Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little Brown & Company (Hachette Book Group)
Year: 2019
Genre: Fantasy
Age: YA 13+
Page Count: 322
Audio Publisher & Year: Blackstone HBG/ 2019
Audio Reader: Caitlin Kelly
Audio Length: 10 hours & 22 minutes
Rating:
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This is book #2 in The Folk of Air trilogy.
I now proudly own all of these books because I was super impatient. I remember reading about this series a few years back. Having read several of Holly Black's other books I was excited. But I waited for my library to get the first book. Long story short there was a delay & I didn't read book #1 until the second was almost out. I wasn't thrilled with the first half of The Cruel Prince but then BAM!!! I absolutely could not believe the ending. Well my friends this second book was the same way.
Our story picks up exactly where it left off in book #1. I'm gonna try not to give away any spoilers so bear with me! Jude is living the high life next to her beautiful & cruel prince who has now risen in power. But I'm sure much like in real life with monarchies Jude is the real power behind the crown.
I have to say when I started this book because book #3 was set to come out very soon (it's now been published) based on the title of book #3 I sorta knew what was going to happen at the the end of this book. Then as the story progressed I picked up on a few things that I thought would also happen in the end. I was not surprised by what happened to Prince Balekin, I was very pleased by it. I was also not surprised by Cardan & Jude's bold choice. I was however surprised by 2 things...#1 who betrayed Jude to the Undersea, I'm just so disappointed by that turn of events. It was very cool though that we got to see more of the kingdom in this story. #2 THAT TWIST ENDING! I guess with a title like The Wicked King I should have seen something like that coming??? I purposely didn't read the info on The Queen of Nothing until after I finished book #2 because I didn't want any spoilers beyond what I had already kinda guessed at.
I'm surprised I was able to stick with this book until the end though. About half way in I felt a lot like I did with the first book. I was questioning why I was reading it, was it gonna get better, is it worth reading until the end. All the while in the back of my mind I kept thinking about the first book & how I was so shocked by the ending. I had to finish this book too so I can read #3 & learn how Jude's story ends, right? RIGHT! Now I'm really starting to wonder how Jude is going to come out the victor, she has to win, how could she not after all this?
I took a trip in the middle of reading this so I found it on audio through my library's audio streaming service, cloud library, & it was ok. I don't think I would listen to it on audio on purpose. Some of the voices the reader does are not appealing. The Bomb sounds like Luna Lovegood actually, & Cardan sounds drunk all the time. To each his own.
If your a fan of fantasy, love a magical story, & can handle a very suspenseful ending this series should be next on your list!
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