While I really enjoyed For the Wolf, I knew For the Throne would be everything I love—and it was! I loved Neve so much in the first book, I was so ready for more of her POV in book two. The story, the characters, everything worked for me. I loved Solmir as much as I hated him. He and Neve’s developing relationship was delicious. I almost didn’t care about Red/Eammon’s chapters because I wanted to get right back to Neve, Solmir and the Shadowlands. Hannah Whitten writes so beautifully and weaves these characters and storylines together masterfully. I can’t wait to read more from her!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The way Hannah Whitten writes with such detail is enthralling. I haven’t read many books where I can almost picture every single little detail in my head, but I can with hers. For the Throne was even more lovely than For the Wolf, I enjoyed every dark moment of it. So much more adventure and thrill. Absolutely loved Neve’s POV. If you liked the first book, you will love For the Throne.

In this sequel to For the Wolf, the dual narratives of sisters Red and Neve continue, with a few additional Raffe POVs thrown in, but this story focuses more on Neve. Neve's story is very loosely inspired by Snow White, in a similar way to the first book and Red Riding Hood – there are a few symbolic and thematic similarities (royalty, a glass coffin, apples, mirrors) but that’s about it. It’s not a true retelling, and honestly, at this point I kind of prefer that. There’s only so many fairy tale retellings one can read and still find anything fresh or interesting about them.

I probably should have re-read For the Wolf to refresh my memory of it, but unfortunately I didn’t have time, so I just had to hope that the author did a good enough job of recalling past events and bringing the audience up to speed. And she was decent at it, reminding the reader of at least the rough sketch of what happened, if not the details of how or why. It’s enough to keep going with the story, but not quite enough to fully understand what’s happening. I had this problem in general throughout the book – either not fully understanding what was going on or knowing what was going on but not why. I had this problem with the previous book in the duology as well, but it seems like it was worse in this one because I couldn’t remember enough about the previous book to understand the context of actions in the second. I had the same issue with some of the secondary characters. The writing is gorgeous but something about it doesn’t quite connect cause and effect sufficiently enough for my brain to really grasp and retain.

Overall, it’s quite good, but probably better if you read them back to back.

Representation: characters of color

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for my DRC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to get this one because I had read the first one as a DRC as well and loved the writing and loved the relationship between Red and Neve so of course when I found out that this one was going to be from Neve's perspective as she was in the Shadowlands, I had to request it.

Like "For the Wolf", Whitten's writing in this one was dramatic, tense, and romantic. Everything that I enjoyed about the first book was present in this on top of the romantic tension between Neve and Solmir. God I loved those two so much and I appreciated how Whitten noted that each of them knew they were toxic for the other at the time. I think that's something that definitely needed to be pointed out; both characters were so obviously into eachother but knew that they weren't ready and were too toxic throughout the events of the books that they knew it wouldn't be a healthy and good idea to get together. I think a lot of books with romances involving a "bad boy" could really learn from Whitten in this case.

And again, like "For the Wolf" I ADORED how Whitten illustrated the deep love and trust between Red and Neve. I mean, I straight up teared up at how much they loved eachother and how much they were willing to sacrifice for the other. Also, the magic in this did kind of feel not fully fleshed out, but I think in the context of the novel and the context of Red and Neve's relationship it made sense.

I'd definitely recommend picking this up, especially if you loved the first book. This book comes full circle and really works wonderfully as the end of the duology. That said though, I want more Red and Neve. They're both such badass women.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me was an ARC of For the Throne in exchange for an honest review!
In this second instalment in the Wilderwood duology we focus more on Neve as she’s been pulled into the Shadowlands and has to deal with the evil kings. However we do still see Red and Eammon and the rest of their friends in the Wilderwood. I personally really enjoyed this switch in perspectives since I love a story about sisterly love. I also thought it was really interesting to explore the Shadowlands since we’re told in book 1 that they’re the opposite side of the the Wilderwood’s coin - the dark magic balancing the wood’s light energy.

