Prasetya Nababan

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

Book by Holly Black

DETAILS

Publisher : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (February 11, 2020) Language : English Paperback : 368 pages ISBN-10 : 0316310328 ISBN-13 : 978-0316310321 Reading age : 14 years and up Grade level : 9 and up Item Weight : 10.9 ounces , The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince -- now in paperback! 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. Read more

REVIEW

Warning, Spoilers Ahead! So I enjoyed The Cruel Prince, even after I had kind of toned down my expectations for it, since everyone seems to love it & there are so many fanarts. I have had this trilogy on my shelves for a couple of years & finally decided to pick it up recently. And as I said, book 1 was good, well written & whatnot, but I only gave it 4 stars. It was good but not great. The Wicked King, however, is great! I loved the politics in this book. The spies & the schemes, the betrayals & the lies & the vows & the deaths. It was about ⅓ of the way through the story that it just really hooked me. I went from thinking, "yeah, I like this, it's a decent book," to "OMG what's going to happen next I can't put it down!" I think the character arcs are what have grabbed me the most. Carden's growth from the careless, feckless boy he was in the first book is the best. He went from being a character I didn't much care for to my favorite of the bunch. I also think that he has become a more sympathetic character, & I am really looking forward to the time when he will explain his thoughts & actions to Jude & bare his heart to her & us. Jude is also a great character, who comes into her own in this book but then loses herself, first when she is taken by the Undersea, again when she learns of Madoc's betrayal, & for the final time by Carden's betrayal-- though I believe it is some kind of scheme, that he has grown crafty in much the same way Jude did, as well, & this it is part of a plan he has. Of course, I could be dead wrong. Because that is another awesome aspect of this book is that it has kept me guessing. Most of the plot twists were not something I had predicted (& I read a lot of YA & fantasy, so I am usually pretty good at guessing what will happen next). I might've guessed something was coming, but it was not the something I had expected. Bottom line, I loved it! Carden's growth arc is just a joy to read, & the increasingly volatile game of political cat & mouse being played between Jude & her father figure, Madoc, is so complex & exciting, like watching a well-matched game of chess. The backstabbing & plotting is top notch, & frankly I can't wait to see what happens next!

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