The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, 2)
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.
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Community Reviews
There are so many layers upon layers in this story! Great plot twists around every corner and ended on a crazy cliff hanger.
I enjoyed this one better than the first one! There was more tension, and we really got to find out more about Cardan and his past/upbringing. I love how we also got to see Jude question her feelings for him. I can't count all the times I gasped or squealed lol. I really loved this one, and I can't wait to finish the third book!
3.25/5
Now that Cardan has become a puppet king, holding the throne to let Oak grow and mature, Jude must do everything in her power to keep control of the situation. But gaining power and holding onto it are two very different things. With betrayal at every turn, and the possibility of war in the horizon, Jude will have to lie, cheat and kill to ensure her place at court. However, treachery might be closer than expected.
I kept reading this with my friends and, again, I did enjoy it enough to finish but I'm not obsessed with this book. I would say the good and the bad were a 50-50 for me in this one. Let's start with what I did like. I love Jude. I think she's a great protagonist, specifically for this kind of story. She proved her worth with that manouver last book and you can see that she's slowly growing into her role, yet she doesn't have the experience and can still get blindsided and betrayed. My only issues with her in this book is that she was still so oblivious to Cardan's growing feelings for her but I can excuse her a bit, she was incredibly busy and had other things to worry about. Once again, the fae politics and the court intrigue were well done and interesting. I enjoyed the family relationship between Jude, Madoc and the sisters. It's so compelling to me to see the twisted love they all hold for each other and the ways it manifests. I loved the twists in this one. I suspected that someone from the Shadow Court would be the betrayer but didn't think Madoc would use Taryn, and her identical looks to Jude, which delighted me. And Cardan marrying and then exiling Jude? Perfectly done.
Now my issues with the book. Not enough Cardan. Just like in the last one he was barely a presence for a book with a title that related to him. And when he did show up he was charming, complex, delightful! Yet the author kept him on the back burner. I think it was a disservice to not use his character more. That and by keeping him so removed from Jude I felt almost nothing for the two of them together, but I'm supposed to believe he would cause such big fuss to get her back? The math is not mathing. It seems like Jude had more screentime with Locke (don't get me started on him) than with her intended love interest. Now, I get that keeping Jude isolated was part of the plot but it was so frustrating that nobody cared about her very real important issues. It was exhausting. This could have been tighter in my opinion but it's good for a second book in a trilogy.
She liked it when she was angry, too. Angry was better than scared. Better than remembering she was a mortal among monsters.
Now that Cardan has become a puppet king, holding the throne to let Oak grow and mature, Jude must do everything in her power to keep control of the situation. But gaining power and holding onto it are two very different things. With betrayal at every turn, and the possibility of war in the horizon, Jude will have to lie, cheat and kill to ensure her place at court. However, treachery might be closer than expected.
I kept reading this with my friends and, again, I did enjoy it enough to finish but I'm not obsessed with this book. I would say the good and the bad were a 50-50 for me in this one. Let's start with what I did like. I love Jude. I think she's a great protagonist, specifically for this kind of story. She proved her worth with that manouver last book and you can see that she's slowly growing into her role, yet she doesn't have the experience and can still get blindsided and betrayed. My only issues with her in this book is that she was still so oblivious to Cardan's growing feelings for her but I can excuse her a bit, she was incredibly busy and had other things to worry about. Once again, the fae politics and the court intrigue were well done and interesting. I enjoyed the family relationship between Jude, Madoc and the sisters. It's so compelling to me to see the twisted love they all hold for each other and the ways it manifests. I loved the twists in this one. I suspected that someone from the Shadow Court would be the betrayer but didn't think Madoc would use Taryn, and her identical looks to Jude, which delighted me. And Cardan marrying and then exiling Jude? Perfectly done.
Now my issues with the book. Not enough Cardan. Just like in the last one he was barely a presence for a book with a title that related to him. And when he did show up he was charming, complex, delightful! Yet the author kept him on the back burner. I think it was a disservice to not use his character more. That and by keeping him so removed from Jude I felt almost nothing for the two of them together, but I'm supposed to believe he would cause such big fuss to get her back? The math is not mathing. It seems like Jude had more screentime with Locke (don't get me started on him) than with her intended love interest. Now, I get that keeping Jude isolated was part of the plot but it was so frustrating that nobody cared about her very real important issues. It was exhausting. This could have been tighter in my opinion but it's good for a second book in a trilogy.
Omfg Iâm speechless. The betrayal and the fights and the backstabbing, the drama. I donât know how much more i can take but starting book 3 asap
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