Overall I did enjoy this book, however I wish that the magic had been a bit more fleshed out as sometimes the rules of the Shadowlands were confusing to follow. I also thought that the final conflict at the end was rather rushed and a bit anticlimactic. That said the book is still a solid continuation, and ultimately ending to the story started in the first instalment. So if you enjoyed For The Wolf, definitely pick up For The Throne!

Points > Paragraphs
Overall 5
Spice 2
• Book 1 = was brilliant 5 stars
• Book 2= creative, dark, and somehow even better!
• Enemies to “Lovers?” …And they are angry about it
• Misunderstood “Villains”
• Slow and Deliciously Atmospheric
• Hidden Prophecies and Destiny
• Dude Falls First. (Swoon!)
• Multi-POV
• Forced Proximity
• Shadowlands were gorgeously creepy
• Creative world-building
• Exploration of good vs evil and the many faces of “good”
• Exploration of what we are capable of for the people we love
• Incredibly imaginative plot full of dark twists and turns.
• Strong character development with such a creative plot
• Team Solmir (I need more Solmir)
• Bittersweet Ending
• Conclusion of Duology
• Hannah Whitten's creative imaginative storytelling is Fantasy Romance perfection.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an ARC for Hannah Whitten's “For the Throne “ All the magic continues from “For the Wolf” twisting and turning to its ultimate conclusion here in “For the Throne”… and I loved it. We now find ourselves in the shadowlands full of nightmarish creatures and the only way out is through. If you love dark hidden prophesies, morally gray men, and women who will blaze their own path through the dark woods, you will love this book. I am so excited for more of Hannah Whitten’s imaginative and creative storytelling.

o Review will be posted on Amazon GoodReads StoryGraph during the following window: 5/30-6/3
o 3 post review spread for Instagram will go live during the following window: 5/30-6/3
o A release day post will go live on 6/7 on Instagram

Review will contain spoilers for For the Wolf.

For the Wolf was an excellent debut, even if the marketing of it as a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood is almost entirely baseless. My main complaint with For the Wolf was the Neve interludes; nearly every Neve chapter just left me eager to get back to Red as soon as possible.

Given that, I had trepidations about this book. I was pretty certain it was going to be an inverse of For the Wolf (because of the title, and the cover art, and the fact that it’s a duology, and the fact that it’s about twins, and the way the first book ended … wasn’t hard to figure out really) which meant that Neve was going to be front & center.

The first part of the book dragged a bit because of this. Red had such great character development in the first book that I kept wanting to go back to her story even though Neve’s story was objectively more interesting. In other words, my expectations from the first book made it hard for me to be fair to this one.

Fortunately I was able to get over that. Neve’s character gets all the development that she was lacking in the first book, and a story that manages to both mirror Red’s and still be unpredictable. In particular, what made me really turn the corner on Neve was that she takes a hard look at her behavior in the first book and sees things clearly. I love a good moment of self-realization.

The one real weakness this book has, I think, is Solmir. (This is all on the back of the book, so it’s not a spoiler.) Solmir is determined to bring about the end of the Shadowlands and destroy the Kings, and he is Neve’s one ally in the Shadowlands despite everything he did in For the Wolf. Given his role in the story, Solmir obviously can’t be a dyed-in-the-wool villain. His relationship with Neve is complex, and (I think) his character development goes further than events can really support.

But that complaint is minor. This is an excellent duology: dark, creative, extraordinarily atmospheric, with a very mature view of romantic relationships, and (a rare thing) a recognition that other types of love can be just as powerful.

My ARC (thank, Orbit!) came with an excerpt from Whitten’s next series. I was prepared to pick it up based purely on this duology, but the preview was intriguing. Looking forward to whatever Whitten has in store for us in the future.

Comes out June 9th.

