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  • The Wicked King

  • The Folk of the Air, Book 2
  • Written by: Holly Black
  • Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
  • Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (584 ratings)

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The Wicked King cover art

The Wicked King

Written by: Holly Black
Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
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Publisher's Summary

The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times best-selling novel The Cruel Prince.

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.

©2019 Holly Black (P)2019 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"A stunning and compelling sequel." (SLJ, starred review)

"The Wicked King has satisfying twists and turns, sizzling passions, brutal violence, spies and revels of all sorts - no one brings the intricate courtly politics of Faerie to life quite as well, or with as much intelligence, as Holly Black." (Shelf Awareness, starred review)

"A heady blend of courtly double-crossing, Faerie lore, and toxic attraction swirls together in the sequel to THE CRUEL PRINCE.... Black's writing is both contemporary and classic; her world is, at this point, intensely well-realized, so that some plot twists seem almost inevitable." (Kirkus, starred review)

What listeners say about The Wicked King

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    4 out of 5 stars

Perfect

One of the best audiobooks I've listened to. I keep coming back to it to relisten while getting work done or during drives. The narrator gives the protagonist, Jude, such a believable and vibrant voice, all while keeping tensions high in scenes that would otherwise drag on page.

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My Absolute Favourite Book!

What a sequel! Completely unexpected and amazing. I enjoyed it even more than the first book. Work of art and I will reread this many times over. The audio performance was also amazing and a perfect company to the story.

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2 people found this helpful

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Great 2nd book

Really loving this series and cannot wait for the 3rd book!
A real cliffhanger ending on this one. Narration is awesome!

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fantastic voice work and a memorizing story

This story really sucked me in. Quite sure I would like few of them in real life but loved spending time with these flawed, complex characters and seeing their story unfold. the readers ability to do voices is incredible.

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Another winner*****

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.

I read this through Audible in succession with The Cruel Prince. I don't normally do that but I just had to know what was in store for Jude and her sisters. Readers, Holly Black did not disappoint.

Jude's transformation from the weak mortal to the most powerful person in faerie was complete after she tricked Prince Cardan into taking the crown and become the High King of Faerie. This was achieved by Jude securing Cardan's word to do her will for a year and a day. That means she is the true ruler of Faerie, not bad for a mere human. That being said, ruling is not as easy as it seems since no one can know that Jude is pulling Cardan's strings. As Cardan's seneschal, Jude schemes to keep the realm from war. Jude faces all kinds of enemies from outside and inside her circle of spies and allies. It doesn't help that Cardan has effectively chosen to become a reckless drunk puppet King. Without help from Cardan, Jude navigates attacks from the Realm of the Sea and she uses every tactic with a firm determination to keep her control over Elfhame.

Where the theme of The Cruel Prince was primarily about family, The Wicked King is all about the attaining of power and the stress of keeping it from unraveling. It was exciting to watch Jude move from a position of weakness to attain the ultimate seat of power. I loved watching Jude use the strategies learned at her father, Madoc's, side and use them against him.

Jude's hunger for power aside, she and Cardan start as frenemies but slowly are realizing their attraction for each other. The one thing that Holly Black excels at is extremely good at twisting us up in knots as we work our way through the plots. The world of Elfhame is full of allies, spies, tricks, lies, distrust and questionable motives. I love the way Holly Black does not give us the typical romance, she gives us the messy complicated relationship that we all can relate to.

I highly recommend this book, two thumbs up. I am on to the final book of the series "The Queen of Nothing"

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100% Recommend

I really enjoy Holly Black's writing style, it's easy to read but also interesting. I love seeing the slow progression of Jude and Cardan's relationship. And I LOVE morally gray characters, so I super love Jude's character. Overall I love the plot. It was a little dull beginning but once I got into it the rest of the book was amazing.

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Awesome! Can’t wait for the next one!

A fantastic follow up to The Cruel Prince. A few unexpected twists and turns and well written. Couldn’t stop listening!! Caitlin Kelly is a true gem - such a pleasure to listen to. The consistency of her character voices is unbelievable. I want to listen to more of her work!!

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Yes such a great read!!

I love these fantasy books. I devoured this one and it is so great!

I love this narrator to. She alters the characters voices very well. I loved her voice for cardon and the bomb. She does it so consistently and you can remember who's talking easily!

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Great story building.

This book was an awesome story building adventure. I found I have listened to it several times now because it has just enough romance to keep you hooked and the perfect amount of Jude being a great female lead!

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A very fun read/listen

After the first book I was excited to see the sequel on Audible! The story is great with some twists even veteren readers may not see coming.

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