Synopsis:
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.
Favorite Lines:
“Kill him before he makes you love him.”
“The Folk doubtlessly learned this lesson long ago. They do not need to deceive humans. Humans will deceive themselves.”
“’The three of you have one solution to every problem. Murder. No key fits every lock.’ Cardan gives us all a stern look, holding up a long-fingered hand with my stolen ruby ring still on one finger. ‘Someone tries to betray the High King, murder. Someone gives you a harsh look, murder. Someone disrespects you, murder. Someone ruins your laundry, murder.’”
“It is said we learn more from our failures than our successes.”
“If you’re the sickness, I suppose you can’t also be the cure.”
My Opinion:
I am going to be honest, I was kinda hella annoyed with this book ending. Slight spoilers ahead! I wasn’t really committed to the series, I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. I just felt like I should finish what I started and I always feel like first books in the series can be the best or the worst so you have to read at least to the second one to give the series a fair chance. All I wanted in this book was there to be romance and sexual tension between Jude and Cardan; which, sure, I guess there was… but not nearly enough. AND that ending though! Jeez… Black doesn’t pull her punches. I read the last chapter and was like “What the f***”. Excuse the language kids!
So now, because of how it ended on such a cliff hanger (don’t skip to the end to figure out what I am talking about, don’t be that person) I have to keep reading the series and hopefully, HOPEFULLY get some closure and maybe even get my ship to realize they are good together and call it a day. If that doesn’t happen…I am not quite sure what I am going to do. Please, please just make it happen Black.
Summary:
Overall, this book was better than the first one in the series…so if you didn’t love that one, give this one a chance. I didn’t hate it despite my ranting above and I look forward to the next one in the series. Happy reading, everyone!
Likely Story 