Description
After going through the trials of The Cruel Prince, Jude Duarte is now the High Queen of Elfhame, a position she never wanted because of political games and blood oaths. As Cardan Greenbriar, the weak king she helped crown, teeters on the edge of giving up and becoming crazy, her sophisticated mortal cunning is now set against old immortal intrigue.
In this follow-up to The Cruel Prince, Holly Black takes readers back to the rich and competitive world of Faerie, where beauty hides evil and promises are made from lies. Jude moves through the complicated courts of Cardan’s court, making deals with rebellious faeries, discreetly teaching her sisters shadow magic, and planning how to keep her power. Every act of resistance makes her own destiny worse: one false move may make her a traitor to the throne or a pawn in the deadly games performed by immortal nobility.
Black’s story goes back and forth between Jude’s strong will and Cardan’s growing anger, showing how complicated their relationships are. As rumors of civil war spread and the King’s mood swings become more and more unpredictable, Jude has to deal with dangerous groups, from the huge Titans that live under the palace to the fun-loving half-Fae rebellion that is hiding. She sets up secret meetings in moonlit glades and figures out strange books in long-lost vaults, exposing old rituals that might either help her save her throne or tear Elfhame apart.
Even though there is a constant danger, Jude and Cardan’s unstable relationship is still at the heart of the plot. Their encounters are full of hesitant trust and simmering desire. In the midst of the political theater, a shared glance or a snatched touch of the hand can say a lot. But every show of unity is a risk of betrayal: Cardan’s broken heart longs for just one minute of freedom from the crown’s weight, while Jude’s unending ambition threatens to give up her humanity in order to get what she wants.
As Jude’s plots get more complicated poisoning royal feasts, framing disloyal nobles, and going against the fairy law that says mortals can’t rule she has to ask herself how much evil a mortal heart can take before it becomes as cruel as the eternal monsters she fights. And in the last act, when violence breaks out at the magnificent Starfall Ball and alliances break apart like glass, Jude has to make her biggest decision: take over the kingdom at the expense of her soul or give it up to protect the few people she still loves.
The Wicked King is a master class in political intrigue and moral ambiguity because to Holly Black’s enticing writing and complex worldbuilding. It builds on the story from The Cruel Prince with high-stakes surprises, beautiful imagery, and characters you won’t forget. It tells an engrossing story of power, sacrifice, and the dangerous cost of ambition in a world where every heartbeat is full with magic and betrayal.
About the Author
Holly Black is a New York Times bestselling author renowned for her dark, immersive fantasy worlds. Her acclaimed works include The Folk of the Air series and The Spiderwick Chronicles. Black lives in New Jersey, where she continues to cast spells with her writing.
Product Details
- Title: The Wicked King
- Author: Holly Black
- ISBN‑13: 9780316310329
- Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Published: January 15, 2019
- Pages: 448
- Binding: Paperpack
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