Plot:
You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Thoughts:
Bummer, I didn't wrote a review of the Cruel Prince last year when in fact it was one of my best reads of 2018. It was definitely a breath of fresh air - all because of Jude Duarte. I guess its safe to say that she is one of the best female lead characters I've read so far. She's up there with Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy, Feyre Archeron from ACOTAR and June Iparis from Legend. She's human, snatched away from the mortal world and then adopted by the same guy that killed her parents. She has a twin, Taryn, but they could not be the more different. I find her annoying.

The first book was full of guessing game and it was hard to root on the male characters because all were of questionable reputation, but when it came down to it, Cardan made his way to the readers' heart. He's so damn charming you won't even realize you're beginning to like the guy. Plot-wise the first book had a lot more going on than the second one. Plus the blood bath was legitly the gorest thing I've read (because I haven't read GoT LOL!).

Jude in the first book was not too focused on the prize because she was a muddled by her infatuation with the wrong guy. All along there was to be a spark between her and Cardan only to throw it all off with the biggest con, and Jude ends up controlling Prince Cardan, who was then crowned King.

In the Wicked King, where do we begin? That Jude now admits that she might have feeling for Cardan but she's too tough to have those feelings, and insteads loses herself in conspiracies and war contingencies. It was  satisfying when Cardan and Jude finally let off steam, with both claiming they have both got each other out of their systems. LOL, we all know they were fooling themselves.

Just when you think Jude has gained power at last and is on top, we see her almost lose hope when she was captured by Orlagh, and betrayed by the Ghost himself! That was heart breaking! He was like an older brother to her! Who saw that coming? I kept thinking it would be one of Jude's sister and that would be devastating but the Ghost as a traitor was even a bigger blow. What of the Court of Shadows now? He will definitely pay on the next book. He put it upon himself.





Lemme just put this out there now. Cardan exiled Jude to protect her. That is what i believe in and I am sticking with that. I am convinced that Cardan has grown conscience and deep feelings for Jude. Him offering her marriage was as genuine as day and it was such a tender moment... Just you wait, your Queen Jude will save you all from your miserable selves! You messed with the wrong girl. She will come back stronger than ever!

Quotes:

“Once upon a time, there was a human girl stolen away by faeries, and because of that, she swore to destroy them.”

“Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to.”

“Tell me that you hate me.”
“I hate you,” I say, the words coming out like a caress. I say it again, over and over. A litany. An enchantment. A ward against what I really feel. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”
He kisses me harder.

"...and that of all the things he’s ever done to me, making me like him so much is by far the worst.”

Rating:
5 stars