The Wicked King by Holly Black

After finishing The Cruel Prince, I couldn't wait to start the second book in the series, The Wicked King. This book tells the story of Jude as she serves as the High King's Seneschal, but in all reality, she is the one ruling the kingdom. Jude has moved into the palace to keep a close eye on Cardan, and she is the one who is making all of the decisions about what he does as king. In addition, she has been intercepting messages from Balekin, Cardan's brother, who murdered their father in an effort to take the crown, but Jude tricked Cardan into being king before Balekin had a chance.
As Jude goes to the jail to meet with Balekin, she meets Cardan's mother, and she learns more about her own mother from Lady Asha. Also, she learns that Balekin is plotting with the Queen of the Undersea, Orlagh, to take the crown away from Cardan.
Meantime, her stepbrother, Oak, is living in the mortal world with her sister, Vivi, and their twin sister, Taryn, is preparing for her marriage to Locke. Locke appoints himself the Master of Revels, and he makes sure that all that is happening in the kingdom is one party after another. Jude is worried at first about Locke's intentions, but she realizes that she can't take the title away from Locke if she wants to make it seem like Cardan is really the High King and acting on his own decisions.
When Oak returns to the kingdom for Taryn's wedding, Jude and her stepfather, Madoc, are ready for an attack from the Undersea, which surprisingly doesn't come the way they expected. Instead, Jude is lured away from the wedding and captured by Queen Orlagh and Balekin. She is held in the Undersea Kingdom for almost a month before Cardan is able to negotiate for her return. In exchange for Jude though, he allows Queen Orlagh to attack the Court of Termites and orders them to not retaliate. When she returns to the land, Jude has to figure out a way to please Cardan, Madoc, and the Court of Termites without starting a war. She pretends to be glamoured by Balekin in order to get back into the palace, and he attempts to frame her for poisoning Cardan.
The end of the book is just as much of a twist to me as the first one was. I won't tell you what exactly happens, but Jude does kill Balekin, and Cardan is able to remain on the throne as the High King of Elfhame. Taryn, her twin sister, marries Locke, and Oak is returned to the mortal world safely.
I feel like the best part of this book is the relationship between Jude and Cardan. In the first book, he admits that he can't stop thinking about her, but he hates it because she is mortal, and he doesn't want to be attracted to her. In this book, however, the two of them act more on their feelings of attraction for one another, and it turns out to be exactly what Jude shouldn't have done. The entire time I was reading, I kept thinking that it would be Taryn and Locke who betrayed her, and I was shocked at the end to see who was the real person behind her betrayal. Holly Black has done a spectacular job of building the kingdom of Elfhame along with believable and lovable characters. Now that I have seen that Cardan and Jude really do care for each other, I can't wait to see how the series comes to an end.