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lucasxx's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
katreadswaytoomuch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Murder, Kidnapping, Gore, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts
wondereads13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Wicked King is absolutely my favorite book of Folk of the Air. I just love magical politicking, and Jude does it so well. This sounds weird, but her time in the Undersea is a part that has always stuck with me. She's obviously miserable, but I think it's when I realized just how far Jude would go for her ambitions (and just how far Cardan would go for her) and I love it. Speaking of Cardan, the build in their relationship is so well done; a true enemies-to-lovers arc if there ever was one. As much as I know what's really going on with the twist at the end, it still hurt to read. I enjoyed this reread so much that I ended up changing my rating from a 9 to a 10 because I really can't think of anything to criticize about this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship
luckykosmos's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I gave this book a shot despite misgivings about the first one, and it helped me quantify what exactly it was that had me torn. Specifically:
- I came for a story about human overlap with fae, to see how Jude wields this power. Which this has, but it feels weak, like Jude should be wielding much more power in this dynamic but everything in her comes back to wielding Cardan like a weapon. which is a problem, because
- I just... can't bring myself to care about Cardan, at least not in this dynamic. I was promised enemies-to-lovers, and this isn't a transition, any growth in their dynamic. Cardan was terrible to her, and in a spark of a moment, they both realize they are inexplicably attracted to one another and are trying to come to terms with that.
The problem here is that this book is predicated on the idea that you enjoy that, and you want Jude and Cardan drawn to one another and read about their push-and-pull. And I don't. I want the examination of why Cardan hated her so much, of Jude asking what it is about Cardan she's drawn to other than Mystery Chemistry. And moreover, the examination of, if this is an unhealthy dynamic, them DEALING with that. Maybe this book is for someone, but Holly Black cast off everything that I enjoyed about her older books and picked up surface tropes to use as set dressing. And maybe that's fine for someone who want to dress up in faerie and just watch everything. But it's not doing it for me. I'm not getting what I want, so I'm stopping here,
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction and Violence
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