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totallynotlex's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I thought this book had trouble finding its footing. The things that happen to Jude feel disconnected and the, though fun and imaginative, the finally isn’t really a climax of the events of the story so much as it is just another thing that happens. Very imaginative with great very real feeling characters definitely a hit with a younger crowd but ultimately not for me
rehhxbb's review against another edition
5.0
THIS WAS SO FREAKING GOOD, I can’t believe I put off reading it THIS long like I was truly missing out.
Jude??? Cardan???? They’re both literal masterpieces and masterminds.
Jude, the woman, the badass, the QUEEN u are
I loved every second of this book and can’t wait to read the last one
Jude??? Cardan???? They’re both literal masterpieces and masterminds.
Jude, the woman, the badass, the QUEEN u are
I loved every second of this book and can’t wait to read the last one
maida's review against another edition
4.0
“For a moment,” he says, “I wondered if it wasn’t you shooting bolts at me.”
I make a face at him. “And what made you decide it wasn’t?”
He grins up at me. “They missed.”
I don’t know how Holly Black does it. Even though I can’t seem to read her books in one sitting, whenever I pick them up I get so invested in them it honestly amazes me. Yet her books also leave this weird aftertaste? I truly never know if I liked them or just enjoyed the few plot twists in the end.
For example, when I first read The Cruel Prince I really enjoyed it, and then upon review I realized I didn’t… so to be honest I wasn’t expecting anything from this book. But I loved it. At least I guess I did.
I really enjoyed Jude in this one. I loved seeing her manipulate the fairies whilst at the same time being an absolute badass. And the sexual tension between her and Cardan destroyed me.
The first 100 pages felt really unnecessary to me (which is why it took me a month to read them), but once we got to all the plot twists I couldn’t put this book down.
Will I still like this book three months from now though? Not quite sure.
51. A book published in 2019
I make a face at him. “And what made you decide it wasn’t?”
He grins up at me. “They missed.”
I don’t know how Holly Black does it. Even though I can’t seem to read her books in one sitting, whenever I pick them up I get so invested in them it honestly amazes me. Yet her books also leave this weird aftertaste? I truly never know if I liked them or just enjoyed the few plot twists in the end.
For example, when I first read The Cruel Prince I really enjoyed it, and then upon review I realized I didn’t… so to be honest I wasn’t expecting anything from this book. But I loved it. At least I guess I did.
I really enjoyed Jude in this one. I loved seeing her manipulate the fairies whilst at the same time being an absolute badass. And the sexual tension between her and Cardan destroyed me.
The first 100 pages felt really unnecessary to me (which is why it took me a month to read them), but once we got to all the plot twists I couldn’t put this book down.
Will I still like this book three months from now though? Not quite sure.
51. A book published in 2019
al3x's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
I’m not sure if I want to finish this series.
This second book was a chore and I kept hoping something more significant would happen, but it did not.
The plot has run away from Jude it seems.
I had complained that character motivations in the first book were flimsy, and they do not get any better here.
Cardan likes Jude and I cannot understand why. I kept thinking I was missing something, and I may very well be. In trying to understand why I felt that they don’t work as a couple I concluded that it is because they don’t spend time together.
Yes, there is a romance scene, barely a romance scene at that. It comes out of nowhere and to me it reads more lustful than romantic. Cardan and Jude don’t have a strong connection, they don’t talk, and they barely interact. It is an enemies-to-lover story, yes, but if I were to compare the original trendsetter “Pride and Prejudice” in Darcy and Lizzie, Jude and Cardan pale in comparison.
Where Darcy and Lizzie had ample opportunities to interact and jibe at each other, keeping the banter flowing and romantic tension sprung, Jude and Cardan keep quiet in public scenes, and only have 2 significant moments alone where some kind of romance and care happens. It was quite frankly disappointing.
There is more focus placed on the court scheming and intrigue, and I would have excused the lacklustre romance if that plot was worthwhile.
Jude is just so trusting of people in this treacherous fairyland.
She trusts her twin sister, even after Taryn has impersonated Jude to get access to Jude’s private room.
She trusts Locke won’t seek retaliation after she threatens him at sword point.
She trusts her fellow spy companions, even though she has known them barely a year.
She trusts Cardan will not manipulate her into a bad bargain.
All this backfires badly. Of course, we need conflict in a story but this just seems too obvious, and it strips Jude of any self-reliance or opportunity to show her intelligence. Every decision she makes is not intelligent, she just does not think it through and blindly trusts people, which is not in her character to do.
At the start of the book, it really felt like nothing happened. As if the setup was being set up for hundreds of pages.
When something does happen though we are corralled so fast that we don’t get to process it, and are already in front of a different plot point.
