Book Title: The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2)
Author: Holly Black
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

The Wicked King picks up several months after the events of The Cruel Prince. Cardan is now High King of Elfhame, Jude is running the kingdom behind the scenes as Cardan’s seneschal, and everyone outside the Court of Shadows is pissed. 

While I adore The Wicked King and once again devoured it in two days, I slightly preferred The Cruel Prince. This is partially due to boredom and frustration with the scenes involving Taryn and Locke. This may be a symptom of my personal feelings for these characters; I hate them. Especially Locke—he’s the actual worst, though Taryn is certainly not far behind him. Of course, my visceral feelings speak to Black’s masterful characterization, so this isn’t a glaring issue. But because several chapters are devoted to Taryn and Locke’s wedding (gag), I found myself pushing through just so those scenes would end.

And though I wish I felt otherwise, I’m not invested in Vivi’s relationship with Heather at this point, which means their scenes also drag. I want both Vivi and Heather to feel more integral to the plot. I want to see the qualities they like in each other, understand why Vivi feels strongly enough to bring Heather into such a dangerous world. As is, their relationship feels rushed. I also strongly agree with Jude’s disappointment in Vivi for failing to be honest and upfront with Heather about the dangers of Faerie; I would love to see this tension explored more.

The searing hate between Jude and Cardan has increased by several orders of magnitude and I am here. For. It! I wish we got even more interactions between these two throughout the book; their chemistry is electrifying. Sure, romantic tension underlies their strong feelings, but that’s not all. There’s built-up resentment and jealousy, yet also a yearning to open up to one another without a strong enough foundation of trust to allow for that kind of vulnerability. However, they do take baby steps in the direction of vulnerability and we get to see a softer side to Cardan as he transforms into something of an antihero whom I can’t help but root for.

This book is just as fast-paced as it’s predecessor; the pages fly by so I’m left with the feeling of, “That’s all we get?!” by the end. Black is a master at weaving in essential details early on in a way that doesn’t call too much attention to themselves, setting the scene for future twists and discoveries. We get to see even more world-building as Jude travels to the Undersea and learns more of Nicasia’s backstory. As with all the most interesting characters, her actions aren’t entirely black or white. With this added layer, I find Nicasia a surprisingly sympathetic (though still entirely frustrating) character and more importantly, we understand the motivations for her actions. Out of all Cardan’s original group of friends, she is by far the most redeemable.

Overall, The Wicked King is a gripping sequel and the cliffhanger ending is perfection. I can’t wait to see where Black brings these characters in the final installment of the trilogy. While this is Jude’s story—and I absolutely adore and root for her—I am so curious to see where Cardan’s arc is going. I highly recommend this series for fans of Sarah J. Maas, J.K. Rowling, and Natalie Mae.