Wickedly Dumbfounded

The Wicked King by Holly Black

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you very much, Hachette Book Group, for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Revenge is sweet, but ice cream is sweeter.

Me after reading The Wicked King:

I originally planned to delay this review, but I think that I should pour my heart out before I forget all of the emotions that I felt while reading The Wicked King. It should go without saying that this highly anticipated sequel is WORTH THE HYPE. The characters, Cardan and Taryn in particular, will drive you crazy. Just thinking about them makes my stomach churn with frustration.

After giving 5 stars to two of her books, I’m starting to think that Holly Black is a master of literary entertainment. Even though I didn’t finish The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King in one sitting, I was hooked whenever I picked them up. Reading about the political machinations of both Jude and Cardan was like watching an addictive historical drama. It was funny how their cunning wasn’t enough to help them predict each other’s moves. Although I guess Cardan won in the end. Wahahaha.

The hate-to-love romance was also on point, neither too sweet nor too bland. It was quite confusing sometimes because their hatred seemed more powerful than their love. Basically, they hated that they had the audacity to love each other. Like, what???? See what I mean? xD A particular event made me believe in Jude and Cardan’s happy ending as a couple, but I was wrong. COMPLETELY WRONG. What’s worse is that I didn’t know whom to blame. If Jude was manipulative, Cardan was so vengeful.

At this point, I’m confident that I’m also gonna love the next book in The Folk of the Air. So far, the only “negative” thing I can say about the series is that Taryn sucks. Somebody, please erase her from the face of the earth.