The Wicked King by Holly Black

Expected Publication Date: January 8, 2019 (too far away)

Yes, FIVE STARS! My mind is seriously blown. This will be such a mess of a review.

I have had this e-ARC for 3 months but haven’t wanted to pick it up because then 2020 will feel SO far away. It’s still going to be that way but I couldn’t resist anymore. Have you ever had a moment, where you really wanted to do something, but something boring had to be done first? It’s kind of how I felt with all books lately. There was just this nagging feeling inside that kept saying, “read The Wicked King, READ THE WICKED KING!!!” I was planning on reading another book but I finally gave in. I read this book in less than 4 hours!!

Okay, so we pick up a few months after The Cruel Prince. Cardan is on the throne and he’s being a selfish jerk. He could care less about what’s going on around him. Even though, Jude has control over him and most of his decisions, he seems to not care about the political part of being King. Although, it’s kinda how he is to the core. Basically, everyone around him is pulling strings and fighting mental games with each other to try to overthrow him. He is pretty much just living the life.

Jude is just so fascinating to me. She’s this mortal in the faerie land and she’s one of the strongest. Not really physically but her mind. It’s just epic to watch her figure others out. She became so much more in this book and I loved her character growth!

I loved Cardan so much in this book. You find out so much more about his life and it really pulls at your heart-strings. He grows a lot in this book, as a character and a king. I’m still so unsure if I can trust him but I know that I will and probably be crushed.

Throughout the book, we see this struggle between Cardan and Jude, trying to gauge each other. Can they trust each other? You see them become closer and find these real moments where they open up to each other. At the same time, can either of them really trust it? This whole book is the effects, their relationship has on others. I love them and ship them SO much. Yet, I’m not convinced that my heart will ever have its true wish, in the end.

This book is so full of lies and deceit. Someone is always playing a game that I would find so tiring. I would hate to live in a fae world!  I, like Jude, have no idea who to trust. The world is expanded and there are MERMAIDS!! Mermaids guys! Ah, it’s as if Holly Black wrote this book just for me. The writing is just so amazing and captivating. I flew through this book because there was always something going on and I couldn’t put it down.

I really enjoyed the first book a lot. I loved this book even more! I didn’t think that Holly Black was going to get me with the ending but she totally did. I seriously was just blown away. Epic ending. That’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to give any spoilers. Seriously, this book is truly amazing!

Thanks to the publisher Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group and Edelweiss for a review copy!