Title: The Wicked King
Author: Holly Black
Book Two in the Folk of Air Trilogy
Young Adult Fantasy
The Story
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.
My Review
There wasn’t any doubt in my mind of how much I was going to enjoy this book, after reading the first one and left wanting to know more about everything, the world, the characters.. and even with a few issues that I though could have been handled better it still is a solid 4.5 stars read for me..
“Once upon a time, there was a human girl stolen away by faeries, and because of that, she swore to destroy them.”
Let me get the unpleasantness out-of-the-way before I begin my gushing fest..
I do agree that this plot isn’t the most original or the most complicated plot out there.. I kind of knew who was going to betray who very early on and you do get a sense of where the story is going easily enough but I feel that this uncomplicated thread is what I enjoy about this series… Is like a simpler version of Game of Thrones (with all the political scheming and murdering along as well and with the added bonus of a deceitful fairy world.. ) — Just with that I’m sold.. I’m easy like that..
I also felt that Cardan’s growth as a character (which I enjoyed the heck out of, by the way) could have been built a bit more slowly, it felt a little 180 all of a sudden.. mostly in regards to the throne.. There are hints here and there about his interest but I need it a little more…
Finally, is Locke really necessary?? He was just randomly there.. .with very little purpose.. I just don’t like him..
Now let’s gush people… Like I mentioned I enjoy all the plotting and scheming we see here, from Jude, Cardan, Madoc… Each have their own agendas and you are never quite sure who you should trust… If any, and that’s what intrigues me nobody in this book is squeaky clean… they all have plots in play and we are just along for the ride..
“The Folk doubtlessly learned this lesson long ago. They do not need to deceive humans. Humans will deceive themselves.”
Now let me talk about the romance if we can really call it that…I know that in this book we have an incredibly toxic relationship.. there’s no middle ground here, they do have an attraction to each other and yet there’s so much distrust and resentment mixed in with the tiniest bit of growing respect.. it’s a complete mess of mixed feelings and yet I’m a sucker for it.. no remorse about it.. I just crave more..
“Kiss me again,” he says, drunk and foolish. “Kiss me until I am sick of it.”
“Kill him before he makes you love him.”
Jude and Cardan both grow more into their roles and learn to dubiously trust each other which brings about a whole set of bad decisions and complications..
I also liked how we got to see a little more of Fairy, and how it has a symbiotic relation with its monarch…
Overall this book was exactly what I hoped and now I’m left in the waiting hell for Queen of nothing to come out…
As Always
Happy Reading
