'The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2)' by Holly Black

Goodreads Synopsis -

'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.'

Novel Review -

Well, well, well, the evilness that is Cardan strikes again. To be honest I wasn't expecting it but Oh My Goodness did Jude lose the ball at the ending.

For those readers who haven't been able to catch up to the second novel to this series, it's a whirlwind and a half. The focus of the story is on the main character Jude, who is human living in the world of Fae. She struggles to fit into their society as hard as she tries and only finds comfort in controlling those who are "closest" to her.

To continue, Jude has somehow gained control over Cardan, her very seductive Fae slave who eternally hates her. With Cardan sitting upon the throne and as Jude's puppet, the Fae world seems to be at some peace.

I loved how the world building in this novel was so focused on experiences rather than trying to visualise through words. It was interesting to read how Jude struggled to interact not only with humans but with the Fae, I felt like she believed that she didn't fit into either world and was co-existing.

Cardan was such a megamind. Black gave nothing away when it came to his character. He was the most mysterious and scary Fae of them all, but within the novel he barely did a thing, but there was always a vibe that something was going to happen.

I don't have any complaints about the novel, I thought it was seamless and a great step up from the first published novel. Sometimes I thought that Jude was overly ambitious but then again if she wasn't then there wouldn't be any drama.

The things I'm really interested in finding out in the third novel - if Oak ever becomes King or if Cardan decides that ruling is what he want's and comes after Oak. If there's going to be an alliance between Jude and Madoc, it would be the funniest thing but I need more drama. Plus I hope Heather comes back but Vivi needs to learn how to tell the truth and own up to who she really is.

5/5 Stars