Book Review: The Wicked King by Holly Black

I am really excited so many people loved the post about books I read in 2018. I’ve been wanting to share more about my love for books, and it makes me happy that so many other people are enthusiastic about books as well. Today, I’m writing my first book review of the year. My goal is to write more in depth reviews, and still do a summary post at the end of the year. Before we get started, please understand that I paid for this book with my own money. This post is not sponsored, and all opinions are my own.

The book that has the honor of getting a full length review is The Wicked King by Holly Black. This is the second book in The Folk of the Air series, so if you haven’t read The Cruel Prince yet, go read it now because there will be some spoilers to the first book in this review. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED! 

The Wicked King is a young adult fantasy novel that takes place on the Isles of Elfhame in the world of Faerie. We pick back up five months after the events that concluded the first book. Jude, our main character, has placed Cardan on the throne as king with herself as the puppet master behind his rule. Jude has now found the power she has so long craved, but is now fighting to find a way to keep it.

You can buy this book here.
Published January 8th 2019 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

I rarely say the second book is better than the first, but Holly Black works magic. That’s saying a lot because I really loved the first book enough to preorder this one so it would arrive the day it came out. Yes, I’m too lazy to drive to the bookstore to buy it when Amazon will deliver it for me.

The Wicked King: My Opinions

I read this book in less than three days. It is such an easy read. The plot of this book is fast paced, but doesn’t make you feel like you’re losing any details. Holly Black’s ability to create stunning imagery in such a short amount of time is fantastic. Elfhame sucks you into it, and I often found myself dreaming about being a part of it. We also get to see into the world of the merfolk that live beneath the waves of Elfhame in this book, which is equally as beautiful. Of course, my favorite descriptions have to be the wardrobe of the characters. I can basically picture myself cosplaying all of it. 

The thing I have decided is the most compelling thing about this book is that Holly Black creates characters that you hate to love and mutually love to hate. By the end of this book I can honestly say I feel that way about each and every character in the story.

If I haven’t convinced you yet, Goblin really loved it.

Summary

If you struggle with waiting for conclusions then I recommend holding off until the final book comes out before reading this series. This book ends on a huge cliffhanger that I didn’t see coming (but probably should have). I’m dying knowing I have to wait probably at least an entire year to read The Queen of Nothing.

I’d really love to hear your opinions if you have read this book. I’d love to hear your feedback on my first book review, so I can keep improving them in the future. Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post!