Jude gets injured right before Taryn's wedding, and instead of us having a moment with her sister, or Cardan, or her brother Oak, or hell even a more significant moment with her father Madoc, we are just moved to the kidnapping plot.
It felt like a wasted opportunity. The kidnapping could have still happened, of course, I just felt it happened too fast.
My last grievance goes to the worldbuilding which is itself sparse, but I ignored it for the most part until it came to the merfolk.
We are told over and over again how humans can protect against glamouring with various methods, and salt is one of these methods. So I was very confused about why glamouring would work in the ocean, which has saltwater everywhere around, and why the merfolk would feed the glamoured prisoner saltwater. Yes, salt water is dangerous to ingest but it would have also broken the glamour, so I ask why? It is very evidently a world-building plot hole.
This is ignoring the fact that Jude had broken a glamour by pricking her finger and licking the salt in the blood. So if human have salt with them always in their blood why would glamouring work at all? This little aspect bothered me in the first book but it made it worse with the saltwater.
At this point, with how this second book ended, I feel conflicted about reading further. I’m a sucker for romance and even though I don’t read strictly romance-focused books, this one left me thoroughly unsatisfied (pun intended).
This second book was a chore and I kept hoping something more significant would happen, but it did not.
The plot has run away from Jude it seems.
I had complained that character motivations in the first book were flimsy, and they do not get any better here.
Cardan likes Jude and I cannot understand why. I kept thinking I was missing something, and I may very well be. In trying to understand why I felt that they don’t work as a couple I concluded that it is because they don’t spend time together.
Yes, there is a romance scene, barely a romance scene at that. It comes out of nowhere and to me it reads more lustful than romantic. Cardan and Jude don’t have a strong connection, they don’t talk, and they barely interact. It is an enemies-to-lover story, yes, but if I were to compare the original trendsetter “Pride and Prejudice” in Darcy and Lizzie, Jude and Cardan pale in comparison.
Where Darcy and Lizzie had ample opportunities to interact and jibe at each other, keeping the banter flowing and romantic tension sprung, Jude and Cardan keep quiet in public scenes, and only have 2 significant moments alone where some kind of romance and care happens. It was quite frankly disappointing.
There is more focus placed on the court scheming and intrigue, and I would have excused the lacklustre romance if that plot was worthwhile.
Jude is just so trusting of people in this treacherous fairyland.
She trusts her twin sister, even after Taryn has impersonated Jude to get access to Jude’s private room.
She trusts Locke won’t seek retaliation after she threatens him at sword point.
She trusts her fellow spy companions, even though she has known them barely a year.
She trusts Cardan will not manipulate her into a bad bargain.
All this backfires badly. Of course, we need conflict in a story but this just seems too obvious, and it strips Jude of any self-reliance or opportunity to show her intelligence. Every decision she makes is not intelligent, she just does not think it through and blindly trusts people, which is not in her character to do.
At the start of the book, it really felt like nothing happened. As if the setup was being set up for hundreds of pages.
When something does happen though we are corralled so fast that we don’t get to process it, and are already in front of a different plot point.
Jude gets injured right before Taryn's wedding, and instead of us having a moment with her sister, or Cardan, or her brother Oak, or hell even a more significant moment with her father Madoc, we are just moved to the kidnapping plot.
It felt like a wasted opportunity. The kidnapping could have still happened, of course, I just felt it happened too fast.
My last grievance goes to the worldbuilding which is itself sparse, but I ignored it for the most part until it came to the merfolk.
We are told over and over again how humans can protect against glamouring with various methods, and salt is one of these methods. So I was very confused about why glamouring would work in the ocean, which has saltwater everywhere around, and why the merfolk would feed the glamoured prisoner saltwater. Yes, salt water is dangerous to ingest but it would have also broken the glamour, so I ask why? It is very evidently a world-building plot hole.
This is ignoring the fact that Jude had broken a glamour by pricking her finger and licking the salt in the blood. So if human have salt with them always in their blood why would glamouring work at all? This little aspect bothered me in the first book but it made it worse with the saltwater.
At this point, with how this second book ended, I feel conflicted about reading further. I’m a sucker for romance and even though I don’t read strictly romance-focused books, this one left me thoroughly unsatisfied (pun intended).
amelia_rose_20's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
10/10 | "The Wicked King" by Holly Black is a breathtaking ride through a maze of intrigue and betrayal, crowned with the most astonishing cliffhanger ending imaginable.
rissie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
teniren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
uraveragelizard's review against another edition
adventurous
4.25
oops forgot to log this and now i don’t remember what i had to say besides: i get it. im having fun and am SO upset i have to wait for the library to give me the third one