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A review by originstorytoloveisdestroy
The Wicked King by Holly Black
4.0
So what are my thoughts? Golly, this is gonna be a faerie feast, haha.
I walked in kind of expecting to really enjoy this novel cause I heard from a few of the people I follow on Instagram that this was their favorite book of the series, and I must say I unfortunately do not agree with their perspectives (Honestly, my order is 1, 3, 2 if you're curious). It opens up with a practice/fighting scene, which I have nothing against as a good practice/fighting scene can portray a character's growth. However, it made the story seem a bit bland after jumping straight from the first novel with all of the romance and drama (you know, the adrenaline high). And then. . . and I cannot stress this enough. . . and then MADOC IS THERE.
After reading the first novel, an inner part of me was like, it's now or never within the first few chapters, let's "finish him" as Mortal Kombat would say. But alas, he haunts and plagues us for the rest of the novel.
Anyhow, after getting over the dry parts and the Mortal Kombat side of my personality, things start to finally step into gear, and I began loving the novel again. I started to understand why people enjoyed this novel, especially in terms of character growth (and a few stereotypes I won't be spoiling). The romance was at a new high, and everything was quite enticing.
And the turn of events... ughhhhhh. Boy, no one could've prepared me for the ending of this novel in any fashion or form. Won't lie Cardan seemed a bit sketchy in the moment before all hell broke loose. But I was not expecting a single part of what happened.
Overall, my perspective on this novel is that it was extremely good, just a bit overhyped from what I was informed.
Parental Guidance (I add this section for parents who may be wary of what their child reads):
Potential Triggers:
I walked in kind of expecting to really enjoy this novel cause I heard from a few of the people I follow on Instagram that this was their favorite book of the series, and I must say I unfortunately do not agree with their perspectives (Honestly, my order is 1, 3, 2 if you're curious). It opens up with a practice/fighting scene, which I have nothing against as a good practice/fighting scene can portray a character's growth. However, it made the story seem a bit bland after jumping straight from the first novel with all of the romance and drama (you know, the adrenaline high). And then. . . and I cannot stress this enough. . . and then MADOC IS THERE.
After reading the first novel, an inner part of me was like, it's now or never within the first few chapters, let's "finish him" as Mortal Kombat would say. But alas, he haunts and plagues us for the rest of the novel.
Anyhow, after getting over the dry parts and the Mortal Kombat side of my personality, things start to finally step into gear, and I began loving the novel again. I started to understand why people enjoyed this novel, especially in terms of character growth (and a few stereotypes I won't be spoiling). The romance was at a new high, and everything was quite enticing.
And the turn of events... ughhhhhh. Boy, no one could've prepared me for the ending of this novel in any fashion or form. Won't lie Cardan seemed a bit sketchy in the moment before all hell broke loose. But I was not expecting a single part of what happened.
Overall, my perspective on this novel is that it was extremely good, just a bit overhyped from what I was informed.
Parental Guidance (I add this section for parents who may be wary of what their child reads):
Spoiler
There are scenes with implications of sexual intercourse, for example the imagery of raking nails, being physically close, being naked. In addition to alcohol consumption.Potential Triggers: