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 book in the series really took me for a ride while I was reading. As I was already used to most of the characters I was quickly invested in the storylines. I also really enjoy the growing relationship of Jude and Cardan especially their banter.
While the first book in this series started a bit slow for me, this book had me jumping right into the action. Perhaps because I was already invested at this point, but I tend to think that the story went a little quicker as well.
Jude grows a lot over the course of the first book, but I found that she got even stronger during the second. The tension between her and Cardan is palpable and I think the reader feels the back and forth and the indecision along with Jude.
There is much deceit, adventure and intrigue going on in this story. And although it’s a fairy book, there is a fair amount of politics at play. I enjoy how many different pieces are all moving and how we don’t even see what all is happening until it’s done. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger and I’m eager to start on book three. I have to admit to being completely shocked at the end, I didn’t see it coming at all!
Reread 5/2021: This had more of the tension that I was looking for between Jude and Cardan, but definitely leans hard into YA, and I kind of wish it had gone slightly towards New Adult. Not necessarily as explicit as something like A Court of Thorns and Roses, but less fade to black? The end had me immediately reaching for the next one.
4.5 stars. Slightly better than the first, and I felt less predictable, but I wanted more of Jude interacting with Carden. Very excited to see where the next book goes though.
I think this is my favorite book from The Forlk of the Air series. I’m totally hooked to the story and almost read it in one seating.
I love that all the characters are not perfect. They all have weaknesses and their behavious is not always the best. Jude has high ambitions and I don’t always agree with her decisions but that make her more human. Just like Cardan, Madock or Oriana. We deal with life the best way we can and trying to reach our dreams while taking different choices.
Awesome ending. I love action-packed, twists and surprises in the stories and this one doesn’t disappoint.
My only but is that this title like the previous book makes you think that Cardan is going to have a more important role but he’s just another secondary character the whole story is focused on Jude.
The Wicked King by Holly Black and published by Hot Key Books is the second book in The Folk of the Air trilogy, sequel to The Cruel Prince.
The Wicked King takes place five months after the events of The Cruel Prince, narrated again by Jude as she struggles to be Cardan’s seneschal and commander even as threats of war from many sides loom over them. This young adult fantasy series so far has envisioned enemies, love, friendship, betrayal, family dynamics, royal politics, war, and spy strategy.
The author, Holly Black, has written numerous fantasy novels–the most famous of which is probably The Spiderwick Chronicles. She has won the Mythopoeic award, a Nebula, and a Newberry Honor.
I found The Wicked King to be a thrilling read full of twists and turns. It even made me cry and so few books these days do that. I think this sequel might surpass my rating of the first one as thrilling as it was. Though, admittedly, I did find the first one hundred pages to be a bit slow as it delved more into the world of politics and less in the way of action and romance until about halfway through the book.
There were a lot of quotes in this book that stood out to me and I just had to write down. Some quotes that I think can describe a lot of what Jude was facing in this book are:
“The feeling of falling in love is like the feeling of fear.”
“When his blood falls, things grow.”
Also, I did some digging and apparently there is an e-novella called The Lost Sisters by Holly Black and it tells Taryn’s side of the story as her betrothal with Locke pushes her away from Jude. I probably should check that out!
I found the writing style to be all at once captivating but also easy-to-read. A common style for young adult books, as it weaves together the action of the plot and the worries of the narrator. I love how Black can come up with various riddles and faerie deceptions without actually telling a lie–it’s all very clever. Just as the worldbuilding–having a faerie world and a mortal world side by side is difficult in that not only must she come up with a whole other world but also do research on the setting of the mortal world. I think she weaves it together magically. One word that I find came up a lot was ‘tarry,’ but I’m not upset about it because it’s a new word for me. I’m going to start saying to people, ‘Tarry a while with me.’
I also love seeing the character development. As the series continues, it’s interesting to see how strained Jude’s familial relationships become while other ties are strengthened with her friends in the Court of Shadows and even with her enemy, Cardan. Still, it might take a while for her to learn to trust and open up.
There were also various sentences or catchphrases Jude remembers hearing that sets the scene for later dramatic events of the book. For example, Jude remembers as a kid hearing her parents say ‘Choose what hill you want to die on’ and this becomes important later on. I found this very clever and an excellent use of planning.
