The Cruel Prince established Jude Duarte as one of the defining YA protagonists of her era. The Wicked King confirms that the series she inhabits is worthy of her. This second volume is more confident, more ruthless, and more willing to go to the places the first book pointed toward — and the place it ends is one of the great gut-punch finales in YA fantasy.

Jude has arranged for Cardan to be made High King of Faerie, with herself as the power behind the throne — the seneschal who gives the orders and the king who is compelled to follow them. She expected this to feel like winning. It does not feel entirely like winning.

The court is still trying to kill her. Cardan is a complication she did not account for. Her brother Oak must be kept safe. Her twin Taryn is hiding something. And somewhere in the political structure she has built, there is a weakness she hasn’t found yet.

The Power Dynamic

What makes the Jude-Cardan relationship one of the best in contemporary YA is that Black refuses to let either of them be simply powerful or simply powerless. Jude controls Cardan. Cardan knows things about Jude she doesn’t know about herself. The dynamic shifts constantly, and every shift reveals something new about both of them.

The book earns the moments of softness between them not by resolving the tension but by showing that both things can be true: that he was cruel to her, and that this is also something else.

The Court Politics

Black’s Faerie runs on duplicity — everyone is lying, everyone is playing multiple games, and the reader is positioned to be as uncertain as Jude about who is actually trustworthy. The reveals in this book are genuinely surprising because the groundwork was laid with precision.

The Ending

The last pages of The Wicked King are extraordinarily good. Black commits to the worst version of what could happen, and she does it with full emotional force. The wait for The Queen of Nothing after that ending is not comfortable.

Why YA Readers Will Love This

For readers who loved The Cruel Prince and are anxious about whether the sequel matches it: it does, and in some respects exceeds it. The first book built the world; this one uses it with full confidence.

For readers who love political intrigue — who enjoy watching a protagonist outmanoeuvre everyone around her and then discover the limits of outmanoeuvring — Jude’s position here is one of the most interesting in YA fantasy.

For readers who want romance with genuine stakes and genuine costs: the development between Jude and Cardan in this volume is handled with the patience it deserves, and the emotional payoff is proportionate to what the reader has been made to wait for.

The Queen of Nothing concludes the trilogy.

Published: January 2019 · Genre: YA fantasy · Series: The Folk of the Air, Book 2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Wicked King about and how does it follow The Cruel Prince? Jude has arranged for Cardan to be made High King of Faerie with herself as seneschal — the power behind the throne, compelling the king to follow her orders. The review describes it as ‘more confident, more ruthless, and more willing to go to the places the first book pointed toward — and the place it ends is one of the great gut-punch finales in YA fantasy.’ Jude ’expected this to feel like winning. It does not feel entirely like winning.’

How does the Jude-Cardan power dynamic develop in The Wicked King? The review credits Black with refusing to let either character be simply powerful or simply powerless: ‘Jude controls Cardan; Cardan knows things about Jude she doesn’t know about herself — the dynamic shifts constantly, and every shift reveals something new about both of them.’ The moments of softness between them are earned ’not by resolving the tension but by showing that both things can be true: that he was cruel to her, and that this is also something else.’

How does Black manage the court politics in The Wicked King? Black’s Faerie is described as running ‘on duplicity — everyone is lying, everyone is playing multiple games, and the reader is positioned to be as uncertain as Jude about who is actually trustworthy.’ The reveals in this book are described as ‘genuinely surprising because the groundwork was laid with precision.’ The court politics are not backdrop but active threat — several characters Jude thinks she controls are playing their own games.

What makes The Wicked King’s ending significant? The review describes the ending as ’extraordinarily good — Black commits to the worst version of what could happen, and she does it with full emotional force.’ The wait for The Queen of Nothing ‘is not comfortable.’ This commitment to consequence rather than safety is positioned as what distinguishes the Folk of the Air trilogy from lesser fae fantasy — the threats are real and the costs are paid.

How does The Wicked King compare to The Cruel Prince and who should read it? The review directly addresses readers anxious about whether the sequel matches the first book: ‘it does, and in some respects exceeds it — the first book built the world, this one uses it with full confidence.’ For readers who love ‘political intrigue, watching a protagonist outmanoeuvre everyone and then discover the limits of outmanoeuvring,’ Jude’s position is described as ‘one of the most interesting in YA fantasy.’ The Queen of Nothing concludes the trilogy.

Further Reading from Authoritative Sources

  • The Wicked King — Wikipedia’s The Wicked King article provides publication details and series context, helping readers understand the second Folk of the Air instalment’s place within the trilogy.
  • Holly Black — Wikipedia’s Holly Black article provides biographical and bibliographical context for the author, helping readers understand The Wicked King within her broader fae fiction career.