Friday, January 4, 2019

The Wicked King by Holly Black

Title: The Wicked King
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Allen & Unwin
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 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.
Review by Nara

My god.
There is so much to love about this series.

There is an effortless and masterful balance that Holly Black is able to achieve to keep things so interesting, compelling and unique.
- How empathetic you feel towards Jude despite her being so unlikeable on paper.
- How ridiculously precarious the love and hate of the "romance" is
- How fucking terrible Cardan is, but how much you like him in spite of it
- How dangerous the line is that Jude is walking to keep her position of power
This series is an absolute masterclass in magnificent chaos.

The scheming  upon scheming upon scheming.
You never know what to expect, and the ending is certainly not one that many will see coming.
The plot is so, so intricate with each thread building on the next.
All the different characters and the political intrigue and the ridiculous twists.

I can't believe I have to wait a year for The Queen of Nothing.
And my fucking god, even the title is giving me anxiety.
Especially after the ending of The Wicked King.

This is quite easily one of my favourite series and I recommend it to absolutely everyone.

Incredible
Favourite
Panacea Candidate
Ratings
Overall: 10/10
Plot: 5/5
Romance: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 4/5