by Holly Black
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 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.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Trust that this whole review won't make much sense. It will most possibly be just me raving and swooning and shipping over this wonderful, addictive, exciting, torturous and magical book.
I knew. I KNEW this would be an epic one. Ever since I read The Cruel Prince twice in the span of a month. TWICE. IN A MONTH. I had this gripping obsession to read The Wicked King immediately. I was prepared to sell my firstborn, sacrifice my soul and bargain away ten years off my life. I was ready to do anything. ANYTHING. I was so pathetically obsessed with getting my hands on the book, I didn't even care that I constantly got denied access to the e-arc on Edelweiss+. I lost count of the number of times I requested for the book and got denied. Every. Single. Time. But my relentless obsession for the book did not waver. And everytime I got rejected is another chance to woo the powers that be with my blogging/reading skills and hopefully get approved for an e-arc. Alas, the stars did not shine in my favor.
But then. THEN. Release day came. And holy shit. HOLY SHIT. I thought I was prepared for what this book would do to me. What Holly Black would do to me. I was so wrong. SO. WRONG. Holly Black is a genius. AN EFFIN GENIUS. Because what the heck just happened?! I honestly can't even tell you what I'm feeling right now. BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M FEELING. I. DON'T. KNOW. WHAT. I'M. FEELING. This review is not making any sense three paragraphs deep and I barely even scratched the surface of what I have to say. I have developed a knew appreciation for Holly Black's ingenuity. She's a genius. A GENIUS. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she's one of the Faerie folk casting her glamour over me. OVER ALL OF US. But holy shit. I will go willingly. I volunteer. CAST YOUR SPELL OVER ME.
Everything about this book is nothing short of breathtaking. It draws you in wholly. It's highly addictive and I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT. I was reading four other books on release day and heck yes I dropped all of those and read this. It was so good! Every moment with Jude was full of deceit and betrayal and deaths and tension and power plays and intrigue and surprises and questionable morals and swoon. OMFG. THE SWOON. Is it so wrong that 80% of my obsession for this book is purely because of Jardan? Because I am not ashamed. JARDAN IS EVERYTHING. I am shipping this so much. This ship that shames all other ships. I CAN'T EVEN.
I love how unapologetic Jude is. She may doubt her strength and ability to hold on to her newfound power but she's resolute to murder her way to success if she needs to. I love how she can be ruthless and unforgiving and yet still be so vulnerable and soft. I LOVE HER. The introduction of the Undersea was one addition I did not expect and it was gloriously wonderful and brutal. And can I just say what the heck Locke?! Can you just go die in a ditch somewhere?!? PLEASE!? (Take Taryn with you perhaps? Or Nicasia? You know what, just take them both.)
You should get as far away from me as you can now. This is what I'll be talking about for weeks. WEEKS. I will talk about it. Think about it. BREATHE IT. I am so obsessed and I'm not even sorry. As soon as I get my hands on a print copy, you bet I will read this again. (Is three more times too much?)
Go read this. You'll lose your mind.. in a good way.
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