This was an epic conclusion to the tale of two sister who would do anything to save the other. Two Sisters. Mirrors, Light & Dark, one for the Throne & and the other for the Wolf.

For the Throne is a dark and twisting tale of two sisters, trying to find their way back to each other against all odds.
The sequel to For the Wolf was not your average hero story. Neve was incredibly well developed, though some of her choices were questionable at times leaving you pondering if she was the villain in this story. The way the author weaves the two stories together was beautiful and poetic. Leaving the reader questioning right until the end (and through some tears) how this journey was going to end.

This wasn't a book you could rush through and devour, you needed to take your time to take in all of the details. I thought the book would be a little faster paced because most of the world building was already done in the first book, however creating the shadowlands in itself required world building,

(I feel like I can't end this without calling attention to how much I loved the dedication at the start )


Thank you to Netgalley & Orbit books for the ARC of this novel

This was the perfect conclusion to this duology. I actually liked this book more than the first one which shocked me. We get to see a lot more of Neve in this one and I just loved reading from her point of view. She is just an interesting character so it was great to able to see her more flushed out. I love all of the relationships in here whether they be romantic, family, or friend related. I just absolutely loved the adventure this book takes you on.

Kings to kill, gods to fight, and being stranded with the one person who has broken your trust is not the way Queen Neve thought her day would be going. The sequel to For the Wolf picks up where the first book ended, Red has become one with the Wilderwood and is living as part of it with her husband and Neve has fallen into the Shadowlands with Solmir, a ex-king who had tricked her... while also strangely has been taking care of her. Solmir has a different agenda, his entire goal is to kill the Five kings before they come back and will do everything to achieve his goals because if they are released they will destroy the entire world. Neve is now stranded in the Shadowlands with the one person she didn’t want to be, the one person who she had trusted and had found herself feeling something for, only to have the mask ripped off.. and yet despite his monstrousness, his cruelty, there is something more in the way he looks at her, the way he protects her. The only way to get out of the Shadowlands and stop the kings is if they both work together. But can they trust one another despite all their lies and deeds? Can they be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice as the more the go on this journey the more they discover they have in common... and that there is something there between them. While this is all happening Red and co are all trying to find a way to save Neve while dealing with the consequences of the first book, being that Red and Eammon are now magical immortal beings that are part Wilderwood and that there is also a mysterious new person in their group who has her own agenda. This was a great way to wrap up the story and get to know both Neve and Solmir more. I absolutely adored them, their romance is tragic, angsty, and beautiful. They are both willing to do whatever it takes for the ones they care about and are willing to get their hands dirty in order for the greater good. All in all, I have had a blast reading this duology and would definitely recommend it!

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I liked the 1st book a lot, this one was good. About on the same level. I did struggle to read through certain parts but all in all a fun read.

I received this and ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

I flew threw the first book so I was so excited to get an ARC of this!

Let me say I loved the first book and barely made it through the second.

I loved Neve and Solmirs chapters but I felt like the other perspectives were so slow and the book just crawled along! I actually ended up skipping parts of it because I got tired of all the talking with so little action!

It did pick up about halfway through but it’s so hard to even make it 50% through a book for it to finally get good!

All in all it was a good book but very very slow compared to the first!

I really enjoyed this fun conclusion for this series. At first I was a little wary of spending so much time with Neve as opposed to read, but I quickly found myself stepping into sync with Solmir and Neve and their budding relationship. All-in-all, I found this to be a fairly satisfying end, which tied up loose strings, and didn't leave anything out.

Perhaps my only gripe is the fact that I really did miss the wild woods. I missed the blood thirsty nature of it all, and while I appreciate the inclusion of gods to try and counteract that, I do think the story missed something from the first book in this regard. The upside down world was definitely satisfying in its own right, especially with the imagery, but I'm a sucker for hungry trees.

