Review: The Wicked King by Holly Black

Let’s talk about Holly Black for a moment. This woman weaves a wordspell on all readers. I remember picking up The Cruel Prince a year ago, curious about this dark tale of Jude Duarte and her sisters, Taryn and Vivian, after being spirited to the land of the fair folk. I was ensnared as Jude’s ambitions drove her to take control of her own life, much to the ire of the man who raised her, and a faerie prince who seemed to put a target on her back at every turn. I burned with rage as Jude suffered at the hands of the fair folk, and grinned with pride as she showed them just how strong of a spine our dear human girl really had. Then there was our bully Cardan, who stole my very breath with his sinful deeds, and terribly handsome face. With so many twists and turns, this story never took me where I expected to go. The cast of characters is so backstabbish, you’ll love them in one moment and curse their very existence in the next. Holly Black is so good at making the reader do that. After finishing the book, I was starved for more. And then…

I got the galley for The Wicked King. It took everything I had not to tear through it and instead savour the journey. After all that Jude has been through, what could Holly Black possibly do to her now?!

Let me tell you, she did quite a bit. I urge you, if you haven’t read The Cruel Prince, please, please do it.  Few stories can fully engage a reader mind, body, and soul. You could finish the story in a day like I did, but it will stick with you forever.

This book was dark, provocative, full of royal intrigue, and power plays galore. To summarise the story in The Wicked King, Jude is still working through the fact that her brother is the heir to Faerie and needs to keep him safe. To do so she bound herself to Cardan, once a sworn enemy, turned into a temporary ally. Now in the royal Faerie court, Jude and Cardan must navigate Faerie politics and any misstep could cost them dearly. As if this weren’t enough, Jude is constantly at odds with Cardan, who takes every measure to humiliate or defy her wishes. At the same time, there’s just something about Jude that Cardan can’t seem to get away from. When Jude finds out that someone means to betray her, she must venture and find the traitor before they could potentially ruin her plans, or potentially lose her life in the process. The Wicked King will leave you on the edge of your seat, and ravage your emotions in the process.

That’s exactly what I was after I finished reading this. Ravaged.

After reading The Wicked King I was emotionally drained in the kind of way a book leaves you after becoming completely enraptured by the story, the characters, and the world. I live for books like this. You follow Jude on this journey, and as in The Cruel Prince, you’ll find yourself feeling her emotions as you go through the story. Who could possibly resist the politics, the sexual tension, and looming threats that come along with the faerie court?

Familial bonds are also revisited in The Wicked King. Jude must still contend with her family schemes, that may or may not be aligned with her own. I honestly cannot say anymore on this part, but oh lord, it gets good on this front.

I mentioned the sexual tension right? It’s great, and it isn’t overwhelming. The story incorporates these little scenes that do an excellent job of teasing your interest. That said, the sexy and the romance are elements of this story, but not the major storyline. I admire fantasy writers that can do this nowadays.

Let’s talk about the characters for a minute. Jude is still this badass human girl whose ambitions are getting her places. With a sprinkle of the youthful arrogance that makes me just a smidge cringey, but makes you want to protect her just the same. Taryn still reminds me of the shadow of her sister, who might not seem like much, but she’s just as dangerous. The Bomb and the Roach are just as amazingly sassy and their roles in this book are not to be dismissed lightly either. Cardan is still such an enigma. You love him, you hate him, you likely want to sleep with him *wink*. I definitely feel like we get to see a bit more into the depth that this character, even more so than in The Cruel Prince. So many things happen in this story, and we’ve still got around six months to go before we can see this beauty out in the stores?!

How could this book not receive a 10/10 from me? There wasn’t a thing that I didn’t love about the story. The interactions between Jude and Cardan. Jude and Madoc. Jude and Taryn. God, Jude and her interactions with everyone will leave you screaming, crying, laughing, or seething. I honestly cannot wait for this book to come out in January, and for everyone to finally see for themselves how amazing this book is, and die when we have to wait just a little longer for the final book in the trilogy, Queen of Nothing. I cannot wait to have a finished copy in my hands!

The Wicked King hits bookshelves on January 8th and you can pre-order your copy on Amazon, Book Depository, and at other good book retailers.

Are you excited for The Wicked King? Tell us in the comments below!

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Synopsis | Goodreads

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.

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.

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