Reviews tagging 'War'

The Wicked King by Holly Black

85 reviews

erins_bookshelf_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

oh my god the ending was insane and i need to get the next book right now i’m so serious
i liked the first book but this one felt like it was on another level with all of the politics and the twists, everything was just so good i loved it
it started out a bit slow but i was still invested so it was fine :)

Content Warnings

fraugremlin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

dramagirl2003's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i loved this one even more than the cruel prince, finished 70% in a day! ooft the romantic tension between these enemies is crazy and that ending was rather out of pocket, didn't quite expect it to play out that way

thoughts while reading

p57: I bet you he knows exactly what he's saying, his inebriation is just a mask to hide behind
p101:

it'll be jude locke wants to crown queen of mirth i bet

p143: ooft is it hot in here
p207: seriously ghost
p222: omg i can't believe i didn't fully consider that the traitor might

directly be working with nicasia

p240: all i can say is that jude is a badass. what a queen of deception
p260: i know again from spoilers that

carden does get poisoned somehow so i'm extremely curious to know if jude actually poisons him, or someone else

p277: i'm really loving that all jude's dresses have pockets!! you can tell this was written by a woman
p281: what the heck is

carden's mother

doing there
p283: well if

carden's sprawling then he's already been poisoned. was it madoc?

p285: what did i say
p295: now this is why jude is in charge
p305: this. is. insane.
p307: recurring theme of i know due to spoilers:

this'll be why jude gets banished. whoopsie, killed your brother. least it was self defence though

p313: go carden
p317: well damn

quotes

"Kiss me again," he says, drunk and foolish. "Kiss me until I am sick of it."

I still feel the warm pressure of his fingers against my skin. Something is really wrong with me, to want what I hate, to want someone who despises me, even if he wants me, too. My only comfort is that he doesn't know what I feel.

"I hate you," I breathe into his mouth. "I hate you so much that sometimes I can't think of anything else."

"I wasn't kind, Jude. Not to many people. Not to you. I wasn't sure if I wanted you or if I wanted you gone from my sight so that I would stop feeling as I did, which made me even more unkind. But when you were gone—truly gone beneath the waves—I hated myself as I never have before."

"It tastes like dirt."
"It is dirt."

Content Warnings

diana_raquel's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

orakuruno's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Now this is an enemies to lovers

Content Warnings

2blueshoes's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

After a first book so mind bogglingly horrifying, I surprised myself by truly enjoying this sequel. The Cruel Prince felt like a sort of nightmarish junior high, where love isn’t real, everyone is miserable, and no one wins. The Wicked King felt a bit like high school, with characters finding their footing, and forging real relationships - and of course the stakes are much higher.

Yes, the FMC is still deeply un relatable to me, and her choices made me want to pull my hair out in frustration.

Yes, all of the characters continue to operate so far beyond morally grey areas they are all difficult to root for.

And yet, somehow in the midst of the ever-more-complicated political schemes and endless list of confusing character names… I found myself loving this story. The plot twists were plentiful and intelligently written (I guessed exactly one). There was such steep character development that the FMC and MMC became entirely different people. There was relationship angst, but it was elegant rather than despicable. There was exactly one spicy scene and it was fade to black. The MMC’s tail wasn’t mentioned, praise be.

If you don’t care much for back story or world building, read a synopsis of book one and jump to book two. It will absolutely have you on the edge of your seat - or in my case - yelling “OMG” loudly in the car.

I will immediately read book three.

Content Warnings