I loved this book so much. It was lyrical and beautifully written by the author. Also i love characters and world building. Neve and Solmis are awesome and their banter was best. I enjoyed this book than For The Wolf. And i want a relationship like Red and Neve. I missed Red but seeing her again was great. It was solid sequel and can't wait to read Hannah books in the future.
Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review

I loved the first book so much and this definitely was a solid sequel. The writing is just so vivid and Whitten does an amazing job of painting a picture in the reader's head. I really missed the characters so it was great seeing everyone together! I also loved Red and Neve's dynamic in this book. The banter was funny, the plot was intriguing, and overall it was a solid conclusion.

Sadly I found that after I did love the first book that the second didn’t engage me as much as the first. For the Throne is a continuation of the Wilderwood series by Hannah Whitten. While the first book manly follows Redarys and her journey as the second daughter who is “for the wolf”. The second book follows more of Neve’s journey in the shadowland. Now, where the second one lost me is I found the journey just not as interesting. I didn’t feel that I was invested in the characters and that the book couldn’t hold my attention like the first did. I still recommend that anyone who read the first decently gives it a go as the first left off in a cliff hanger. I will definitely give Hannah Whitten another shot in the future as I did enjoy the first.

I loved Neves portions and was so happy to see her get a real story; unfortunately that seemed to come at the expense of Red and the Wolves bc that section was entirely flat. Because at the heart of this story, truly, is the bond between the sisters and their love for each other. So I will say that everything up until the ending was great and I wish it ended a few chapters earlier. It really wouldve made the book more powerful. That's what knocked this down a star for me. The writer is good and I'll def want to check out her next series.

*Thank you to Hannah Witten, Orbit Books and Netgalley for an E-ARC of "For The Throne" in exchange for an honest review *
I really loved "For The Wolf" and I was hopeful that I would like "For The Throne". I did like Neve and Solmirs banter. And seeing Eammon and Red again was nice.

Well that was amazing. Lyrical and beautiful and luscious. Just what you'd expect from Hanna Whitten at this point, right? It was such a delight to fall back into this world. I appreciate that there was no recap. Call me weird, but I hate those. Things that were fuzzy in my memory recovered from hints and that's good enough for me.
Neve was such a fun character to learn about. I know we got glimpses in the first book but this is, after all, *her* book. That said, we get POV chapters from Red, too. Which.. I was annoyed with at first because I was so invested in Neve and Solmir. I came to adore every single character in this story and would read a dozen more books about them, no lie.
I'm blown away by the magic system and mythos and *detail* of this world. The plot kept me turning pages as much as the characters and beautiful writing did.
Honestly, if you haven't pre-ordered this, do it now. It's going to blow your mind.

It's rare that a sequel can thoroughly surpass a great first book, but For the Throne manages this feat. From the very first page, I knew that this novel was something special, and every subsequent page confirmed that I was right -- this book is a complete triumph.

Following Neve, the First Daughter who turned to dark magic to save Red from the Wilderwood, For the Throne takes us to the Shadowlands, where we meet the Old Gods and the Kings... as well as getting to know Solmir, who becomes Neve's unlikely traveling companion. These two maybe-villains have incredible chemistry as they wrestle with fate and trust and what it might mean to be good, even as they move through a difficult quest in a world filled with monsters and leeched of color.

THIS, by the way, is how you write a morally gray heroine. It's how you write enemies to lovers. All of it is subtle and perfectly paced and just delicious.

Meanwhile, we don't leave Red and the Wilderwood behind. It was a joy to follow her adventures and the lives of the characters we met in For the Wolf. I love the way that Hannah Whitten expands these stories and makes them richer.

And, just as with For the Wolf, Whitten's sentences are incredible. I think I have half the book highlighted, because it's all so beautifully written.

Overall, this has been one of my favorite reads of the year, and everyone needs to read it, if only so I can squeal about it with them. For the Wolf was great, but somehow -- and this was quite a feat -- For the Throne leaves it in the dust. You need to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit, and Hannah Whitten for an early review copy of For the Throne in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.