Review--The Wicked King by Holly Black

This exclusive edition contains deleted scenes sure to delight fans and give them a special peek into the world of Faerie!

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.

I did it! I finally read Holly Black's The Wicked King and oh my goodness! I swear this series was meant to just drive me insane! The latest installment is sure to have you just as utterly confounded by the character that remains Cardan! This boy is just made of pure chaos!

So we pick up a few months after the events of The Cruel Prince, Jude successfully tricked Cardan into being king and she has him under her control for a year and a day. Her time is almost halfway up and she has to figure out a way to get Cardan to remain on the throne until Oak is old enough and "ready" to be king. But that's going to be easier said than done, because Cardan is Cardan.

We now know that Cardan had an obsession with Jude, whether it was truly within a crush sort, I've yet to really figure out. It might just be easier to say it's an obsession and take it as is. Jude while not wanting to be a true ruler herself, does enjoy the power she wields over Cardan, but she's not power hungry. Not like some of the other fae who are doing everything possible to get themselves in Cardan's good graces in order to get more power.

That's where the story puts a lot of emphasis on. We have the Queen of the Undersea, Orlagh who is threatening to break the truce that she held with the previous king. If Cardan were to marry her daughter, Nicasia, then all will be well. Though with the way things work in Faery, the last thing Jude wants is Nicasia to be on the throne and potentially take away Oak's right to rule. It's a very messy faery politics that are better explained as you read then I could rehash.

There's also Cardan's brother, Balekin, who remains a threat to Cardan. Even though he is behind bars in the Tower of Forgetting, so that he can be forgotten, that won't stop him from getting the crown for himself by any means necessary.

Throughout The Wicked King, we have tantalizing moments between Jude and Cardan. It's the whole, "will they, won't they?" scenario where you just never know which way they will turn. And though the moments are heated enough to make toes curl, I still can't figure out what I think of Cardan. He's a character that I still can't figure out. He's a faery to boot, so I feel like you can never truly figure him out and whether he's playing games or telling truths. He's one of the most complicated puzzles I've encountered, character wise. I wish I could figure him out! Lol.

I had remember hearing little whispers about the ending. Nothing oh so spoilery, but one thing definitely had me thinking WTF???? And yet when that moment came, I'm thinking it's not so WTF???? but more What the Whaaaat? Yeah. That's me. Lol. The grand finale though was a little more shocking. Just when I thought things might turn out in a somewhat positive way, they take a drastic turn and I'm left back-peddling, because what is going on?!!! And that's where The Wicked King left me.

Basically, at this point, I'm one of the very last people to read this book, so my comments are probably going largely ignored, but if you haven't read this magnificent series yet, I would highly recommend it! The Folk of the Air series represents faeries as they are meant to be, cunning and deceptive and oh so delightfully scary! Holly Black knows how to enthrall her readers with faeries' cruel nature and have us begging for more! The only question is, what will she do to us next? Time will tell I suppose...is it 2020 yet?

*On a side note, I did read the B&N edition where there were two exclusive deleted scenes that didn't quite make the cut of the story. I found them to be very interesting as the first one was told from Madoc's POV before moving onto Cardan's and omg, was that one worth it all right there! I've been wanting to know what this boy is truly thinking since the beginning and I only wish there were more scenes from his perspective! The second deleted scene was another of Jude's but still fairly intriguing had the thread of storyline been kept. I'd definitely recommend snagging this edition if you haven't already! They seem to be quite popular and once they are gone, they're impossible to find!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars