I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Wicked King by Holly Black Series: The Folk of the Air #2
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on January 8 2019
Genres: Young adult, Fantasy
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A twisty and exciting sequel that nicely sets up the story for the final book in the series.
Mild spoilers for The Cruel Prince!
Last year I fell hard for The Cruel Prince (along with a ton of other readers!), and we’ve all been waiting with bated breath for the sequel. I’m happy to report that The Wicked King was a ton of fun, although it didn’t suck me in quite as much as its predecessor. The first half is fairly action-free and is more of a set-up for the finale. But trust me, getting to the end of this story meant navigating plenty of twists and turns, and one of the things that Holly Black excels at is pitting her characters against each other, and the seething drama of the first half will keep you reading, even without a lot of action.
The story begins five months after the shocking events of The Cruel Prince. Jude has forced Cardan into the role of High King, and he’s sworn to obey her for a year and a day. Jude’s long game is to maneuver her younger brother Oak onto the throne, and making a year-long bargain with Cardan gives her some time to come up with her next move. But in Elfhame, power can easily be taken away with a twist of a knife, and Jude has her work cut out for her, keeping Cardan under control while others scheme to take that power away.
In addition to her job as Cardan’s seneschal, or advisor, Jude must navigate the upcoming wedding of her sister Taryn and Locke, a possible end to the treaty between Elfhame and the Undersea, and a myriad of other threats to her position of power. It’s a lot for poor Jude to deal with, but her troubles are only beginning. When word of a betrayal reaches her ears, she needs to act fast to find out who the deceiver is.
Once again, I felt Jude was the strongest of all the characters. She’s grown quite a bit since the beginning of The Cruel Prince and has come into her own as a woman who is determined to get what she wants, no matter what the cost. The story is told entirely from her point of view, which is rather limiting at times, but I enjoyed being in her head and watching her go through some horrible shit—and manage to get out of it, sometimes!—and still keep her head. She’s human, after all, trying to survive in the fae realm, and despite her love of Elfhame, she occasionally pines for the human world, where her siblings Oak and Vivian live.
And I can’t write this review without mentioning Cardan. He’s been forced to obey Jude, which he clearly doesn’t enjoy, but you know he’s got plenty of secrets, and even though he can’t lie, he has a way of bending the truth. I’m glad that Jude was able to get pay-back for the way he treated her in the first book, which was horrendous. But I did find Cardan to be rather passive in this story. He lounges around on the throne a lot while Jude does all the heavy lifting, and I think part of the reason the first half was so slow was that Jude and Cardan seem to spend a lot of time together, while later in the story Jude has several adventures without him.
But despite the slow start, I loved the magical details that Holly Black infuses her story with. For example, at one banquet the guests are served raw fish from the Undersea, and each one has some trinket or jewel hidden inside it. I loved the introduction of the folk from Undersea, mermaids and other sea creatures, like selkies, who live underwater but can also walk on land. I did want a little more depth to that story line, however.
I think in general, this book seemed very short. At just over three hundred pages, I felt there were places where the author could have expanded her world. I often end up complaining when a book is too long, but in this case a little more length would have worked better, for me at least. We barely spent any time at all with Oak and Vivi, and with so many interesting characters in this story, I was sad that some of them just didn’t get enough page time.
But despite a couple of quibbles, I had so much fun with The Wicked King. The ending has several twists, which I’ve come to expect from Holly Black but I’m never really ready for. Let’s just say, you cannot trust anyone’s motives in this story, no matter how much you like them. I don’t get the rug pulled out from under me that often, but boy this time I sure did! Just as she did with The Cruel Prince, Black leaves us hanging with a clear set-up for the final book in the series, and readers are going to be pulling their hair out when they realize that the next book, The Queen of Nothing, won’t be out for at least another year. Well played, Ms. Black. Well played.
Big thanks to the Novl for providing a review copy.
I’ve seen a couple of people waiting for this on on this week’s WOW posts, so my curiosity for it has been growing. Not entirely sure if this is for me yet though — thoughtful and comprehensive review as always Tammy!