Overall, I loved this books and the small illustrations like the map in the beginning, illustrated by Kathleen Jennings which really helped set the world in stone. This series is such a highly recommend I cannot stress it enough. It is probably becoming one of my favorite series ever, if not the favorite. (But of course who can have just one favorite?)
While The Wicked King starts off a bit slow, by the end you’ll be gripping the cover, yelling at the characters, and wondering what’s going to happen next.
Five stars out five stars! 5/5
Great series
The Story
Oh, all the machinations. I didn’t think things could grow more complicated than when we left them in Cruel Prince, but here we are. There are a number of major players vying for the throne King Cardan currently occupies, mainly because power is addictive and everyone wants some. And, also because Cardan is an unusually bad king. He rules like he lives, carefree and blind to any consequences.
Jude isn’t one of these people trying to get the throne, mainly because she secretly holds power through an oath struck with Cardan where he must obey her for a year and a day. Not that that keeps him from pushing her buttons and boundaries at every turn. All of what Jude’s done is to ensure that when her little brother Oak, the rightful heir, is old enough to survive being king, there will be a throne to sit on.
This would be so much easier if the Undersea wasn’t brewing up a war in the most conniving way possible. Or if Jude’s faerie father Madoc wasn’t also manipulating things to put himself on the throne.
True to a good YA romantic dark fantasy, there had to be a steady dose of angst and emotional twisting at every turn. Will Cardan’s mother, who has been locked into the tower of forgetting, have information that will change everything? Will the death of people Jude feels compelled to murder solve the multitude of problems brewing just beneath the surface? Will the love/hate relationship between Cardan and Jude turn into something more?
The story seeds planted in the Cruel Prince grow to maturity in the most twisty and unexpected ways possible in Wicked King. Will the fruit be worth it in the Queen of Nothing? We’ll see.
My Review
There are an amazing number of great lines in this book as Jude sorts out her feelings for Cardan.
“I’ve wanted this and feared it, and now that it’s happening, I don’t know how I will ever want anything else.”
“My body has acclimated, and now it craves what it should revile.”
‘“I hate you,” I say, the words coming out like a caress. I say it again, over and over. A litany. An enchantment. A ward against what I really feel.’
The Wicked King is a marvelously twisty and excellently crafted story that exceeds expectations. I liked how skillfully all the different factions played off each other and how each deception and intrigue heightened the emotional tension and the stakes.
Recommendations
The same as with The Cruel Prince, this is definitely a book for high school-aged readers and up. there’s lots of violence, some language, and plenty of intensity that’s it’s solidly PG-13. More than that, it’s simply too complicated for a younger reader to really enjoy. Most of the interesting bits revolve around political maneuvering, secrets, and murder.
That said, it’s well-conceived, has plenty of lovely writey bits, and lives up to it’s the promise.
I give The Wicked King 4/5 for being awesome but possibly too twisty to fully enjoy.
Oh my. This was so so much better than the first one. I love Jude clever clever brain. The game of King og kingdoms indeed. There was never a dull moment.
I read the first 70% of this book in one go, and then couldn’t for the life of me hold me eyes open any longer.
The thrill of finding out who to trust and who is going to stab you in the back. The “love story” that is not love but is anyway? Ah I love Jude, I love Cardan, they are terrible, awful and power-hungry and just perfect for each other. The ending though is what gives this book the last star, if the next book wasn’t out, if I had read this, when it came out, I would have thrown my phone across the room in frustration.
I knew I would be mad at myself for waiting so long to get back to this series. So many twists, turns, strategizing and questioning every move and every word. I’m constantly at the edge of my seat.
Ok the first book I had mixed feelings about it but this book is way better and we get more into the story and characters. It is full of mystery, secrets, intrigue, action, torment, great world building and a tortured romance.
I truly love this book.
This book picks up after The Cruel Prince events and it’s definitely everything I hoped for and more. I got all the twists and turns I couldn’t see coming and then some, this series is picking up and at a very well-paced plotline. Characters are changing and I’m loving them more for it. Cardan is definitely a character I love and Jude is simply fantastic. Audibook narration is consistent with the series, great narration and definitely worth getting them.
