Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Wicked King

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Wicked King by Holly Black

33 reviews

draculagirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.75

if you find The Cruel Prince entertaining, you’re sure to find this sequel enchanting and charming. With so many plot twists and turns, you’ll find it hard to put down as much as I. An outstanding continuation to The Cruel Prince. The spellbinding book, The Wicked King, is a fantastic blend of magic, romance, and betrayal.

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This ending!!!! I hate it so much and I love it! It makes me so so mad but also it is brilliant.

This book truly makes me a hypocrite. I never thought I could love something so much that I also absolutely hate. I guess that's quite fitting for the book though.

Cardan is so horrible and I honestly don't know why I like this book. It has so many things I usually would hate in a book but somehow I am just hooked. I guess I just really like the writing. The world building is really great and the characters have a way of getting to you.

The ending was exactly what I expected and also the biggest plot twist.

I assumed that Cardan and Jude would get married but I never thought that he would betray her like that!! I thought that after he saved her and she saved his life they would bond and finally be the power couple I know they are destined to be. I don't know what to expect from the next book truly but I am so excited and ready.

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lyd41's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Overall, good. Didn't have sequel syndrome thank god. Not as character focused as last book, more focused on Jude balancing relationships, good and bad. Lots of discussion on political strategy. No major problems with the book! :D I wish a certain pivotal part of the book

Jude's MONTH LONG hostage situation

was greater emphasized, as that event was a domino effect regarding the decisions of so many characters close to Jude. That event single handedly determined the last chunk of the book.

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liaandersson's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

A very fun read. Not the best book I've ever read but I enjoyed every interaction between Jude and Cardan. I love that pairing more than I want to admit. And the ending, I was shooketh.

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minavs's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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ayoaash34's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

slow in the beginning, but speeds up. plot twists. tense and makes you want to read more.

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tays_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

4.0

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lainiereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

God, I love fantasy politics. I read this book in two sittings, and when I slept, I dreamt of fantasy politics. It's the BEST. I also love Jude and Cardan (yes, he has grown on me, I now get why everyone loves him), but I will be needing to talk about that ending later! Because WOWZA, I can't stop thinking about it!

I think Jude is one of my favorite fantasy protagonists. She just perfectly combines being normal and relatable with being absolutely unhinged and bonkers. I really love seeing how she analyzes the situations she is in, and the tactical way that she thinks; if I was in such a cut throat world, I like to think that I would act similarly, so in a way she's relatable ? I guess? But she also doesn't win every "battle" she's in (she actually loses waaaaay more often), which somehow makes me love her more. I think it's because of the way that she holds grudges and doesn't let people off the hook easily after they cross her. She's just very strong despite all the awful things happening to her; even when she faces weakness and loses her strength, she doesn't give up and I love her for it.
I also love Cardan now. He somehow seems like the most trustworthy character ?? Despite doing sneaky things and tricking people a lot, he has the most clear set of morals and motives out of everyone. Like, sure he may do something completely unexpected, but he did it for a good reason. I think.

Okay, now spoiler time.

THAT ENDING. WHAT THE HECK?? I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what happened, and I am like 99% sure that Cardan just did it to keep her safe because the water people wanted to kill her, but it was just so unexpected! Did he plan to do that? Or did he decide when he heard she killed his brother (I don't remember his name oops)? And the way he just let her embarrass herself with the queen thing! Ow! I know he was just doing it so she would have no choice but to leave, and no one would listen to her argue to stay, but it still hurt. Also, how much of the next book will Jude and Cardan be in the same room? Because they barely interact enough as is, and I don't think her being exiled will help that! I need more JudeCardan scenes! Please!

Okay, spoilers are over! I think this book would've been an easy 5 stars if there had been more communication between Jude and Cardan. Them being secretive is like their whole thing, so I get it, but I would've really loved to see them express their feelings more clearly than just implying them at times. But I definitely liked this one more than the first, and could not put it down. I hope the 3rd one doesn't kill me.

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durrareadsstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Okay, I thought this book was significantly better than the first one. Cardan got more "screen time" and I like him much much better. Although I wish I could read things from his pov, but never mind. I also liked Jude and her ruthlessness, however there were times I felt that she was kinda stupid and should've seen it coming, but hey, no one's perfect, right? I was hoping to see the characters get more vulnerable but maybe in the last book?

As I am an impatient person, I have to complain about the pacing of the book, or at least the first half. I understand that slow pace can be ideal for character development or scene setting or world-building, and I appreciate that but I honestly don't care what Nicasia is wearing right now 😫😫 Thankfully, though, things got a lot more interesting in the second half and I loved reading that part so much.

As for the characters, at least now I got two favourable characters instead of one, and I guess The Bomb and The Roach are cool. Okay fine, they're super cool. They better have their happy ending or else I'm coming for you Holly.

I can't believe Taryn is that twisted. I mean, aren't twins supposed to be like, bonded forever and therefore they love each other an insane amount that no one else can comprehend? Out of all the characters, I didn't expect to hate Taryn most of all. And she's freakin stupid? Like why the hell would you marry the F-boy that is Locke?? He's awful and just WHY IS HE STILL BREATHING?? But I did enjoy how Jude threatened him.

Maybe you thought I was too busy to take my revenge? Well, Locke, I want you to understand that for you, I will make time."

Dayummmm girllll.

I loved the banter in this book, there were a lot of time I went like dayummmm. You know? Hmm plotwise, I thought it was cool. There were some that were like just very messed up like I had to just put it aside and "did I just read that?" and had to sort of process stuff. But I get it, faeries are awful and they're twisted and they're crazy. I just hope Holly got this info from folklore and she didn't think of it herself cause I'd be pretty worried about her.

I have very high hopes for the last book, and you better give me romance cause IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A FANTASY ROMANCE. Okay, yeah, that's probably it.

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karambit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.75

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