The Wicked King

By Holly Black

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Amazon* | Goodreads

*Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links. If you purchase anything through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts and opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

The Folk of the Air Series

• The Cruel Prince (#1) (Amazon* | Goodreads | Book Review | Audiobook Review)
• The Lost Sisters (#1.5) (Amazon* | Goodreads)
• The Wicked King (#2) (Amazon* | Goodreads)
• The Queen of Nothing (#3) (Goodreads)

I find that when I really love a book it is hard to write reviews because I tend to fangirl over it.

But as much as I loved this book it also destroyed me.

I don’t think I can wait till 2020 for the next book!!!!

Alright I know what you are thinking “Enough with the dramatics, just write your review”

I really loved this book.  Its dark and twisted and yet somehow super real, despite being set in faerie.

In The Cruel Prince we got to see very little of Cardan’s true personality, but what we did see was intriguing.  It left us wanting more.  The Wicked King gave us more, but I wouldn’t exactly say it came through with answers.  I feel like there is still so much we don’t know about Cardan! The book is written from Jude’s point of view and Cardan is incredibly biased toward her, so we only see the facade he puts on.  I really want to know what he is thinking and how he truly feels.

On the other hand we know everything Jude is thinking.  I love her and her schemes and calculations.  She is a brilliant strategist, yet she is still human and sometimes her human emotions interfere.  And not just where Cardan is concerned – she also lets her love for Taryn and Madoc cloud her judgement.  I am super curious to see what she does in the next book!

There were a couple of scenes were Jude got “swoony” over Cardan, and those were super annoying.  She can still fall in love with him without all the breathlessness and fluttery stomach and all the overused teenage love tropes.  Nothing else in this book falls into your standard love story.

If you follow my blog semi-regularly you might have noticed that I absolutely HATE cliffhangers.  They are one of my biggest pet-peeves, and most of the time I think it indicates poor writing on the author’s part.  But, somehow, the cliffhangers in The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King didn’t bother me so much.  They drove me crazy and pissed me off, but they didn’t make me hate the books.  I can’t explain it, and its probably hypocritical, but it is what it is.

As far as I can tell, no one saw the twist coming at the end of The Cruel Prince.  Personally, I was completely caught off guard!  So, while reading the Wicked King, I was ready for another big twist, and I was determined to figure out what it was. I caught a bunch of little foreshadowing hints throughout the book and I was so proud of my self! I thought I had figured it out.  But then, because Holly Black is an evil genius, it turned out I had only figured out a very tiny piece of the twist.  I was still completely blind sided by the ending.  Holly Black totally let us think we had figured it out, in order to misdirect us, and it was brilliant.

I was super naive and should have known that there was a bigger twist.  I let myself get lulled into a sense of security and hopeful excitement, then Holly Black ripped my heart out.  This being the second book should have been clue enough, but somehow I still let myself hope.  As much as I am looking forward to The Queen of Nothing, I am also a little scared.  I don’t know if I can handle it.  I need closure! I want a happy ending wrapped up in a shiny red bow!

Have you read The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King?  Did you like them? Do you agree or disagree with my review! Let me know in the comments!!