“The Wicked King” by Holly Black • Book Review

Published: Jan 8, 2019 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover, 326 pages, English

“Kiss me until I am sick of it...”

★★★★ (4 / 5 stars) In The Cruel Prince, Holly Black spun webs of lies and tales and strategies and paved the way for Jude to build a glass castle to rule from with her puppet king. The Wicked King tap-tap-tapped at that glass castle, splintering it page by page. All the while, Holly built me a heart of glass, etched with intricate moments and tangled words left for me to cherish like gifts on my front porch.

But in the end, it all came crumbling down. Jude’s glass castle tumbled and fell at the hands of Cardan—the one person to whom she thought she could bear her all and not repulse—and my glass heart shattered with her tears of fury. I am overwrought with emotion and heartache. I myself feel betrayed and need a year and a day to craft a new heart made of steel so I am ready for Jude’s next adventurous installment...as The Queen of Nothing.