Okay, I genuinely thought I was going to adore this book and rate it at least 4.5 if not 5 stars but like I didn't?? I don't know if I've genuinely been this conflicted on a book before. I can't tell if I like this or hated it? I can't pinpoint a whole lot that I had a problem with but I also can't pinpoint much I can say I absolutely loved about it. It was enjoyable but not something I absolutely fell in love with.


I will start off by saying that I felt bored in the first half of this book. At the start I was excited because we're left on such a cliffhanger in the first book and I was anticipating this to be amazing. Though a little bit in I realized nothing much had happened and I didn't care much for what was happening. It was basically all political intrigue and scheming. Which I usually wouldn't mind and would like if I cared for the characters but I don't in this series. I was hoping for a lot more character interaction. Especially between Carden and Jude. Looking back now I think that’s what I was really here for. To see more of the dark and twisted relationship they had. I think that’s what made me love the first book so much. So I think that's my biggest issue I had while reading this. There wasn't enough Carden and Jude together for me. I also feel like all of the characters are pretty underdeveloped. I had a hard time remembering who was who because we don't get to know a lot of the other characters.


The later half of this book and really the last hundred pages were much more interesting and action packed which was good. I think the thing that bothered me with the later half though was the thing that pushes the end of the book made no sense to me? Like I understood what was happening but it kind of came out of nowhere in my opinion? I think there were a lot of elements in the ending that just kind of came out of nowhere and the ending felt rushed in a way. Just throughout I found myself more often than not getting very easily distracted from the story and losing focus. It didn't suck me in or enthrall me like I want it to.


I think the writing itself and the world building were much improved in The Wicked King! We really get to understand and see more of the world of the fae which I really enjoyed. I also just loved seeing the weird and crazy things that exist in this world. We're definitely left on a pretty big cliffhanger and will make the third book very interesting.


So overall not a terrible book by any means! If you're a huge fan of book one I think you'll love this one. I just don't think it's a series for me. I'm a very character driven kind of girl and I don't think this is a very character driven story at all. If you like plot driven stories and political intrigue and just dark and brutal stories I think you would enjoy this series.