The Wicked King
Ratings574
Average rating4.1
Propulsive plot and continuously good world and character building, now I'm in deep enough to read the third book.
I started reading this and immediately felt in over my head and had to return to a wiki deep dive to refresh my memory of The Cruel Prince, and honestly I'm not sure I ever caught back up. There's a LOT of intrigue here and sometimes I couldn't be sure if I was experiencing a clever twist or if I'd just forgotten something that had already happened.
Also, hmm, I do appreciate Holly Black's dark take on faeries and how different their morals/ethics/laws/etc are from human society, but after having it hammered into my head so much about how you can't trust faeries and they're just whimsical, treacherous creatures, I kind of started to be like..........ok so honestly why should I care about any of these characters?? And maybe it turns out I kind of don't? Hmm.
This book was far better than the first book which I binge-read on my day-off, loved it, then forgot about two days later when I started reading this book. The enemies to lovers trope is so strong in this one. LOVE ITTT! This one was better because there were a lot of character interactions for Jude, and every time Cardan spoke it was just pure gold :D
Jude was such mundane character but I related to her on an emotional level. How deeply she felt all her mistakes and how every time something went wrong, she didn't blame others for being cruel to her, but herself for not being strong enough. Perfectionist much? Yeah, I feel you Jude, way more than I expected too. We feel are losses too greatly and can never give up. We feel like we have to prove we are worthy of every small thing that comes our way. Sometimes, I feel like it'd be best to live our lives for none but our selves. To be free of all obligations, expectations and rules. To just live the way we want.
Looking forward to the last book next year :)
Definitely not more than a 3.5. Maybe even just 3. I'm feeling pretty conflicted.
When I read The Cruel Prince last year, I was still new to the community and got completely caught up in the hype. While I did give it 4 stars, I don't know what my reaction would be if I read it for the first time now. Similarly, the hype for The Wicked King has been off the charts since advanced reviews started coming in almost 8-9 months ago and it definitely made my expectations a lot higher. And I'm disappointed because I didn't really feel much of anything while reading this.
I was not a big fan of Jude even in the first book but I understood her ambitions and her skillful and scheming mind. But I just felt that her character regressed in this one. I guess I expected her to learn more because she is now in control of the crown, but what we see is how unprepared she actually is and how exhausting it is to run a kingdom. She may want to project strength and even cruelty but she really isn't cruel, and doesn't see most of the betrayals coming. And while I totally understand her need for family, I just hate that she is very quick to forgive and trust Taryn and Madoc, while convincing herself that she is being smart.
Cardan is the only character I was fascinated by in this book. While I hated him in the previous book and he has to grovel a lot more before I can forgive his incessant cruelty and bullying, he was the one character who had the most development here and never did what was expected of him. He is scheming and manipulative and we can never guess how he will behave in a certain situation. I think the book would be way more entertaining if we got his POV too.
Every single reader seems to love their romance but I just don't see anything. There is definitely a lot of hate and intensity between the two along with desire, but I have seen absolutely nothing between them that makes me think they'll make a good couple or are even good for each other. I just feel like they bring out the worst in each other and they really need to put their animosity aside before they dissect their true feelings towards each other.
I just don't like any of the side characters except maybe Bomb and Roach. I don't know what they would do if they weren't bound by oath to the High King, but they seem to not be the betraying kind yet which is a pretty low standard for me. I totally hate Taryn and Locke and only want the worst punishments for both. Madoc is another scheming manipulator and for all his talk of family, he only wants power even at their expense. Orlagh is just another power hungry ruler and I found nothing interesting about her.
I actually found the writing in this book much easier than the previous installment. It's nice to be familiar with the lay of the land which makes it fun to jump right into the story. We also get to know so much more of how the court of the High King runs and there's a lot of political intrigue, strategic planning for war as well as for preventing it and we never know what anyone's ultimate goal is. The whole plot reads like a chess game where we never even realize who has the upper hand. The pacing is a little slow for the first half, it's mostly Jude reacting to things after they have already happened but the last 100 pages was fast and fun and very interesting. I knew there would be a betrayal at the end and while I didn't guess the exact form of it, I wasn't actually surprised and I don't feel all that horrified by the “cliffhanger”.
This is a definitely an entertaining sequel and anyone who loved the first book will absolutely love this too. If you are very invested in Jude and Cardan's enemies to lovers relationship, then this is probably gonna be a favorite book of yours. Just don't take my review too seriously and have fun reading. Now that I know what The Queen of Nothing actually means, I do wanna know what happens next, maybe just not dying for it 😜😜
I really enjoyed this, it was one of those books that I could not put down. Definitely has the same world building and drama I enjoyed about the first book.
But now that I've finished it, I'm left wondering why I enjoyed it so much? The ending left me not terribly excited to read the third book. Throughout the first two books people question Jude about her decision to stay in the Faerie realm, when by anyone's standards it is a horrible place. Jude never truly explains her goals, even to herself. I'd be totally fine if Jude just stayed in the human world. In many ways it feels like she's finally been set free by being exiled.
A great sequel with a lot of action, suspense, and characters. All of the characters have changed quite a bit from the first book and I like Jude less and less (especially after all her selfishness throughout this book) and Cardan and Mordoc more. All the secondary characters - Cardan's circle of friends, The Shadows, and Taryn - play a much smaller roll in this book but I enjoyed “seeing” the Undersea and how their world works as opposed to the island fae. The anti-climactic ending and epilogue was a bit of a disappointment and made this definitely feel more like the classic “middle” in a trilogy but the last few chapters had me not wanting to put the book down. I can't wait for more from Holly Black.
Pros:
- Political intrigue. This book is full of faerie court shenanigans, whether it was schemes, betrayals, or parties. I loved all the twists and turns as Jude and Cardan settled into their roles within the court.
- Jude and Cardan. Their relationship will always be a favorite of mine. I love how much they hate each other but at the same time how much they need each other. It is such a unique relationship and I love the way Holly is writing it.
- Worldbuilding. This book definitely expanded the world even beyond what The Cruel Prince introduced us to. I loved learning more about the Undersea and the court there.
Cons:
- The ending. Honestly this is not really a con, but I needed something to put down. I was prepared to be shocked by the ending, but this one left me even more shocked than Cruel Prince did. I cannot wait for the next one and it is horrible that it is a year away. But I know it will be amazing and have so much more shocking moments.
I so enjoyed this book. I am dying for the rest of the story. It's such a fun taken on the fairy world
Ouch. My heart. I always fall for the cruel, flawed, icy hearted bad boys and Cardan is no exception. But really...ouch.