"If he thought I was bad, I would be worse. If he thought I was cruel, I would be horrifying."Greetings bookworms! I want to start this review with a short recap of my thoughts on The Cruel Prince since I started this blog after I had already read that book.
I wasn't a huge fan of The Cruel Prince. While I was reading it, the characters felt like they were 12/13 years old and in that awkward pre-teen phase. Jude seemed like a pouty little kid to me, and not an older badass. You remember back in like 2005 when kids were trying to be punk/goth but just looked like a bunch of cringy dorks? That's how I pictured these characters. I didn't see the draw to Cardan, he just pissed me off. Same with Locke, and Taryn, and Madoc... and really everybody. There wasn't really a character that I genuinely liked. That said, the ending of the book was enough to make me want to pick up the sequel. It had enough of a cliffhanger that made me want to find out what happened next.
The Wicked King was much better, though I still wouldn't say I loved it. This time, the cast of characters actually seemed their ages and more mature. Though I still don't necessarily like Cardan, I did see the appeal in this book. It was fun to watch Jude through her struggle of trying to maintain her power and control over Cardan, and deal with all of the problems that comes with that.
Something that seriously frustrated me was the turn of the relationship between Jude and Taryn. A lot of times in books and TV shows I get so frustrated because so much drama comes up because people don't, for some reason, just stop and talk things out. I'm thinking specifically of Friends, when Rachel thinks Joey proposed and a whole big dramatic thing started because Joey couldn't just say that it wasn't his ring and he wasn't proposing. Instead, everybody got pissed off and confused. That was how I felt with Jude and Taryn. And the marriage between Taryn and Locke confused me. I'm kind of pissed that after everything, and after Locke tried to kill Jude, she would still marry him. Well, she didn't really know that he tried to kill her sister. But why wouldn't Jude tell her that?! I'm thinking of my sisters, and the relationship I have with them. We're all very close, just like Jude says her and Taryn were always very close. If one of them had a fiance that tried to kill me, you bet your ass I'd be having a chat with my sister. Also, once Jude got back from the Undersea, Taryn didn't seem too concerned about any of it. I wanted to hit her.
Anyway. I digress. I don't have many complaints, or any real comments on everything else that happened. But what I do want to talk about is the betrayal! Holy crap this book had some awesome betrayal!! If you guys don't want spoilers, stop reading here. Last warning! Okay. Dude what uppp with the Ghost?! I honestly didn't see that one coming. I didn't really have a guess as to who the betrayer would be after Nicasia told Jude that someone she trusted was betraying her, so to have it be the Ghost was a good surprise.
I know how unhealthy the relationship between Jude and Cardan is, but I won't lie and say that I didn't start to fangirl a little bit once he did whatever he had to in order to bring her back from the Undersea, and how their relationship progresses from there. I honestly started to believe he was developing some actual feelings for Jude, until the end of the book. HOLY EFF that was a twist I really didn't see coming. I can honestly say that I don't know if Cardan was really planning to trick her and take advantage, or if he has some secret plan to fix things. Either way, I hope Jude kicks his ass the next time she sees him.
All in all, this was a 4-star read for me. I still don't particularly love any of the characters, but I did enjoy the book. The ending pulled through and I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes in the third book. Darn you cliffhangers!
