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.
About the book
Jude is a human raised in Faerieland, and she has spent her entire life undermined and controlled by the often cruel whims of the Faeries.
She has hated and feared the creatures for years. She has cowered and fled from them. She has begged and bargained her way out of torture.
Not anymore.
Especially considering she now controls all of Faerieland.
The characters
Our main character Jude has undergone a great deal of character development throughout these two books and it is building up to something incredible. In ‘The Cruel Prince’ she evolved from the girl who wanted to impress and fit in and fight for honour, to a ruthless, power-hungry, scheming star, and in this sequel, her shine multiplies a thousandfold. Holly Black takes it further, exploring her hatred of vulnerability, her need for control, and her insistence on relentlessly pushing herself both physically and mentally to the brink of collapse until she’s achieved perfection and utter independence.
And as for Carden, what truly differentiates him from Jude is his complete and utter lack of ambition. ‘The Wicked King’ is the major arc for Cardan’s growth as a character. He goes from a person committed to, as Jude would put it, “being a layabout who does none of the real work of governance,” to finding himself, because of how his feeling of powerlessness and fear trickle away, drip by drip, as he no longer has someone to inflame (Jude excluded). And, mostly, because of Jude pushing him unwittingly.
The writing
What’s most fascinating about this book is how it plays with the painful dynamics of humans wrestling with whatever power they can grasp. The idea of fairies not understanding the stakes of their own world on the level that the human characters do is particularly appealing. Vivi, as someone who grew up a fairy, does not understand how Jude was affected by her childhood – she was never charmed, manipulated, or forced to play the games that Jude was. While all Vivi wants is to escape, Jude wishes to break the world that broke her.
Despite the alluring chemistry between Carden and Jude, what draws many older readers to the series is the plot and political intrigue. Holly Black is gifted with the ability to create unique political tensions and guide society through the brink of war. This book, unashamedly and unfalteringly brings up the question: Is it good, or bad, for a ruler to contain those cutting, cunning impulses?
And of course, once again, people don’t paint this series as it truly is.
Quotes
- “If you’re the sickness, I suppose you can’t also be the cure”
- “If he thought I was bad, I would be worse. If he thought I was cruel, I would be horrifying”
- “I want to tell you so many lies”
- “I wasn’t kind, Jude. Not to many people. Not to you. I wasn’t sure if I wanted you or if I wanted you gone from my sight so that I would stop feeling as I did, which made me even more unkind. But when you were gone – truly gone beneath the waves – I hated myself as I never have before”
- “The Folk doubtlessly learned this lesson long ago. They do not need to deceive humans. Humans will deceive themselves”
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