The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2)

Lots of plot twists!

This book is one of those books that get better in the series as you read along and this book got really intense as Carden became king. I was a bit shocked by the ending and didn't expect for the plot twist at the end.

I loved this book and found the plotting and fights exciting as well and the development of different friendships and enemies between characters, this book acted as a preparation for the last book and I definitely enjoyed it more than the first , cant wait for the queen if nothing!

5/5

The plot twist had me crying, this is such a good book!

Very good! Would recommend

The second book, The Wicked King, did not fail to continue the pattern of lies and deception found in the first book. In fact, I would argue there is more lies and deception. The book starts with Jude learning how to rule the country, as she ended the last book by gaining control of Cardan and also all of Elfhame, as well as trying to defend against Cardan’s hatred for her as he fights against her command. Cardan’s character becomes even more annoying than before when we meet him again as high king, rather than as prince. Jude’s ambition has still not been quenched, as she gains more secrets than ever before, with the help of the Court of Shadows, the trio we meet in the first book who specialise in spying and murdering undetected. As the brewing situation with the Undersea becomes increasingly dire, Jude is kidnapped at her sisters wedding to (basically my least favourite character of the entire series) Locke. This is where things get especially interesting, and the enemies to lovers dynamic further increases between Jude and Cardan, which makes for some great reading. It was nice to see some humanity in Jude, as she learns she is not invincible, despite her control over the crown, and that her position will be untenable in a few short months as her control over Cardan will wane. However, despite my excitement after Cardan expresses his feelings to Jude and they get married, making Jude the High Queen of Elfhame, things spiral out of control as Jude murders Prince Balekin, disrupting the tentative agreement between the land and the sea, and Jude is exiled for her crime; a cruel and twisted sense of justice as, despite her countless murders throughout the two books, this is the only death Jude is held accountable for. I also find it rather amusing that Jude’s ambition is emphasised the entirety of book one and two, and as she finally reaches the ultimate position of power she could’ve reached in Elfhame, she is exiled as though she were a commoner, which she sees as the ultimate betrayal, as the exile order came from Cardan, the Faerie she is now married to and has begrudgingly accepted her feelings for. This book was structured similarly to the first book, with short chapters which hooked my attention onto the characters and events which take place and, as soon as I read the last page, I felt I had no choice but to pick up the third book and begin reading straight away.

Another reread, and I love these books so much.

One of my favourite fae fantasies, and I find the plot of this one to be especially interesting. Seeing Jude work her way up through the political system despite being ostracised for having mortal blood was so satisfying. I love her. I also liked seeing Cardan’s character develop, there is so much more to him other than being the love interest.

Overall, I felt this book was a really successful sequel, praise Holly Black.

This is the second book in the Folk of the Air series; the sequel to The Cruel Prince. If you enjoyed the Cruel Prince, you'll probably enjoy this one as well! Personally, I've ranked it 4 stars, because its an amazing book, but compared to the other 2 in the trilogy, this one wasn't my favourite. It was still an outstanding read, though!

I finished this book in 2 days and loved it even more than the first one. There is a perfect balance of adventure, romance and fantasy. Jude and Cardan’s story throughout the book changes and is really interesting. I absolutely loved it but I do recommend reading the first book to understand it and understand why Jude hates Cardan so much. Jude is definitely my favourite character in the series!

I liked this book quite a lot. It was really interesting and fun to read. The main character became easier to like as well and the plot was really interesting to follow. My favourite character was Cardan because I felt as if he had the most character development and suck to his character the whole way through. I would recommend this book to some of my friends as it was easy to read and I didn't find myself getting bored at all.

The series just gets better and better!