And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Description [ ] Have you never heard that virtue is its own reward?” Cardan says pleasantly. “That’s because there’s no other reward in it.” If you put me in a library and tell me said library is closing in 45 minutes and also that after that it will be closed for at least two weeks (but really for the foreseeable future), things happen.

Jude meets the other members of the Court of Shadows: the Bomb, the Roach, and the Ghost. Later, at home, a piece of paper falls out of Alice in Wonderland and she discovers Cardan wrote her name all over it. She begins practicing mithridatism. The prophecy from his birth stated, "He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne. Only out of his spilled blood can a great ruler rise." [4] Tony DiTerlizzi and I have no plans at this point, but maybe someday in the future we will do another project together. We’re still great friends, and I’d love to work with him again.Jude discovers that Nicasia is the mystery crossbow shooter. Jude thinks she tried to shoot King Cardan. Nicasia tells her she was only trying to kill the girl he was with. She had thought to surprise him in his rooms, but when he returned he was not alone. When Jude tells her she's committed treason and will be executed, Nicasia just says that she is a princess of the Undersea and thus is exempt from the laws of the land. Jude realizes that the worst of her behavior in school came from her belief that she could never be punished. Jude gets Nicasia to tell her that Queen Orlagh believes Cardan will agree to her terms to renew the treaty between Elfhame and the Undersea and is just flattering Balekin and letting him believe he's important, but he won't be. She then informs Jude that someone she trusts has already betrayed her. Since I read the second book, I was making theories. I wondered what would happen. Months of this torture! Cardan was the sixth and youngest child of the High King Eldred. His mother, Lady Asha, was not a consort to the king at any point in their relationship. After his birth, Lady Asha forbid Eldred from seeing Cardan until a week after Cardan was born. [1] At the prince's first presentation, the High King asked the Royal Astrologer, Baphen, in front of an audience to pronounce the young prince's future. Baphen predicted that Cardan would be the last of Eldred's children and that he will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne. Furthermore, he said "Only out of his spilled blood can a great ruler rise, but not before what I have told you comes to pass." [1] From this, Cardan's father, asked him to be taken away and raised by Lady Asha as she saw fit. Cardan is just...simply the It’s Okay That I’m An Asshole Because I Have A Tragic Past trope, dialed allll the way up to abusive.

I think what I’m most fascinated about with this book is how it plays with the dynamic of humans wresting whatever power they can. The idea of fairies not understanding the stakes of their own world on the level that human characters do. Vivi, as someone who grew up a fairy, does not understand how Jude was affected by her childhood - she was never charmed, or manipulated, or forced to play the games that Jude was. And the dynamic between Cardan and Jude is perfect; Jude clinging to the little power she has over Cardan, and Cardan being under someone’s thumb, just one more time. Sophie: Former human servant to Balekin; Rescued by Jude; Killed herself; Adopted by merfolk of the Undersea the romance. i swear i'm sounding like a broken record to even my own ears, but WHAT ROMANCE?! this is not what i was promised. it's so random. every single time something happened i'd go, "oh, that came out of NOWHERE." why? because they have no chemistry. didn't feel it in the first book, didn't feel it here.Okay, let’s talk about some of the big things in this book while we are in this spoiler section, too. Let’s just get the snake out of the bag (end me). You know, with all the buzz about the 2019 YA book snake, I really didn’t expect for Cardan to turn into her. Wow, truly wow. I love a good fairytale twist in my fae stories, and it was truly one worthy of ballads. Seeing Jude realize that she would rather not have Cardan than only being able to have him controlled? I will be forever crying. So beautiful. Also, the sword she did it with? Truly forever crying. We have lived in our armor for so long, you and I. And now I am not sure if either of us knows how to remove it.” Later, when she goes to the palace to tell Cardan that Balekin and Orlagh plan Cardan's murder. Cardan confesses some of his feelings, making Jude speechless. I mean whoever wasn’t already abroad this ship should be careful because I might kindly push them overboard for being late to the party ( let’s ignore the fact that I was also late to the general party shh). If book one was them warming up for the match, book two is them sparring at full swing and I am here for it. And “what is sparring but a game of strategy, played at speed?” So just as he is wary of her, bracing for her next blow while enjoying the game and trusting her completely, he is also going to land blows. Really, it’s only fair. Taryn was never one of my favourites, but her part in this book makes her look less in my eyes. Even though she seems disturbed herself, she is too naïve and easily manipulated by her absolute desires of normalcy. And she’s stubborn about them too.