Arc provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
1.) The Cruel Prince ★★★★★
1.5.) The Lost Sisters ★★★★★
“We get power by taking it.”
NO WORDS.
If I thought The Cruel Prince was a wild, dark, and twisted ride, it was nothing compared to the earth-shattering, jaw-dropping, cannot breathe, experience that is The Wicked King. Yes, experience, because this book is AN EXPERIENCE. Picking up shortly after the events of The Cruel Prince, we see Jude learning the lesson that no matter how hard it is to attain power, keeping it is even harder.
“‘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 can’t say much about the plot, because we’re pretty far from the publication date (January 8, 2019), but OH MY HIGH KING CARDAN THIS BOOK. I was unable to predict anything, and let me tell you, Holly Black is evil in the best way possible. This book went places The Cruel Prince did not dare. The political game is played at a much larger scale, with Jude truly playing “the great game of kings and princes, of queens and crowns,” and she’s playing for much more than survival this time—she’s playing to win.
There were truly points in this book where I had to remind myself to breathe (I’m looking at you pages 145-148). The drama, the twists, the nastiness of the world, the nastiness of the players in this game. The Wicked King is a sinfully delicious book, as tempting as Faerie Fruit, and just as rotten because I am WRECKED. THAT ENDING.
“His mouth curls into a smile. His eyes shine with wicked intent. “Look at them all, your subjects. A shame not a one knows who their true ruler is.’”
Of course I can’t end this review without talking about Jude and Cardan. Jude has my complete and utter love. As brave, and clever, and cruel as she is in The Cruel Prince, she is even more so in The Wicked King. I have never felt so much love and respect for a YA protagonist. I loved her in The Cruel Prince and have always adored her character, but she has only gotten better—or should I say worse?—in The Wicked King. As for Cardan, I thought I loved him in The Cruel Prince, but I was a sweet summer child who had not yet tasted the faerie fruit of love. He is sexier, cleverer, and wittier than ever—we really get to see a new side of him, and I’m not just referring to the tail 😉
“My sweet villain, my darling god.”
There are no words to express my undying love for The Folk of the Air books: these characters, their world, the politics, the drama, the plot twists, CHILLS. I will be in a coma until The Queen of Nothing because I cannot go on. DID I MENTION THAT ENDING?!?
“I want to tell you so many lies.”
*All quotes were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication*
Unseelie Queen of Crows 
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