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A review by ladypalutena
The Wicked King by Holly Black
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Honestly, I'm reeling from this book. Reading it in physical form lets me know that the last 100 or so pages are a DOOZY, whereas with the Kindle version, I was like "All right, 60%, here we go!"
I picked this up on my way home from work and read the whole thing in less than three hours.
And I'm mad about it.
Okay, sure, I guess we could have seen Cardan and Jude falling in mutual dislike/maybe even love with each other, but it was so sudden, and I know the marriage is one for political power, but man. It came completely out of left field, to me.
This book felt less predictable than it's predecessor, but at the same time, it felt like it was missing something. Like Jude, who has only been at this whole spy thing for a little under a year, is suddenly a master assassin? Even though she grew up with Murdoc as a father, she's still human, and as such, the fae should be the ones overpowering her. I know it's fantasy, and that I picked up a book about fairies/faeries, for goodness sakes, but at least give me a bigger time gap than what we've got.
The third book in the series is currently listed as being "en route" to my local library for pickup, so maybe I'll be able to put this story to rest in a few days.
Much like with the Scholomance series, this feels like it was once a duology that ballooned into a trilogy, and some things seem thrown in just for shock value. I'm still very interested in seeing where this goes.
I picked this up on my way home from work and read the whole thing in less than three hours.
And I'm mad about it.
This book felt less predictable than it's predecessor, but at the same time, it felt like it was missing something. Like Jude, who has only been at this whole spy thing for a little under a year, is suddenly a master assassin? Even though she grew up with Murdoc as a father, she's still human, and as such, the fae should be the ones overpowering her. I know it's fantasy, and that I picked up a book about fairies/faeries, for goodness sakes, but at least give me a bigger time gap than what we've got.
The third book in the series is currently listed as being "en route" to my local library for pickup, so maybe I'll be able to put this story to rest in a few days.
Much like with the Scholomance series, this feels like it was once a duology that ballooned into a trilogy, and some things seem thrown in just for shock value. I'm still very interested in seeing where this goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, and Kidnapping