A review by shoni
The Wicked King by Holly Black

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I understand why everyone loves the second book. I loved every second of it and seriously could not put it down. I loved seeing Jude grow into herself more but at the same time she is trying to do everything by herself without any help and you can see how that affects her. She is so used to sticking up and fighting everyone by herself, that relying on a team that you can clearly see it backfires. 

I loved learning more about her dynamic with everyone. The second book helped establish so much of how the world works and I loved it. It's easier to understand why Jude feels like she has to prove herself so much. I do think overall my favorite thing was, how as the reader you notice more things, you see more hints of things than Jude, because while she's sleep-deprived and struggling to keep herself together the reader isn't. We picked up on things she didn't.
that being said, GHOST BETRAYAL HURT I DIDN'T ASK FOR THAT I HATED THAT BUT IT WAS SUCH A GOOD PLOT TWIST!! I knew Taryn was gonna come back to bite her in the ass but GHOST?! THAT ISN'T SOMETHING I WAS OKAY WITH I FELT SO BETRAYED
 

I also loved seeing more about Cardan and how he is slowly growing into himself. How he's finding his footing, finding what he wants to do, what role he wants to play. He's learning from the Court of Shadows and I love it. They've become not only is true friends but his family. He knows they are the ones he can trust.
WHICH MADE THAT ENDING JUST SOMETHING!! Like we know faeries can't lie. So we know whatever he told Jude is true. He trusts her, he cares about her, he basically said he loves her but you know him sending her out was political. He's playing some game and he needs everyone to play a certain role. I'm curious how much time will pass between the end of book 2 and the start of book 3. I wonder how long he's gonna leave her in the mortal world. Though that was a smart movie, she isn't dead, but she's serving her own type of sentence to let the other calm down about it.


I JUST NEED TO START READING THE THIRD ASAP BECAUSE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AND I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS AND I WANT EVERYTHING TO BE OKAY