{SPOILERY} Fangirling Over The Wicked King

Title: The Wicked King
Author: Holly Black
Series: The Folk of the Air series, book #2
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
Source: ARC received from publisher, purchased multiple copies
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

Like many of you, The Cruel Prince left us eyes wide and jaws dropped, dying to get our hands on The Wicked King. We needed to know what would happen next. In fact, I was actually at Jen's house the weekend the Owlcrate Wicked King Box went on sale and we were fangirling hard, double-checking time zone differences, credit cards ready, afraid to miss out on what we just knew -- because duh: Holly Black -- was going to be another amazing installment in this series. And not to brag...but we weren't wrong.

Nope. I might even go so far as to say that this sequel was even better: twists and turns that left us guessing, the hatemance we've been dying for, and an ending that rivals even its predecessor...which is really saying something. I loved all of the faerie machinations and the mention of Fairfold and Severin from The Darkest Part of the Forest and how it all seemingly comes together but ends up throwing me completely off by the end. Did you read that one or The Lost Sisters, Sabrina? I know you weren't always the biggest fan of faerie stories, but you've come so far now that you might as well go all in, right? 😄

Definitely an ending that rivals The Cruel Prince! Unfortunately, no. I haven't read either one, Jen. You are the reason I gave faerie stories another chance so I'm so glad I did because they are some of my favorites now. *Adds those to my TBR* (Jen approves.) Back to the review... one of the things I loved about The Wicked King was how Jude and Cardan are kind of pushed into an alliance. The fact that not everyone is happy that Cardan is on the throne AND that someone is betraying Jude creates a scenario where they really have to rely on each other. So, while they are reluctant to trust one another fully, it makes for a very charged dynamic between them. Even as the ice first begins to thaw in their relationship, they are developing feelings for one another. 

"...and the single last thing in my head: that I like him better than I’ve ever liked anyone and that of all the things he’s ever done to me, making me like him so much is by far the worst."

Which means this just might be my favorite hate-to-love romance ever. That whole not trusting each other but having no one else to rely on thing? Yeah, that's kinda my jam. And this story is rife with it. Well, that and betrayal. So much betrayal. At every turn: BETRAYAL. Even worse than what Jude faced in TCP. But I think Jude always comes away from it stronger, more focused on the endgame than she was before. And despite it all, I find myself hopeful. That all is not what it seems. That she IS truly queen. That Cardan was saving her, not torturing her further. I feel set adrift with all my hopes for this story, and I don't think I'll come fully back to myself until I have The Queen of Nothing in my hands.

I blame these devious Merfolk...scheming, plotting and setting Cardan's murderous brother free. Cardan has 99 problems and almost all of them are directly caused by Sea fae. That being said, Jude is the cause of so many of them, too. Nobody casually knifes fae villains like Jude. The relationship between these two works so deliciously because they are both so flawed. I love that Cardan can't lie and that Jude forgets to when she's all hot and bothered by him. Also, I second that she is really Queen. If she wasn't, Cardan would've said it. That boy is far too mouthy to not have spoken cruel words. He's protecting her from an impossible situation. I hope. 😭

Yes, exactly! Thanks for elucidating the reasons for my hope...and making me feel less naïve about it, lol. We can't forget that Jude is human and therefore "fragile" in comparison to the fae, despite the gesh that allows no glamour to be placed on her, and despite the fact that she's spent years training with Madoc. I just wish Cardan had trusted in her...she'd gotten them this far, after all. But it wouldn't be a true faery story without all the murder, political manueverings and dramatic banishments. Jude will have her vengeance and they'll all rue the day she was brought into Faerie as Madoc's ward.

Okay, so it's taken us this long to get our thoughts in order, but basically, this is already going down as our favorite of 2019.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare), The Darkest Part of the Forest, and her new series which begins with The Cruel Prince in January 2018.

She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.

Find Holly:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Goodreads

Read More

Labels: all-time favorites, faeries, favorite authors, favorite series, favorites, hachette, holly black, joint reviews, reviews, the folk of the air

Mini {Audiobook} Review: I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Title: I'll Give You the Sun
Author: Jandy Nelson
Narrator: Julia Whelan, Jesse Bernstein
Series: n/a
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
Source: Audio from Sync
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell.

