The Wicked King by Holly Black

Plot: 5 stars

Characters: 3 stars

Writing: 4 stars

Overall: 4.5 stars

Ladies and gents, boys and girls, fasten your seatbelts, we're going swimming.

This. Book. Wrecked. Me.

After the first one, I was understandably a little worried about this one, but I committed to it so I read it. LET ME TELL YOU: I'm so glad I did.

Cardan? Still infuriating. Jude? Wouldn't know emotion if it hit her in the face. Taryn? Still infuriating too. But now we've added more anger, induced by old characters: Vivi, Madoc, and Locke. There are special places in Hell for people like Locke. But again, as previously mentioned in the book 1 review, these feelings speak to talent. It's been awhile since I've read a book with as much talent and depth as this one.

First off, Jude? Master of manipulation. But wait a minute, Cardan? Also master of manipulation. Jude + Cardan? Nightmare waiting to happen. Which does happen. This one was full of so many twists that by the very last page I was having to figure out which way was up.

Basically, Jude now has Cardan under her grip. Praise God! She also needs to figure out how to get him to extend his submission to her. But how??? I know, I know. Except...wait now Queen Orlagh is involved? When did the sea decide this was worth their time? Well, they did, and the sea has made an appearance. So has Nicasia, one of Cardan's evil friends from book 1. You know, reflecting on it now and trying to go over what happened has proven difficult so I don't think my synopsis is really going to help you. I'm not really sure what actually happened in this book, to tell you the truth, but it was excellent regardless. I was not bored, not even for a minute, and I was living for the Jude & Cardan relationship. Except, don't forget, both masters of manipulation, so what do you even call this situation?

I think that's the thing, that you truly can't tell who's being played in this book because they're ALL being played. Literally. Orlagh kidnaps Jude, who then pretends to be enchanted by Balekin, who has told her to kill Cardan, who is working with Jude's spy group, which has a liar among them. There's really quite a lot more but that's the quickest snippet I can give you to fully explain what's happening. I also think the characters really came out a lot more in this book vs. the first book, which is probably why they all made me so frustrated at various points. I think this series strives to frustrate, though, because absolutely none of it is rainbows and butterflies. It's kind of a dark fantasy with lots of sadness and pain, so it's only fair if the reader really feels this too.

Oh, and prepare yourself for the last ten pages, too, because believe you me, you'll be wrecked.