Holly Black is the queen of fantasy, I feel like when it comes to writing she can do know wrong! I adore her books and this one was no exception. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year after reading and loving The Cruel Prince last year and I was not disappointed. I feel like I've had my heart ripped out of my chest, I don't know how I'm going to wait a year for the final book because, that ending, seriously!
This one picked up exactly where The Cruel Prince left off so we dived straight back into the story with no fuss. The pacing of the story was on point. It wasn't slow at all but it wasn't so fast that you felt like you lost any of the detail. Everything that happened throughout the book happened for a reason and was completely related to the plot development. At no point did I find myself wondering where something was going, I was invested in the story the whole time. The plot points interweaved well with each other and I often found myself wondering what the motives were behind some decisions only to have my socks blown of a couple chapters later. I was completely compelled to read as much as I could.
As usual Holly Blacks writing was fantastic. I've always said I love her writing style. She does a great job with descriptions without being info dumpy. She also does a great job at weaving together a mystical story with some great mystery and intrigue. Her words are magic on a page.
I loved (or hated) all of the characters too, even more than in The Cruel Prince if that is necessary. Jude's ambition continued to grow and she was ruthless. Carden's character development was great too, he could still be cruel but there seemed to be some more scheming going on behind his decisions which was interesting to see. I also enjoyed the development of Carden and Jude's relationship. It was full of sexual tension, I loved it! All the 'villains', Locke, Madoc, Balekin, Orlagh, were all delightfully evil in their own way. I especially enjoyed watching Madoc's and Jude's relationship continue to evolve. I can't wait to see them come to heads in the final book. Not one character was insignificant in this book. Each one, no matter how big, played a part in the overall story and it wouldn't of been the same without them.
Overall you can probably tell I loved this book just as much as the first. That ending was evil though and it's going to be a very long wait for the third and final instalment. I can't wait!
This one picked up exactly where The Cruel Prince left off so we dived straight back into the story with no fuss. The pacing of the story was on point. It wasn't slow at all but it wasn't so fast that you felt like you lost any of the detail. Everything that happened throughout the book happened for a reason and was completely related to the plot development. At no point did I find myself wondering where something was going, I was invested in the story the whole time. The plot points interweaved well with each other and I often found myself wondering what the motives were behind some decisions only to have my socks blown of a couple chapters later. I was completely compelled to read as much as I could.
As usual Holly Blacks writing was fantastic. I've always said I love her writing style. She does a great job with descriptions without being info dumpy. She also does a great job at weaving together a mystical story with some great mystery and intrigue. Her words are magic on a page.
I loved (or hated) all of the characters too, even more than in The Cruel Prince if that is necessary. Jude's ambition continued to grow and she was ruthless. Carden's character development was great too, he could still be cruel but there seemed to be some more scheming going on behind his decisions which was interesting to see. I also enjoyed the development of Carden and Jude's relationship. It was full of sexual tension, I loved it! All the 'villains', Locke, Madoc, Balekin, Orlagh, were all delightfully evil in their own way. I especially enjoyed watching Madoc's and Jude's relationship continue to evolve. I can't wait to see them come to heads in the final book. Not one character was insignificant in this book. Each one, no matter how big, played a part in the overall story and it wouldn't of been the same without them.
Overall you can probably tell I loved this book just as much as the first. That ending was evil though and it's going to be a very long wait for the third and final instalment. I can't wait!