Jude and her brother, Noah, are incredibly close twins. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude surfs and cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and divisive ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as an unpredictable new mentor. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant, fully alive, sometimes very funny novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

WHAT I LIKED:

- I liked everything. More than everything. From the first word to the last, I just absolutely adored this book. 

-The narrators were fabulous. Granted, I didn't like the voice Whelan did for grandma.. it reminded me too much The Sky is Everywhere. But at the same time, I don't think that narration would have been as good without grandmas annoying voice. If that makes sense? I really loved the narration for Noah. It was perfect. both of these narrators put so much into this story. especially at the emotional parts. And there are many. 

-The FEELINGS. OMG, the feelings. I literally finished this book hours ago, and I canceled the review I was going to post this Friday so I could blab my love for this one.  Like Noah and Jude's art, my love for this story bursting out of me. 

-The POV switches. I loved this because its not just a switch in points of view, Noah's parts take us back in time. Something devastating happens, and there is before and after. It's so nay things guys!!! And when it all comes together in the end.... I didn't know if I wanted to cry or cheer. 

-The characters. Every single one of them.. so unique and no where near perfect. And the relationships they have between each other. *sigh* I especially loved the connections Jude and Noah had. as well as the conflicts. Sibling rivalry is real.. and it's relevant here. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: 

-There isn't anything I didn't like. I will admit, I picked this one up and then shelved it because I couldn't get into it at the time. I'm a mood reader. If I'm not in the mood for it, I won't enjoy it. Sometimes it's just better to come back to it. Especially with works from Authors like Nelson. I remembered how emotional The Sky is Everywhere was and when I realized I'll Give You the Sun was just as deep a read/listen, I decided to come back to it when I was ready. 

So glad I did, because I would not have appreciated it as much had I pushed myself through it back then. 

FINAL THOUGHTS: 

-I have so much love for this story. Jandy Nelson's two books have blown my mind. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us in the future. 

About the author:

Jandy Nelson, like her characters in I'll Give You the Sun, comes from a superstitious lot. She was tutored from a young age in the art of the four-leaf clover hunt; she knocks on wood, throws salt, and carries charms in her pockets. Her debut novel, The Sky is Everywhere, was on multiple Best Books of the Year lists, was a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, earned numerous starred reviews, and was named both a Publishers Weekly Flying Start and an Indie Next List Top Ten Pick. A former literary agent, she holds a BA from Cornell, an MFA in poetry from Brown, and another MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She now lives and writes in San Francisco, California—not far from the settings of her books.

Find Jandy:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook

Read More

Labels: all the feels, all-time favorites, Audiobook, i'll give you the sun, jandy nelson, reviews, the sky is everywhere

Top Ten Tuesday: The Impossible All-time Favorites

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the awesome ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Apparently, they are overly fond of list-making and love to share their bookish lists with the rest of us book nerds.  =) We're game.

This week's topic is the Top Ten Books You Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years (you can extend it to 5 if you need to):

April's Picks:

It's so very hard to narrow down a top ten. In just one year, let alone 3. But here are ten titles that still stick with  me where ever I go.


Jen's Picks:

Okay, I have to split mine up a bit because it is next-to-impossible to only choose ten favorites from the last three years. So, here are my top ten favorites from the fantasy/paranormal genres:

And then here are my five favorite contemporaries from the last few years:

I probably could have picked a few more contemporaries, but since I've only just started loving them in the last few years, I decided to stick to five. And all of them focus on some kind of issue. I like my happy-go-lucky contemporary reads as much as the next girl, but the ones that really impress me are the ones that can tackle a subject -- without making me cry -- and still make me feel like I've gone on a journey, much like those my favorite fantasy stories involve.


What are some of your all-time favorite books? Be sure to share a link to your TTT post so we can visit!

Read More

Labels: all-time favorites, childhood favorites, favorites, top ten tuesday