Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Date published: 8th January 2019
Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance
Pages: 326
Rating: 5/5
Note: This review contains mild spoilers.
You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.
The first lesson is to make yourself that strong.
Jude 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 biddable. 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 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.
The first lesson is to make yourself that strong.
Jude 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 biddable. 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 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.
- From Goodreads.
I already enjoyed Jude's character in The Cruel Prince, but The Wicked King made me like her even more. I always appreciate it in a book when an author can succesfully make the main character flawed but still loveable. Jude, despite everything, always tries hard to protect the people she cares about and wants desperately to do things for the right reasons. She worries so much about becoming an inhuman monster but she still has a good heart deep down and I think this is done in quite a subtle way and really showcases how well Holly Black writes complex characters.
We got to see more of the faerie world in this book and I really enjoyed all the details and descriptions of the places the story is set in. I really enjoy myths, fairy tales and other legends, and I think that this book continues to build on and be inspired by details and ideas from those kind of stories in such a fun and imaginative way.
The plot was really thrilling and full of some really exciting and surprising twists and turns. Even when I was distressed or worried for Jude, I was still enjoying reading the story and appreciating how well planned-out the storyline was.
I adored the chemistry between Jude and Cardan. I think Cardan is such an intriguing character and I find it so fascinating how most characters seem to underestimate him while he can actually be very clever, sly and truly powerful, and yet also capable of such deep emotion and feelings for others. I think the magic of his connection to the faerie realm and land is very fascinating and I hope to see that explored more in the next book.
Despite everything and all they have been through, I still found myself hoping for things to end well between Cardan and Jude. They have made mistakes with each other and treated each other pretty terribly at times, but Holly Black writes them in such a way that I can still believe they could come to terms with these things and be together in the future. And I hope they do because together they make such an incredible team and their interactions and dynamic are always such a joy to read. I think theirs has the potential to be such an epic love story, depending on what happens in The Queen of Nothing, the final book in the trilogy.
