The Wicked King

Written by Holly Black

Narrated by Caitlin Kelly

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.
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 younger 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Jan 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781549171321

Holly Black

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy books, including the Novels of Elfhame, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, Book of Night, as well as an Arthurian picture book called Sir Morien. She has been a finalist for the Eisner Award and Lodestar Awards, and the recipient of a Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into thirty-two languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. She invites you to visit her online at BlackHolly.com or on Instagram @BlackHolly.

Reviews for The Wicked King

[enid007 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am just getting Frustrated with Jude, like how can you be so strong willed and so damn gullible?!

[amethystangel777 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Just as good as the first. Holly really can make you love/hate characters. One minute you are routing for them and then next you are not. These books are not anywhere near your typical romance. While I did recommend these after reading ACOTAR, keep in mind that the only thing they have in common is Fairies and violence.

[lou_intheberkshires · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love that I can’t figure out her complicated plots. I love Jude, Cardan...all of them.

[lynnloveshobi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WHAT A TRIP OMFG

[megan_demers-714991 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The ending has me all sorts of messed up.

[belbo713 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm almost entirely sure that my heart didn't beat for at least the last few chapters of this book.

Carden stole all the air from the room.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It just keeps getting better. Jude has tricked Cardan onto the throne and into a binding with her for a year and a day. He's fighting against the restraints and trying to convince her that he's not a fit king, but he keeps slipping up and doing a good job and he's still attracted to her.
Meanwhile there's a hidden traitor and the undersea kingdom is determined to fight and everything is very complicated. Particularly when Faerie and Faerie lands are involved. I really want to know what happens next.

[FiamaFi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I may have expected a little more from this book; I had the idea much earlier than I should have that it would be a good book. It was, but it didn't meet my expectations, although its ending was great. Obviously, I will continue reading the sequel. ? (Translated from Spanish)

[Lulilee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mmmm I don't think I'm going to write much of a review for this book. The strong points of the story remain the same; I love the world, the setting, and the pacing. But I hate Jude. I hate almost all the characters except for Cardan, who earned all my respect with that ending; Bomb and Cockroach. I just want to finish this trilogy because of them. These plots of betrayals, lies, manipulations, and power struggles, without a romance to fuel them, don’t appeal to me; they are not for me. Honestly, the way Jude ended up in this one is how he should stay, in my opinion. But I want to know the end of the story. So I'll read the last one soon to wrap this up. I give it 3.5 because that's the rating I gave the first one, but I actually would want to lower both by half a point. What I liked most about this one was the ending... Well, and the plot twists were great too. But I think I would have liked it much more if I could have read Cardan's point of view as well... not just Jude’s ?? (Translated from Spanish)

[dinahmine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I feel like The Wicked King was a letdown after the ending of The Cruel Prince. There was nothing wrong with the direction of the story or the development of the characters, it simply wasn’t what I was expecting and hoping it would be. I’ll still continue on with the series in the hope The Queen of Nothing will exceed my expectations.

[MarianaA2909 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story begins a few months after what happened in the first book, where we have a stronger and more focused protagonist. She has to deal with everything that happened in the previous book and bear the responsibility of her family and an entire court. The first part of the book is very slow, but like its predecessor, the second half leaves you wanting more, and once again it left me with an ending I did not expect. (Translated from Spanish)

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summer 2019 (audiobook);

Holly Black could write me her thoughts on reading the dictionary or the phonebook and I would probably madly adore it. I don't quite remember what dragged me off of listening to this book when I started in midspring (maybe it was when I started my strange mad quest to listen to my brought-but-unstarted audiobooks from smallest to largest for a few months there), but I came back to it in the last week for my car rides and I love everything about it, end stop, unsurprisingly.

I'm still so enamored with Jude and Cardon, with her father and he sister, with the Court of Shadows, and the dichotomy of Fairy and the Human World. This is the proper way a hate ship should go, even though I honestly still don't believe since the discovery of the sheet of paper with her name a million times on it in book one, that Cardon actually hates Jude much at all. I was surprised this book had two different marriages in it, and a kidnapping, and an exile.

I'm sssssoooo dying for a look at Queen of Nothing already.

[brittaniethekid · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great sequel with a lot of action, suspense, and characters. All of the characters have changed quite a bit from the first book and I like Jude less and less (especially after all her selfishness throughout this book) and Cardan and Mordoc more. All the secondary characters - Cardan's circle of friends, The Shadows, and Taryn - play a much smaller roll in this book but I enjoyed "seeing" the Undersea and how their world works as opposed to the island fae. The anti-climactic ending and epilogue was a bit of a disappointment and made this definitely feel more like the classic "middle" in a trilogy but the last few chapters had me not wanting to put the book down. I can't wait for more from Holly Black.

