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The Wicked King Spice Level and Content Notes

By Holly Black. Last checked .

Spice level

1/5

Fade to black

“When they finally give in to their passions, the scene ends without much description.”

Source: Common Sense Media, checked Oct 12, 2026. We place that description on the FaeShelf 0 to 5 spice scale.

Book facts

Author
Holly Black
Series
Book 2 of The Folk of the Air
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group)
First published
Jan 8, 2019 (Goodreads)
US edition on sale
Jan 8, 2019, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers hardcover, ISBN 9780316310352 (publisher)
Pages
336, Hardcover, ISBN 9780316310352 (publisher)
Shelved as
Young adult (publisher)
Age rating
14+ (Common Sense Media)
Goodreads
4.27 from 1.17M ratings on Goodreads as of Oct 12, 2026

Content notes

  • Violence: Knife and sword fights; the heroine is kidnapped and tortured. Common Sense Media rates Violence & Scariness “a lot”. “Jude engages in knife and swordfights and kills at least one opponent in cold blood. She's kidnapped and tortured.” (Common Sense Media)

A book missing from this list is not guaranteed to be free of that content.

Tropes and creatures

Only tags the publisher’s own description names, with its wording.

  • Fae“to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world” (source)
  • Court intrigue“Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie” (source)

Read it or skip it

Read it if

  • You want kisses and tension, with scenes that fade to black (1/5 per Common Sense Media).
  • You want fae and court intrigue, as the publisher's description puts it.
  • You have read The Folk of the Air up to book 1.

Skip it if

  • You want sex scenes shown on the page (1/5 per Common Sense Media).
  • You want to avoid violence on the page (listed by Common Sense Media, which rates Violence & Scariness: "a lot").
  • You have not read The Cruel Prince yet: start there.

The Wicked King FAQ

Is The Wicked King spicy?

It is 1/5 (fade to black) on the FaeShelf 0 to 5 scale, based on Common Sense Media: "When they finally give in to their passions, the scene ends without much description."

Is The Wicked King YA or adult?

The publisher shelves it as young adult (Teen & Young Adult). Common Sense Media rates it 14+ (checked Oct 12, 2026).

Is The Wicked King part of a series?

Yes. It is book 2 of The Folk of the Air by Holly Black. Read The Cruel Prince first. The next book is The Queen of Nothing.

When did The Wicked King come out?

Goodreads lists it as first published Jan 8, 2019. Hachette Book Group lists this edition on sale Jan 8, 2019: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers hardcover, ISBN 9780316310352.

What content notes does The Wicked King have?

Common Sense Media lists knife and sword fights; the heroine is kidnapped and tortured (Violence & Scariness: "a lot"). A book missing a note is not guaranteed to be free of that content.

Same series: The Folk of the Air

In our guides

How we checked this

This page draws on 3 source pages, each linked next to the fact it supports, last checked on Oct 12, 2026. Spice comes only from a named review or the author’s or publisher’s own content notes, quoted as published and placed on our 0 to 5 scale; reader shelves and fan sites are not used. Ratings change daily, so the Goodreads figure is a dated snapshot. Read more about our sources, or browse all books.