Review of The Wicked Trilogy Novellas by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Wicked Trilogy Novellas by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Prince

4.05 out of 5 Stars

The King

4.66 out of 5 Stars

The Queen

4.51 out of 5 Stars

As a part of 1001 Dark Nights, JLA has been putting out these Wicked novellas since 2018. I just binge-read all of them in one fell swoop and because they're all back-to-back, centered around the same romance, so I thought it might be fun to review them together!

First, background. The original trilogy (Wicked, Torn, and Brave) takes place in New Orleans and follows Ivy, an Order member sworn to protect the human world from fae. Without getting into the actual plot of the trilogy, what you need to know about the setting is that it (a) takes place in New Orleans-- beautiful, (b) picks up pretty much immediately after the trilogy ends-- love it, (c) involves a lot of the same characters that were developed beforehand-- sweet, but (d) the novellas' main characters are not as developed in the trilogy. What does this all mean? There's a killer background that readers of the trilogy will absolutely love, but there's enough originality to these novellas to allow any reader to pick them up.

Second, the reviews.


The Prince
4.05 out of 5 Stars
We start the novella trilogy technically only two weeks after the full trilogy ends. But then there's a five-year time gap, so I don't really know when to explain the starting timeline for the novellas. Either way, I really liked how we had that connection to the last Wicked book. For me especially, it has been three years since I've read these books. Literally, I read Brave within its first week of publication, so it's been a minute since I've been in the fae-new-orleans world. So I really appreciated that split second of connection to what had been happening beforehand politically between the worlds and how the characters were all connected to each other. I think it was a really clever way to introduce the relationships and dynamics while also plunging into the substantive plot.

I think this was a great way to start mini-series with semi-new characters! I really liked the pacing, a liked the borderline insta-love/are-they-bonded thing going on between Brighton and Caden. And I love Caden. There is a small part of me though that wishes it was a full novel. Like, I just enjoyed reading it so much that I wanted more. I think if there was more content (aka not a novella), there may have been a better chance to draw out the connection between Brighton and Caden. I also think I might have liked to see more of the larger plotline filled out. It was a really great read! I just wish I had more of it.

(Although, to I think maybe clarify that last sentence(?), I totally respect the sheer quantity of writing JLA does each year and respect whatever reasoning she made in making this a novella and not a novel. I guess my main point in that last paragraph is to say, while I liked the novella format because it was shorter, I also would have loved to keep reading her writing.)


The King
4.66 out of 5 Stars
So you may have noticed already, but I rank this novella as the best of the three.
If you have read the novellas, you may be shocked. There is some really dark and twisted stuff that happens in this one. BUT, as gut-wrenching as that whole series of chapters are where Brighton's with Aric, it is precisely because of my intense reaction that I think this one was the best. Just because it wasn't all warm and fuzzies doesn't mean it wasn't an excellent book. I actually think it's irrelevant what emotional reaction you get out of a book, any strong reaction is a job well done on the writer's part. And that's what this novella was. It was sucker punch after sucker punch. There were a few really sweet moments as well, so it wasn't all doom and gloom and there was a nice balance.

What made this one really stand out to me as the best of the three was that all of the character were essentially fully developed and we were really digging into the meat of the plot and tension. If you were to put all three of these novella together (OMG if the publisher were to ever decide to do that I would 100% get a physical copy) the highest tension and the riskiest climax of the story would be in this portion. We didn't have to worry about set up or tying up loose ends. . . it was all just go go go diving into the twists and turns of the story.

The Queen
4.51 out of 5 Stars
Overall, I think this was a great "end," but here's the thing. I have a feeling JLA isn't done with this world yet because Neal is still out there and there are still winter fae conspiring to get Queen Morgana to Earth. And I feel like Neal was too developed as a character to have just been a one-off and quick mention at the end. I think he's our next big baddie in whatever spinoff series or novellas JLA creates. Not only am I totally down with that, but I would love to see more of Tink and to be able to revisit Ivy and Ren and now Brighton and Caden. So that's my hope/speculation/prediction.

Wrapping up on Brighton and Caden, I think they're adorable. I am complete trash for any sort of soulmate or bond trope which makes this pairing even better, but even putting that aside, I really like them as a couple. What I especially appreciate is that even as Brighton had to pull herself out of a really dark and vengeful place, Caden (barring extreme physical safetey concerns) let her do it and furthermore loved her either way. The epilogue was especially sweet when we got to see them all chilling at Hotel Good Fae. It was a cute little bow on top of the present that fit perfectly with the novellas as a whole. 

Now, before I leave this post, I have to say, Tink is one of my favorite characters of ALL TIME. I want more Tink. I want a Tink and Fabian story. I want to see Tink be a godfather. I want to see Tink annoy the crap out of Ren. I am Tink trash. Not only is he the ye olde great comic relief character, but he is incredibly loyal and lovable. If I were to compare him to another JLA character, I would say he reminds me a lot of Luc from her Lux/Origin series. She just does Tink so well as a character. He'l loving and lovable and yet so complex past the surface presentation. For example, I want to see Tink break out some epic brownie powers. I think that would be SO much fun to read. Even if we get nothing else from this world though, I just wanted to take this moment to write a Tink appreciation paragraph!!! :)

Thanks for reading!