Thanks Verushka! I do love this series:-)
I’ve had that happen where a book that wasn’t actually short might need to have been longer. Usually because I don’t want it to end though. LOL I have to get started on this series! Thanks for the wonderful review.
Laura Thomas recently posted…2018 was a fun year in Reading Challenges and 2019 brings more!
I really wanted more. I love this world, and it’s tough when there is such a long wait between books.
I’m so jealous you have a copy of this! I’m glad you enjoyed it, can’t wait to read it myself.
I hope you get a copy soon, enjoy:-)
I’m glad the quibbles were only minor, Tammy, because I have my heart set on loving this series! Wonderful review and I think I may wait for the last one to come out and binge read these!
Seriously, everyone is giving this 5 stars, you have nothing to worry about:-)
I don’t have an issue with YA. Never have and never will. But some cover are simply too “YA” for me to even give a second thought about. And this is one of them. I think I need to buy all my YA book in those brown bags that just have a couple a sentence about what the book is like. You know those bag I’m talking about? XD
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Oh yeah, like “blind date with a book”?
Yes! That’s what it’s called!
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Yes! That’s what it’s called!
DJ (@MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape) recently posted…Author Interview: Matt Maxwell
Literally CANNOT WAIT to read this book…
I hope you get to read it soon!
The Cruel Prince proved to be a delightful surprise and I loved the story and characters – which is doubly interesting, since I tend to be wary about YA-oriented stories, but Holly Black knows how to effectively portray her young characters and draw us into this world. I can hardly wait to get my hands on this one… 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…MY 2018 IN BOOKS
She does have a way with YA that makes me, as an adult, anxious to read her books, hope you enjoy!
I didn’t love the first one as much as many so you’re review has me worried. At least it is not as long as the first so maybe that will be a plus for me. Great review and I’m curious about the Selkies.
Don’t get too excited, there was like one sentence about the selkies, lol.
That does seem weirdly short for a fantasy sequel. I’m almost glad to hear there’s not a ton of action in the beginning, though not when it ends up being slower. I’m really not sure what to expect from this sequel, but I’m definitely excited to read this one myself!
I hope you love it!
I loved this one. So much plotting and backstabbing! And the ending was crazy again, what’s with her and these torturous cliffhangers! 😀
I loved the ending! I wonder if she’ll give us one of those for the finale as well!
Great review! I need to read the first book., but there are just so many books I want to read! lol
I know what you mean, it’s impossible to keep up!
I need to catch up on what Holly Black has been doing.
This is the only series of hers I’ve read, now I want to go back and pick up some of her earlier books.
I can’t wait to read this one and although you didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first a 4* rating is still very encouraging. Lots of twists sounds right up my street too.
Lynn 😀
It’s still really good, I hope you love it:-)
Oh no, I can’t read your review because I haven’t read Cruel Prince yet But I’m glad to hear this was twisty and good! Maybe I should just wait for the final book to come out now that I know it’s a trilogy so that I won’t have to wait so long between books lol.
Ha ha, I totally recommend waiting, because there is always a cliffhanger!!
Oh man, another reminder that I need to read The Cruel Prince! I keep remembering and then forgetting because I have so much other stuff in my TBR pile right now. This sounds like a fantastic sequel too. I’ll have to try and remember to get to it soon.
Ha ha, seriously, the way Holly Black uses cliffhangers, you’re better off waiting until you can binge the whole series:-)
Great review, Tammy! I really can’t wait to revisit Jude and Cardan. I’m glad to hear that you only had a couple of minor issues with the story, so I’m hoping that means it will be a great read for me as well.
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Thanks Suzanne:-) Most people didn’t have any issues with this book, so I’m sure you’ll love it!
I haven’t read the first one, and I’ve been on the fence about it. I will probably give in and read it. Haha.
I haven’t read this series yet, and at this point I wonder if I am the only one. I skimmed in case I decide to read the series at some point, but I am glad you enjoyed the follow-up!
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