The Wicked King by Holly Black
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
There are already lots of great reviews of this book that creatively give a synopsis. So Imma just share my feels and favorite quotes here … feel free to do the same in comments ♥‿♥
Overall, this was a pretty great sequel. It has the same great elements from the first that is just higher stakes. Featuring Court politics. Intrigue. Villians. Anti-herores. Schemes. Plots. And a motherfucking Court of Shadows!!
Oak is the fucking
Spoiler
heir to Faerie
and now Jude has to work with her insta-hate-slash-love interest Cardan.
“I remembered what it was to hate him with my whole heart, but I’ve remembered too late. He looks every bit the ruler his father, and every bit the monster his brother wanted to become”
Still moving in the shadows, Jude is about to be thrust into the cold light of day whether she likes it or not
“Kill him, a part of me says, a part I remember from the night I took him captive. Kill him before he makes you love him.”
For me the best part was definitely Jude’s character arc.
While I absolutely enjoyed the first book, I didn’t actually like our heroine. She was generally unpleasant and didn’t really seem to care about anyone except her family, but even that was pretty thinly veiled in the first. She would describe her love for her sister, then lie to her. There was just a clear disconnect for me.
But as a sequel, this book really worked to let us more into the vulnerable side of Jude while she still remained a baddie that wants to play the game on the same level as these devious fey.
“Anger was better than being scared. Better than remembering she was a mortal among monsters.”
Cardan is an asshole and I love him. that’s all I have to say there.
The dynamic between these two continued to be hilarious and borderline psychotic
If you enjoyed the first one but didn’t really understand all the hype, I would definitely recommend giving the sequel a try. It really developed all the elements I enjoyed in the first to be more prominent and I honestly enjoyed it more than the first because all the characters actually interacted with each other more.
Also that cliffhanger? yah fuck you too
Like okay for the first book, it made sense to keep me captivated and invested in the characters. But now its the second book. I’m here. I’m invested. Can ya be a little nicer about it ?!?
Side note, I also absolutely adore the fan art that has come from this series, it just really provides more artistic outlets for our fey love
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