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.
The Review
This sequel did NOT disappoint. It's really no surprise that I loved this book as much as I did, because I mean, Holly Black wrote it. My biggest concern right now is how in the world I'm going to be able to wait an entire year for the next book.
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First, let just say that the twists and turns in this series never fail to take me by surprise and there aren't enough words in existence that can emphasize how amazing that is. There is nothing predictable about these characters. Nothing. And everyone has a game going on, whether the other players are aware of it or not. I absolutely love the politics in this series and could probably happily read a text book-style history book of this world. The romance is perfectly balanced and really spicy, despite being subtle. The phrase, "less is more," was made for Jude and Cardan.
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I tried to read this as slowly as possible and naturally, blew through it because it is so enthralling and totally un-put-down-able.
