The Wicked King by Holly Black

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Publication Date: January 8th, 2019

Pages: 496

Genre: YA Fantasy, Fantasy

I fucking loved this book If I had to give a most improved series because of the sequel it would be this one. I have not read a second book that is better than the first in a YA series in ages, it was so good. Beautiful people doing terrible and cruel things is my fav. Honestly, the hype is real.

Cardan is evil and I have a book crush on him, I loved him and Jude's relationship. I think it was a well done aspect of romance to the book. I also liked Jude's relationships with her sisters, the King, and everyone else.

This book picks up right where the last book ended and Jude has worked her way into a position of power. But, it's not the end there. She has to work to keep that position of power and not show how she got there. Jude is also exploiting her power, because that's who she is and how she was raised in Faerie.

The political manipulation in the book was on point. I couldn't predict it and I was so enthralled in the inner workings of the court. We all knew that everyone is looking out for themselves and are cruel/evil but it worked. There are some allies but more enemies. I like how we are shown how clever Jude is, not just told it. We see her as being really skilled at manipulating people, but at the same point she's not full proof. Holly Black didn't shy away from showing that Jude is kind of evil and she has flaws.

I honestly can't rave about how good this book is. The plot was perfect, I was intrigued the whole time. There were twists I didn't expect. The writing was great and the continued world building was great. I liked seeing the differences between growing up in Faerie and then Jude going to the real world and how she tries to fit in. She obviously doesn't. The love story in the book was on point, the right amount of longing, flirting, balance of power between the two. I really liked it! I ship it.

5/5

I'm giving this 5 stars because it improved upon everything I didn't like in the first book and made an amazing story. You should read it. I don't care if you do't like fairies, it's worth. If you like beautiful people who are evil, this book is for you. Believe the hype, it's a 1000% accurate.

Cheers,

Jen