[Jemfme · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perfection. Nothing but perfection made into pages and letters. I adored every word, every space, every way of curling up in my bed only to then throw the book out the balcony. At no moment could I stop, it absorbed me. (Translated from Spanish)

[Antof · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to this book, I admire Jude a lot; I think she's a genius even when she makes mistakes, which is normal because we are human. The tense moments with Cardan have had me trembling over a whole explosion of feelings. The arguments, strategies, cleverness, the best of the best. (Translated from Spanish)

[520 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'll start by saying:

Damn, what a great book.

Re-entering the world I was amazed by was the best.

Honestly, I like this story more and more, and how could I not? Its story is too good and addictive for its own good.

What character X did (I won't say who because it would be a spoiler) disappointed me; I trusted that person and came to love them (obviously after Cardan).

The plot twists are stunning (besides the one I just mentioned) and you don't see them coming haha.

I'm in a mood to hate Taryn more and more, for God's sake. I thought what happened in the first book would be enough, but no, it wasn't.

And now I have to say that Jude and Cardan are one of my favorite couples, and characters like Vivi, Bomba, and Cucaracha are loved.

P.S.: What about that ending? Nooo :") (Translated from Spanish)

[sedodge-608996 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

 I would be lying if I said I didn't think that the love story of Cardan and Jude would be more prominent at this point. Its a slow burn of the most frustrating kind, and I can't get enough of it! The amount of betrayal in this book kept me on the edge of my seat and I can't way to see how Jude comes back in the next book!

[jennybeast · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Holly Black's world building continues to mesmerize, but Jude is flailing a little in this book. She managed to pull off a coup, her political savvy hasn't entirely deserted her, but she's isolated herself and she' running out of time. With a war with the sea queen rumbling, how will she consolidate her power?

The book opens with a lesson from Madoc that the only thing harder than taking power is holding onto it, and this book illustrates that perfectly. In some ways, it falls into the middle book trap, but in others it's setting us up for Jude's next big play.

Advanced Reader's copy provided by Edelweiss.

[Eevebooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is the second part of the trilogy "The Air Residents," a story from which I expected a lot due to the hype surrounding it on social media, and it has ended up disappointing me like never before. Perhaps that has been my main mistake, expecting something original or different, and I ended up finding more of the same, with irritating and flat characters and a plot that, although it has an interesting world, continues to follow the same easy path.

I admit that unlike the first book, this second one has more pace and focuses more on events and action, which in the first was too introductory until almost the end. Despite that, I feel that it is a pace that has been wasted and they've taken the easy route with very predictable events that offer no surprises.

The characters remain exactly the same as in the first book, with a toxic and exasperating back-and-forth and behaviors more befitting small children throwing tantrums than their actual ages. I feel that their romance is one of the worst I've read, and not to mention how flat their feelings are and the surreal nature of how they develop.

The narrative still doesn't fully convince me, perhaps because I see too much simplicity in the author's writing to the point of barely delving into her characters' emotions, leaving me too indifferent to their story.

In summary, "The Wicked King" is a second part that honestly has not met my expectations at all. What I liked most is that the plot picks up more pace in this second book and focuses more on conflicts and mysteries and less on the supposed romance between the protagonists, which I dislike. I feel that despite the more constant pace, everything that happens is too predictable and boring, to the point that none of the supposed plot twists at the end of the book surprise you. The characters continue their immature pattern, trying to make you empathize with Jude for what she suffers with Cardan, when in reality, she continues to chase after the guy who is everything bad you can have in your life. I don't understand where the beauty of this romance lies, which only exasperates me more and more and makes the toxicity seem almost appealing next to the surreal nature of these two. The author's narrative continues to not convince me, too flat and simple for my taste. I often felt that it lacked greater depth in the characters' emotions and not the simplicity they present. (Translated from Spanish)

[AmyPower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After finishing The Cruel Prince, I started reading this book with a lot of excitement and it met all my expectations. It is full of adventures, and the characters matured in an impressive way. Jude Duarte is indeed one of my favorite female protagonists; she is different, unafraid, brave, and intelligent, and Cardan knows it. They are on the same level, and they complement each other. The story of Faerie is beautiful, and I believe Cardan will be one of its best monarchs. I need to read the third one. I only have one thing to add: I hate you, Cardan Greenbrier ?? (Translated from Spanish)

[ItzelNava · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book a lot more than the first one. After that ending of the first book, my expectations were high, and it met all of them. The way the author describes Jude in this book seemed extraordinary to me because it shows an ambitious and methodical Jude. It's a good representation of what it means to have power and how difficult it is to maintain it. As for the other characters, I still like them as they are, although some annoyed me, but not because they are bad characters or poorly structured, but because they are unbearable.

Another point in its favor is that it manages to depict how the one who is supposed to be in power is merely a puppet, so to speak.

One of the parts I liked the most was those of the underwater world; that whole section was very enjoyable to read. Since it had already been shown in the first book that the fairies were cruel, the fairies of the underwater world are worse, and reading about everything they did was very interesting, and it was handled very well. I also liked the action chapters, especially because they didn't portray Jude as someone untouchable who nothing happens to.

