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

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince finds Jude in a fight for power as a human within the Faerie world.

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.

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Published Feb 11, 2020

368 pages

Average rating: 8.17

546 RATINGS

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What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *The Wicked King* deepens character development and faerie politics, with strong praise for Jude’s growth and intense court intrigue. Many...

The.readrose

Jan 28, 2026

8/10 stars

Y’all. I want to scream. I was so happy with how the book was turning out, but then Holly Black had to crush my dreams. I need the next book! 😭

I just love how Holly describes this world. She makes their costumes sound beautiful and ornate, their food is described in delicious detail, and even their speech is lyrical. She seems to effortlessly make me fall in love with their clothing and speech... so just imagine how enticing she makes her characters.

I did enjoy the Undersea setting and plot line. I’m so fascinated with Mermaids and underwater life in general, so to have that incorporated was a nice surprise!

I think the only major thing that’s lacking for me in this book is more of a romance element. We got a bit more of romance in this book... but even that didn’t last long. The romantic suspense is killing me.

I’m so glad I wasn’t disappointed by this book, I rarely preorder books, but I’m glad I preordered this one. I will do the same for the next book... even though the release date feels forever away.

Sammispider

May 12, 2026

9/10 stars

Plot twist!!!!

Kiri

Feb 06, 2026

8/10 stars

That ending though, wow. What the hell. This is also the first book that has used the enemies to lovers trope that I've enjoyed.

Also, I really enjoy this audiobook narrator.

Jovanna Abdou

Dec 19, 2025

4/10 stars

The first book was better imo. Most of the book felt like a filler and the only part I found partially interesting was the last couple of chapters. SO incredibly slow burn to the point where I wanted to stop reading it. It felt like Jude and Cardan's relationship hadn't developed since the first book.

Maxime

Oct 17, 2025

6/10 stars

Started very slow and almost ended up on my DNF list but happy i pushed through, and now i started book 3 immediately.