After binding the High King to her, Jude tries to maintain control of the crown while juggling a million other things and not giving her real position away in the process. Treason lures at every corner and Cardan’s behavior doesn’t help her do the job.
With her sister’s wedding approaching, Balekin’s frequent attempts to reach Cardan, new discoveries and never-ending plots to overthrow the young king, Jude will have her work cut out for her and will find out that hate, revenge and betrayal lay closer than she ever expected.
As brilliant as the first book, with impressive twists and turns that will keep you at the edge of your seat, The Wicked King makes for a great second installment and is even better with even more intrigue and betrayal than any reader can expect.
I was supposed to be working, but instead I sat down and read this through. It’s much faster paced than book one, with even more push and pull between Cardan and Jude. I was actually so outraged at the end, I had to look up spoilers for book three, since it’s out, ha. That being said, it makes sense why Jude didn’t pick up on the twist in the last book, because she’s so hurt, but I wanted to be like JUST THINK ABOUT IT! Also, this series is the only book series that makes sense why there characters don’t just talk to each other like reasonable adults. Usually that just pisses me off, but this one it’s completely believable and understandable.
Reread
The story goes on…
Jude has tricked Cardan on the throne ..
But winning is easy, staying on top is an whole other story..
Jude is learning this the hard way..
In the meantime Jude and Cardan are exploring some strange feelings to each other… is it hate or love
What will it be… to keep Oak save Jude tried to think of everything except her own safety…
When she got kidnapped herself by the Queen of the sea… Cardan needs to make big decisions on his own..
It’s really an love hate story… and it keeps bothering you till you are done reading… and that ending omg it’s super frustrating and I know it’s for her own good and there is an way around it…
Again I loved to read it
I really enjoy this series.
The second book in the trilogy delivers. Cardan and Jude’s story continues with all the twists and turns you would expect to see in Faerie.
A lot better than the first book! A lot has happened and I am definitely curious as to what the ending will be 🙂 I still don’t like Jude LOL I find her annoying with the constant “I have so much power” façade she says in almost every chapter. Also I think “spies” in this book aren’t really spies . No one does any spy work beside Roach honestly. Also the totally RANDOM change of scenes is insane.. like one minute she’s eating a piece of bread and the next she’s climbing a wall and lands on the kings bed? Idk really weird.
But its not enough to deter me! I actually really looking forward to finish the series 🙂
Middle books of trilogies are often where the really, really bad stuff happens, setting up for the third, concluding book. THE WICKED KING brings the angst, pain, and drama, and I was left wanting more. Jude’s complicated relationship with King Carden continues to evolve, but where before she was seen as a largely unthreatening human, now she’s got a target on her back as the king’s seneschal. Everyone is out to use her or remove her, preferably by killing her.
I’m looking forward to reading THE QUEEN OF NOTHING, though at this point if I were Jude I’d be wondering if being accepted by Faerie and living in their land is really the HEA she’s been longing for.
FIVE FREAKING STARS HOLLY BLACK!
Ya’ll… I was fully expecting the 2nd book exposition dip and knew that it was going to end with Jude/Cardan being at odds somehow but it kept me guessing and riveted until I stayed up LITERALLY ALL NIGHT to finish. I’m so impressed. The world building, character arcs, romantic subplot, political intrigue, and the toxic anti-hero messed up relationship between Cardan and Jude is all on point. The pacing and dialogue, the way different relationships were developed, and the artful exposition were simply stunning.
I will say, I didn’t like the way it ended but I knew I probably wouldn’t before I started reading. It ripped my heart out and threw it onto the floor and I’m so ready to read the Third Book in this series. Holly Black has a true story teller’s gift. She structures her stories to feel lush and descriptive and to immerse you in the fantasical world-building all while weaving in plot and exposition in a way that is natural and realistic.
I know what i’m going to do to treat myself after I finish Nano, hunker down with the final installment of this. Seriously, I couldn’t be more impressed. Sequels are incredibly hard to pull off, and she did it beautifully. I’m seriously just blown away.
Cant stop reading this series. Jude is a badass love it.