Regarding the relationship between Jude and Cardan, it convinced me in this book, as there was not much romance in the previous one. Here we see a little more of it, though not a lot, but we can see how it develops.

The only thing I didn't like was Vivi's attitude, Jude's older sister; I found her very immature regarding her girlfriend and telling her the truth about her origins. (Translated from Spanish)

[aaleexxaandraa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is the one I like the least of the three because it felt very slow to me. Still, I was very close to throwing the book out the window with the plot twist at the end. (Translated from Spanish)

[july.julish · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just one thing to say: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
*runs off to look for the third book*??‍♀️ (Translated from Spanish)

[the1butterfly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm doing a trilogy review to make my life easier. First - I loved getting to revisit some of the old characters from other series. I really enjoyed the unlikely romance that played out, and yes, I enjoyed the rest of the drama that came together. My biggest disappointment is that of course there's another book I haven't gotten hold of yet, because just because I save up an entire trilogy to read doesn't mean that there won't be another related book that I don't have. Yes, all Holly Black Faery books are amazing.

[tikimoof · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I feel like I have to read these books really delicately. They are so close to being in Robin Hobb's Golden Fool territory where the main character has alienated literally everybody they ever cared about, it's all their fault, and they won't back down and end their misery. So I feel like I can't read closely to think about how miserable Jude is (she says she's unhappy during the book, but not overwhelmingly so), or it will be the last straw that sends her toppling off the precipice into wallowing depression.

Some of the characters made Jude's worldview make complete sense, since they're clearly willing to be horrible right back. Cardan was definitely more ambiguous in that sense, but Jude refuses to read those cues right. Whatever happens to whoever in the last book, they'll probably deserve it.

And I am still very very glad that this is YA-ish or else I would probably find it completely unreadable.

Either way, this book tipped that fine balance between "painful to read" and "it hurts so good" and I had to force myself through the first half. The second half was better, I think, or I'd committed myself to skimming so it was less sad scheming. The end made it worth it so it can be a 4, I guess.

[akbouterse · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am clearly in the minority with my middling opinion of this but I think that's mostly because I lost interest in this series and these characters. This definitely got better as I went through it but this was just a three star read for me.

I think a lot of people read this book for the relationship between Jude and Carden and I do think that is relationship is interesting but I'm not as drawn to it as other readers seem to be. I think Jude is an interesting lead but I just didn't really care about the other people around her. Carden might be interesting to me if we saw more of him. I am curious where their relationship will go in the last book but I'm not sure even that curiosity will convince me to read the book.

I did like the court intrigue. I think that was the strong suit of this book for me. I usually like political intrigue in books and I think Black uses the rules of faeries in interesting ways to build this world and create the intrigue in this book. The only thing that didn't really work for me with that part of the book is that I never felt like the stakes were very high. This could definitely be partly because of my disinterest with this series so I don't want to entirely blame the book but it did lead to some boredom while reading.

I think my greatest struggle with this is that while writing this review I'm already having trouble thinking of things I liked or didn't like. The ending of this book made it more likely that I'll finish this series but ultimately I just don't think this is the series for me. Clearly a lot of people do like this series! So maybe give it a shot. I just can't get invested in this series.

[Bre0498 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just wow, I loved this book, the story was a bit slow at the beginning, but then many things happen that simply make it impossible to stop reading, I can't wait to read the last book. (Translated from Spanish)

[xherrerad · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If the first book is a marvel, this second one is even more so. In “The Wicked King,” we explore Cardan's role as the Supreme King of Elfhame while Jude governs in the shadows, clinging to the idea that everything is for the sake of her younger brother Oak, to keep him away from the cruelty of Faerie, while also discovering more about Cardan and Jude's feelings; as Cardan begins to trust her and realizes what he feels, Jude tries to suppress her own. All this while they try to prevent a war from breaking out, with betrayals happening one after another. Reading it this second time I enjoyed even more than the first because I remembered things I had forgotten, and I read it more calmly, which made me enjoy it twice as much. And, just like the first time, it leaves you wanting so much more. (Translated from Spanish)

[CristinaCureo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's entertaining. (Translated from Spanish)

[lalectorasincola · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

?️Second book of the trilogy "The inhabitants of the air". I liked it a lot ?, even more than the first one. Jude comes back stronger, more mature, and more of a killer.
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?️The machinations of Elfhame continue and the protagonists, Jude and Cardan, who have undergone a brutal evolution, surprise us in this volume with their decisions, their criteria, their love-hate relationship, and their way of understanding this fantasy world that is Faerie. We also encounter surprises from the secondary characters: Locke, Tairyn, Madoc, Nicasia...
.
?️The plot is well-crafted and the twists and surprises are completely unexpected; they will leave you in shock ?. This book grips you from start to finish; I couldn't stop reading until I finished. The ending is masterful. This trilogy has become a discovery for me and is positioning itself as one of the best of the year on my list.
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?️The third book, "The queen of nothing", will arrive in Spain in November and I can't wait for it. (Translated from Spanish)