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 brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself … the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her 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.
Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world. Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world. Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.more
This story is wonderful, tricky, intense, and without one lagging moment. It’s a superb second book in the series. I can’t wait for next September for the third book!
Ugh. This book destroyed me and I’m so, so ready for the next one! Is it 2020 yet?
Basically: dangerous Fae politics + a kick-ass heroine who is pretty ruthless + a diabolical prince who really starts coming into his own here + a twisted love-hate relationship between the two = an unputdownable book.
I’m calling it already. Possibly my Favourite Book of 2019. It will take some beating.
Mad, mad love. One of my absolute favorite series by Holly Black!
This is one of the few audiobooks where ALL I do is LISTEN and hang onto every word as Caitlin Kelly narrates.
I am a gonner for Cardan and completely wrapped up in his relationship with Jude.
Jude! Oh, girlfriend. You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders with such strength. Your struggles press upon me. I am rooting for you every step of the way!
I can’t believe I haven’t recommended this one yet! The read The Cruel Prince and absolutely loved it, and The Wicked King, the second novel in the trilogy is just as amazingly epic. This series has got me INVESTED.
A round of applause, please.
This was amazing, I enjoyed so much this book… But with that ending I’m really happy that my tbr is larger than life so I can read other great books while I wait.
I definitely love Cardan, I know that he is cunning, wicked and kinky, and because of that he is really interesting and intriguing.
Jude is a heroine to love and to fear, because she can really make nasty things in order to achieve her goals, and sometimes she succeeds, but in this book she had it coming…
Taryn and Locke, I hate you both, hope you’ll get what you deserve it the end.
You my dear friend, thanks for reading my review… And please read this book, you won’t regret it.
The Wicked King is the second book in The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black. I’ve quickly become a huge fan of this series. It’s full of all my favorite things. Magic. Faeries. Adventure. Royal and Political conflict. Romance. It’s all packed into this wonderfully complex and compelling book.
If you liked THE CRUEL PRINCE, then you’ll love THE WICKED KING.
Dark, twisty, gorgeously descriptive, exciting, sexy, thrilling–I could not put it down.
Now, I count the days until the next book in the series comes out.
Wonderful second book!
The Wicked King is an amazing sequel to The Cruel Prince. There is no slight of trouble that these characters get into and I love every second of it. They are all problem characters in their own way, but I can’t help but want more of them. One of my main objections to this book is the toxicity of the relationships in this book, but man do I love these tormented characters. Holly Black has crafted an amazing world with fantastic characters and I look forward to reading more by her.
4.5
WOW !!! This book gave me whiplash !!! That Ending…. Lets just say it’s been two days and I’m still not sure what to think and a bit angry about it.
Like I said the whole book is a rollercoaster and there is nto much I can say to not spoil it and believe me, you don’t want to be spoiled with this one.
I will make it sweet and shirt , ot at least I try lo.
The book starts off 5 some months after the events of the last book, Cardan is King, Jude pulling his strings,( or is she?) . To be honest, I think Jude is getting a bit power-hungry and all that string pulling is getting to her head a bit. But then again that is all that she has left. She is still on the outs with her family, her fae family that is. She is working with the Court of Shadows and of course working The High King. But all that is getting more and more complicated as she seems to be having more and more feelings for Cardan. The water fae also coming out to play and things get a bit … wet and nasty.
As thing heat up with the underwater fae, and things getting a bit out of control she starts working again with Madoc. Of course he is him and yu never know if you can trust him or not.
I will say as much as an A-$$ -Hole he is ….. I really love him and always looked forward to parts with him.
Cardan was not as much in the book, as I hoped and if again you never know with him, I liked him, I hated him , I loved him and I never fully trusted him but I still wanted more of him. I have a real love-hate relationship with him for sure.
Jude, most if the time I thought she is a bitch but others I just felt bad for her and asked why she keeps doing that do herself, even though she could just up and go to the human world.
Overall I really liked the book and learned quickly, you can’t trust anyone, no matter what or who. There is lots if humor, action and even more betrayal going on , it is pretty fast pact and with all the action going on the book reads super-fast.
The end …… DID NOT see that coming…. NOT in a million years…. OMG I was soo angry and confused. Well done Holly Black, that was one heck of a twist I didn’t see coming.
I can’t wait for the next book to see how she will finish it …….. Because I’m not even sure where this can go. Well I do but I don’t think I would like that lol.
Overall great book, few things I disliked but nothing major and not even worth mentioning.
I rate it 4.5
I loved this book just as much as the first in the series! Such a cozy, entertaining read. I’m so excited for the next one!
I loved this one just as much as I loved the first book and that ending was a gut punch that I should have seen coming. I love this series. I hate Jude with a passion and I love seeing how hard she tries to scheme and hold on to that power she so desperately needs. I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation at what would happen next. I was found myself loving Cardan even more in this book. I was waiting for him to make his move and he surprised me at every turn. That damn ending was a game changer and I am so excited for what is going to happen next.
Although this isn’t a mystery, I love this series! After reading the Cruel Prince, I was anxious to see the story continue. Jude is such a strong (but flawed) heroine. I love that about her. She’s prickly. She’s tough. Deep down, though, I suspect she’s a marshmallow. The Wicked King did not disappoint. It built on the first book, provided all sorts of court intrigue and backstabbing. It was quite the page-turner. That said, I’m gutted. I cannot wait for the next book to find out what happens.
*screams for a year and one day* I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! Who would have thought that the second book could be better than the first? I never really found delight in second books of trilogies. They seemed more like place holders to me, but this one blew me away! It was well written and captivating. I didn’t want to stop reading and I have no idea how the next book will turn out because of the amount of twists and turns. I don’t know how I will SURVIVE waiting for the next book. This book will be one of my top recommendations for any book lover, the events and development of the plot and characters being mind blowing. Words cannot express how absolutely in love I am with this book and how wonderful this book is.
I love how when Jude fights her opponents, the opponents put up a fight. I love how it doesn’t show that Jude can take out everyone and they don’t put up a good fight. I also love how there is a continuation of betrayal. It kept me on my toes and had me questioning every person. It also made it difficult to see how the ending of the book would turn out to be and what might happen next.
Jude continues to be fierce and relentless. She has power and her scheming is to no end. Cardan also continues to be the sassy, cold beast he is, but we also learn more about him. He also becomes closer to Jude, in some ways more than others.
Overall, this was a really good book and I would recommend it to anyone who crosses my path.
Wonderful, incredible…Not one lagging moment. THE WICKED KING had tons of intrigue, making for a really fantastic second book in the series.
OMG, what did Cardan just do?! LOL.
This book took me on a ride, and I LOVE IT.
I am the minority here. I did enjoy this book and I loved the world that Holly Black has made but something was just…missing from the second. book. Maybe the third book will, obviously, tie up all the loose ends. but I just wasn’t feeling this book the way that I had anticipated.
My heart! Camden how could you? Oh my word…..these are some strong emotions! Fantastic writing!
This book was wonderfully written and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.