wish the cast got a little more character development. The ‘Court of Shadows' is a bunch of names that attempted to have character and then failed. I really wouldn't be able to tell The Roach and The Ghost apart without the text specifically saying who's who. Maybe that's just me...Very optimistic for the next book. If it improves upon The Wicked King the same that improved upon The Cruel Prince it just might be a genuinely good book!