Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Wicked King

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Wicked King by Holly Black

125 reviews

seastheday's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I couldn’t put this book down. Okay, I only did because I have young children. But, otherwise I wouldn’t have put this book down! Listening to Jude slowly talk herself into paranoid madness was so fun to watch. I love and hate Carden’s incongruous ways. He was foolish but learned to play the game. He is akin to Sansa Stark in that way. I love the push and pull of power between Cardan and Jude. Most of the time I’m not even sure who I want to have the power. As a side note, I fucking hate Locke. STILL. And now

Ghost AND Taryn’s

are on my list with their names underlined! I don’t think any of them can really be redeemed. And I don’t think they’re meant to be. I want to pick up Queen of Nothing RIGHT NOW. But alas, I cannot as I have not bought it. I want to know what happens next and steam roll through it this weekend. But I must wait on the library.

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suerte_encantada's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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spatterson7's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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rachelr_reads309's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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noellegrace8's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As stated in my review of The Cruel Prince, I really struggled to get into that first book. But I guess I got used to all the oddities, because I couldn't put this one down. There was less fluff, more politics, and it finally felt like the characters were the correct age for the things that are happening. They are adults now, making adult decisions and playing a dangerous adult game of power, authority, and death. I would no longer categorize this as "teen" literature, but "young adult." What really impresses me is that Holly Black manages to make me root for characters that are truly not good people, which is not typical for me. I wanted Jude to win in the first book. I was smug when she turned her knife on Cardan. But now in this one, I wasn't sure who to vie for. It seems like every time a character does something worth celebrating, they also do something that makes you hate yourself for liking them. The betrayals are painful but enticing. Also the cliff hanger??! My library is backed up 10 weeks for the last book and I am REELING about it. I don't know how I'm going to wait that long. This is fantasy done right, and true enemies to lovers (hopefully? Jury is still out on whether "lovers" is true...).

I don't factor the audiobook performance into my rating of the material itself, but I give Caitlin Kelly 4.5/5⭐. Again, by the second book in a series, I tend to get used to whatever problems I had with the voicing in the first. But honestly, there didn't seem to be as many parts where I felt the narrator wasn't portraying the correct emotion or tone of voice. A good performance, overall.

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aralalala's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Once again, I am writing this a hardcore light-hearted romcom girly:

It only started to get interesting for me around Ch. 11. Prior to that felt very much like a slow build-up and a background for the story, a little catching up on how things have been since the end of The Cruel Prince, and I honestly wasn’t all that engaged. It wasn’t so hard to keep going but there were moments when I felt like I was just forcing myself to flip the page, all in the hopes of getting some more Jude-Cardan content. I JUST WANNA BE HAPPY AND I JUST WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY PLS

But when I paused at one point, for the sake of pausing, I stumbled upon a reel on bookstagram about how the series is often viewed as a romance when it’s not. And then it hit me: it’s not.

As the fact sunk in, I started to see the series in a whole new light in such a way that I felt much more excited to get into the rest of the story than when I initially started it this morning—or maybe because the plot has gotten a lot more exciting at that point. Either way, my appreciation towards it was more than when I started.

Setting aside the preconceived notion that the series offers a whole lot more romance than it actually does, I got to really enjoy watching this story unfold as it is. It offered a consistent character and story development from the first book. Cards were dealt, secrets revealed, new things unearthed. I think the best part of it all is how it makes sense. It didn’t feel like wasted time nor did it feel like a filler book simply written to bridge the gap to the last installment. Everything makes sense and it’s a wonderful build-up to the last book.

It’s so beautifully written, and I said it also in my review for the first book that I’m amazed by the author’s writing from a technical standpoint, but this book delivers just as much. She somehow does it all so perfectly, how she gives details at just the right amount—not too much that it’s obvious, and not too little that it doesn’t make sense. I’m also amazed by how much vision she has for where she wants the story to go. Everything still ties up from the first book and I hope it’s the same until the end.

The last chapter, knowing there’s a third book, had me at the edge of my seat. The anticipation of something going wrong was right there. Taryn’s words from the first book rings in my head:

“Nice things don’t happen in storybooks,” Taryn says. “Or when they do happen, something bad happens next. Because otherwise the story would be boring, and no one would read it.”

Now, with the right perspective and the climax leading to the end near, I’m so excited to get to the third book!

PS: I’d love to see this on the big screen tbh

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keke_96's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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dreadspawn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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nonotyoshi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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smcrain's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Now I know not every book is gonna speak to everyone but this one really hits the right notes for me. Idk maybe it's because I was really not sure what to expect from this series. I'm not gonna lie; ever since True Blood and honestly maybe longer, Fae/Faeries have not been my thing. I don't really actively go looking for those stories; I was way more into knights, dragons and elves. Suffice it to say, I was kind of dragging my feet about reading this one. But I finally started a few days ago and boy did I get sucked right in. I think being completely new to fae fiction gives this series an advantage over me. I know there's SO many out there now, but for me this is the first I've read, and I'm really loving the land of Elfhame. I'm so intrigued by the weird rules and the love the cunning Jude displays while operating within them.

I still love Jude, but this follows the format of a second installment in a trilogy, where our heroes go through some tough times and trials. And boy does she ever this book. She makes lots of mistakes, and at times I was frustrated, but honestly the twists and turns just kept coming. I could hardly come up for air for want of finding out what was going to happen next. This one was definitely a book I lost sleep over due to the ever infamous "one more chapter" mentality. Cardan comes into his own a bit more in this book, especially at the end. Honestly he's such a conundrum for me, I dislike his personality, but at the same time I'm basic and he's hot so I'm giving him a lot of leeway all the time. He does exhibit and get more backstory and wit/craftiness this book so he's at least earning some of my attraction outside of just superficially loving anyone described as dark haired, gorgeous and the usual that will have me ready to lick them. The ending is def an OMG/WTF moment. I have never been SO glad I do not have to wait a year or more before I'm able to pick up the next book and find out the conclusion to this story.

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