Review: The Wicked King

Posted 6th February 2019 by Emma in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review: The Wicked KingThe Wicked King by Holly Black
Narrator: Caitlin Kelly
Also by this author: The Cruel Prince, The Queen of Nothing
Series: The Folk of the Air #2
Also in this series: The Cruel Prince
Published by Hot Key Books on 8th January 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Magic, YA Fantasy, Young Adult
Length: 10 hours and 20 minutes
Format: Audible
Source: I bought it
Goodreads
Amazon Kindle

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.

One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Erm. Well. Huh. I am struggling to put into words how I feel. Holly has completely outdone her self in this book. The Cruel Prince was one of my favourite books last year but The Wicked King is on another level!

After the way The Cruel Prince ended, I thought that Holly couldn’t shock me again. Well, clearly I was wrong about that! This book has everything you need. It’s got betrayal, new alliances, love, hate and a good old wedding.

I love the relationship between Jude and Cardan. The love/hate thing they have going on is so intense. I could quote so many many lines from Cardan that made me just fall deeper and deeper for him. He is everything you think he is but also nothing like you think he is. He is a very complex character.

This book is full of characters who are torn. They are fighting not only with each other but with themselves. It makes for very interesting reading but makes it very difficult to predict what will happen next.

Although I have just finished this book and I only recently read The Cruel Prince I feel like I need to reread the series again. I feel like there are intricacies I likely missed the first time around. I think this is one of those stories that you would learn something new everytime you read it.

This story was epic and I have so many theories and thoughts on the ending that my mind has been whirring for days! I don’t know how I am going to wait a whole year for The Queen of Nothing!

About Holly Black

Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare), The Darkest Part of the Forest, and her new series which begins with The Cruel Prince in January 2018.

She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.

Emma

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:


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