The Wicked King is the second book in the dark tale of Jude Duarte and her sisters, and their struggle as mortal in a Faerie world. Jude has been such a favorite character for me since the first book in this series, The Cruel Prince. She’s a complete bad ass, strong and fearless and never whining or feeling sorry for herself no matter what ill treatments and injustice she suffers. After all that happened to her in The Cruel Prince, I wondered (and feared) what more evil Holly Black could possibly to do her this time around? Quite a lot it turned out…

The Wicked King picks up five months after the end of book one and the jaw-dropping revelation that Jude’s little brother Oak is the heir to Faerie, and we get to see how Cardan has developed as a ruler, after several months’ worth of practice. We also discover how Jude’s deception has affected their love/hate relationship thing they have going on, since she’s bound Cardan to her and made herself the power behind the throne. No ruler is ever safe in Elfhame, though. Jude can’t let her guard down for a minute, having to navigate Faerie politics and deal with enemies from without and within the kingdom. As if that wasn’t enough, Jude is constantly at odds with Cardan, who takes every measure to humiliate or defy her wishes. At the same time, there is a spark, an attraction neither of them can get away from.

A LOT happens in this book, much of which I simply cannot tell you without spoiling the whole plot. We get to see new parts of Faerie that were only hinted at in the first book, like the Undersea. We are re-introduced to characters that I assumed were out of the story, in new unexpected ways. And there are upheaval of political alliances and feuds everywhere. The pace of the story is even faster than in the first book and the plot just draws you in completely. Holly Black makes an amazing job keeping her reader at suspense, and to always deliver the unexpected. The intrigue and power dynamics were so entrancing that I couldn’t put the book down until the very end. There were twists I never in a million years saw coming.

I have some mixed feelings about Jude and Cardan’s relationship though. It’s intriguing, for sure, but I don’t know if I want them to be a couple or not, which is a bit frustrating as a reader. I can’t see their relationship ever becoming a good one. There will always be this unhealthy undercurrent, a hint of violence and abuse, that you don’t want anyone ever get caught up in. Yet, some part of me want them to be together, to admit their feelings for each other. So, very mixed feelings for the book in that respect. Nevertheless, the book itself is so good and I truly recommend it and am now eagerly awaiting The Queen of Nothing. It’s simply impossible to not continue reading this series to see where Holly Black takes us and what more she will do to Jude until the end...

Find out more about the book and the author here: Holly Black

Dark, twisted and addictive! My reading tips this week is the wickedly delightful The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, with a fresh twist of a small mortal girl in faery land as the main character.

The main character, Jude, was such a favorite of mine. She’s a complete bad ass, strong and fearless and never whining or feeling sorry for herself no matter what ill treatments and injustice she suffers. And she always tried to protect her twin sister Taryn. (Who I did not like at all, by the way, she is Jude’s complete opposite - selfish, weak and insincere.)

I also loved Prince Cardan from the start. You could really tell that there was a good heart in there somewhere, and that he was having a lot to deal with in his own life. I cannot wait to continue read more about him and learn more about his complex personality. He has so many more layers that I hope will be revealed as the series continues!

There is also a lot of fey politics, betrayal and deception going on… The story is very dark and twisted, with so much bad treatment of Jude that I sometimes had problems to distance myself from the bullying that it in fact was. But once you started to understand everything that Cardan was going through, it felt easier to see through the maliciousness.

Even though it’s a fantasy novel taking place in faery land, that’s not really the main drive of the story. The big spark here is the sparring personalities and enemies-to-(potential)-lovers fighting between Jude and Cardan. I cannot wait to see how their strange relationship will evolve!
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Some parts of the story and some characters were a bit too predictable, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story and I absolutely look forward to reading what comes next.

Find out more about the book and the author here: Holly Black