Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Wicked King

The Wicked King did not entice me the same way the initial installment did, without the initial world building and character development I felt myself left wanting more. I would read ferociously for a few hours at a time and then put the book down for days on end, by the time I finally finished, I was happy with the ultimate ending, I think it pulled me through the twists and turns, betrayals and reveals well.

Jude has undergone a lot since we first encountered her in The Cruel Prince, and she is a far cry from that character now, but I did find that it was a bit easier to root for her choices and motivations this time around. Her morally gray motivations had been something that initially enthralled me with the series so I wasn't sure how I felt about them, but by the end of the book I was starting to see how Black was going to subvert my expectations once again. I have a complicated relationship with Cardan, I was frustrated with how little he appeared in the beginning, so if you are looking for heavy handed Cardan content you will have to wait, but once you get to Book Two things pick up quickly.

I think one of my favorite parts of this series is the complex relationships between Jude and her sisters. Vivi and Taryn can feel like side characters at times, but the relationship they have with Jude, they dynamics of how that relationship plays out, and the perception of their relationship to the outside world is incredibly rich and developed and honestly one of the most impressive aspects.

Spoiler

There are so many betrayals, back stabbings and double backs that I'm not sure who is on who's side, and I don't really know who to root for, but honestly I think that's one of the strengths of the series. It highlights the chaos of power and politics and the uncertainty of it all. Jude is young and hungry, but she isn't the only one, and we learn that alongside her as she is betrayed throughout the story. Black doesn't go into the intimate details or logistics of each betrayal which lends to their believability and plausibility, and it helps that we are learning about them as Jude would, her perspective is limited to what information she is trusted with. I do think that there was some disappointment in scenarios where it felt like Black worked over hundreds of pages to set something up just to have something ruin it right at the last second, an example would be the poison and Jude's relative immunity to poison. Right when her relative immunity would be helpful, she no longer has it because she had been captive. And then ultimately she just swaps the poison for water anyway and it doesn't matter. So why did you have Jude build the immunity for two entire books in the first place? It left me feeling a bit unfulfilled in some places. Overall I'm excited to see Queen Jude in the third installment.

Content Warnings

More...