Book Review: The Wicked King by Holly Black

The Wicked King by Holly Black.

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.

My brain is on fire… It’s whirling backwards and forwards, trying to decide and imagine what could possibly happen in the third book, or rather, what I would like to happen! I cannot believe I have to wait another year for The Queen of Nothing to be published. Sometimes life is incredibly unfair.

Holly Black is my go-to fairy queen. I love the way she peppers her worlds with just enough details to make you gasp and squirm. Rotting dresses and bloody, undercooked meats… She can sure plan a fairy celebration! Her books are certainly not for the faint of heart. Jude has more guts in her pinky, than most teenagers, which is I guess, why I like her so much.

I seriously thought that Jude and Carden had played with my poor, foolish romantic heart enough, but I was proved wrong… Holly Black, you are a cold, cold, woman! How could you toy with me this way, again? Erg, these two are perfect for one another. I just need them to realise that! Pronto! Okay… enough whining.

My advice? If you haven’t already started this series (by reading The Cruel Prince) steer well clear until ALL of the books have been published! It’s just that good… Then binge read them all in the space of a week. Deal? Also, remember to buy them in hardback – they will get some serious wear, when you lend them to all of your friends!

Review: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, is cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, until a girl falls in love with him. But at the end of each autumn, he turns into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. And now, powerful forces are now amassing against Prince Rhen and Emberfall.

Born with cerebral palsy, nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. Her father’s gone, her mother’s dying, and her brother constantly underestimates her. When she tries to save someone on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead sucked into Rhen’s cursed world…

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know what to think, but she certainly doesn’t believe in fairytale endings…

This book was a mash up of ‘mediaeval’ fantasy and fairytale, a combination that I found hard to resist. This book had everything: suspense, warring countries, fight scenes, political intrigue, myths, humour and a sprinkling of romance.

The romance aspect was light, but compelling and a love triangle, was hinted at. (I’m a romance fan, so now I’m definitely planning to read the sequel – A Heart So Fierce and Broken – which due out in January 2020.)

I was afraid that this story would be a tragic one, because of Harper’s cerebral palsy – The Fault in Our Stars set in a fantasy world. I could not have been more wrong. Harper is an independent, stubborn, capable heroine, who always tries to do the best she can for others – even placing their safety above her own. She’s never whines and I admired her feisty, can-do attitude. Rhen’s character freely admits to having been selfish and arrogant in the past, but proves himself to be a somewhat-reformed prince!

On the strength of the writing in this book, I have gone ahead and ordered Brigid Kemmerer’s earlier novel, Letters to the Lost, which also sounds compelling!

Book Review: Angelfall Trilogy by Susan Ee

22nd-23rd January.

24th January.

27th-29th January.

Penryn should be picking out a prom dress, instead she’s fighting for her life, because Penryn and her family have just gotten front row tickets to the end of the world. Angels have come to Earth, bringing death and destruction, tsunamis, earthquakes and angel swords. In this new world, nobody goes to prom, nobody sends out utility bills, or cares if you skip school.

After her disabled younger sister gets kidnapped by a demon, Penryn rescues Raffe (an angel who’s had his wings cut off by the same demon) from the violent human street gangs of Silicon Valley (who want to chop him up and sell his parts) and they make a deal: He’ll help her rescue Paige, if she helps him get his wings back. This ‘deal with the devil’ keeps these two characters’ worlds intersected for three whole books. And honestly, I can see room for a forth book still.

I think this is one of my favourite trilogies OF ALL TIME. It’s smart, entertaining, heartwarming/heart-wrenching and so-good-I’m-obsessed! 

Fun Factor:         Pace:          Addictiveness: 

Suspense/Mystery: 

Nobody knows why the angels are here, not even the angels… And Raffe has some very dark suspicions about the truth of it.

The archangel Uriel wants nothing more than to be the next Messenger for the angelic host and he’ll scheme his way into office if he has too…

Penryn doesn’t know why a demon took her sister, or what the meager  human resistance plan to do to stop the end of the world, but she knows she wants answers. Even if their not the sort of answers anyone else would wish to hear…

World-Building: 

I can’t even. Just wow. This was the end of the world – with demons, monsters and humans. This was the World After and it was so real I could taste it. Please, nobody ever mention the word ‘aerie’ to me EVER AGAIN! And the fight scenes are AMAZING. I’m so grateful for Susan Ee’s awesome imagination and the fact that Penryn’s mum made her take years and years of self-defence classes in the World Before.

Romance: 

Raffe and Penryn = slow burn + super sexy + SHIP SHIP SHIP!!!

Characters: 

Penryn’s crazy, paranoid, scary-violent mum, who talks to ‘demons’ only she can hear… This woman. She made me LOL so much.  And Penryn, who’s smart, self-sufficient, loyal and never goes down without a fight – if the apocalypse comes, I want to BE her.  And Raffe, a lonely archangel warrior, who lost his ‘watchers’ eons ago to Hell – thanks to ‘Daughters of Men’ – and who is scathing and funny and who will protect Penryn, even when it’s not the smart choice. And the twins. The one nod to Harry Potter I could find. Loved these two! And Pooky Bear… My favourite fictional sword EVER!

Also, Susan Ee is a sweetie pie… You only have read the #endofdays dedication page to see that: