I really enjoyed the first book but this one I hated so much.
Didn't care for the story or the main character in this one.

I couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion to this story; it truly brought me to tears! I’ll admit I was kind of skeptical at first about the fact that this story focused more on Neve and Solmir, as I was already so attached to Red and Eammon’s story but I was supremely blown away by how much I grew to love Neve and Solmir. As with all of Hannah Whitten’s works, there is so much depth and nuance to these characters, and so much detail and thought in the crafting of its world. I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of what is essentially the antithesis to Red and Eammon’s power and life, of darkness, as well as the exploration of destiny and duty and how we choose to fulfill those roles. I cannot recommend this duology enough; it is an all-time favorite for me!

This was a great book and did well with wrapping up the story of Red and Neve, however it was not my favourite. The prose was great, and the characters and their development well thought out, the story moved at a great pace and you would think with all those pros I would have given it a larger rating. However I feel like it lacked some of the whimsy and charm of the first book with Red and her discovering the Wilderwood. I also like Red's character a little bit more than Neve's, not that Neve isn't a great character I just didn't connect with her personally. I also didn't see that ending coming and I don't think that I was wholly satisfied with it, even though the author did a great job of wrapping things up. Overall it was mostly my own personal preferences and vibes that gave the book a three star rating. If you love enchanted forests, sisterly bonds, and some great slow burn romances on the side I would recommend Hannah's book.

I did not finish this book. I really wanted to finish. I really wanted to like it. I have given up. The first book was so amazing. The storytelling in the first book had me under its spell and just begging for more. But this just didn't do it for me. I have since purchased the book hoping that maybe by taking it on a beach vacation I will feel more in the zone for this book. But I sadly don't have the highest of hopes.

I really enjoyed this sequel. It was just as good as the first book, but in different ways. At the beginning I really wasn't enjoying the chapters narrated by Neve, but she honestly grew on me more as the book went along. After the first book, I didn't think that I could like her, but I feel like she was redeemed in some ways in this book. Some of the plot events felt a bit predictable to me, But overall, I felt like this was a satisfying conclusion to the story. I really enjoyed the world building and mythos that the author brought into this series, pieces of the story felt like familiar fairy tales (Red's story feels very Beauty and the Beast), but the rest is uniquely original, and an amazing fantasy tale. I would absolutely love to read more stories set in this world from the perspectives of some of the other characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

I am really glad that I read The Foxglove King before starting this series, otherwise I don't think that I would have continued reading books by this author.

Unfortunately I did not read For the Throne. I read For the Wolf and I just can't continue with this series. I would definitely recommend someone picking up The Foxglove King if they were looking to give this author a try, because it is definitely superior. It feels like her writing definitely changed for the better in her second series, which makes sense as an author comes into their own and develops.

It's really sad that I don't want to continue this series because the synopsis really does sound super promising, but it just doesn't live up to it. For starters, I went into it thinking this was a Red Riding Hood retelling. It definitely isn't. Also, the world building is nearly nonexistent. There is just so much going on, and zero explanation for any of it. I also didn't buy into the romance at all. After four hundred plus pages, I don't even CARE about a single one of the characters to begin with.

I do recommend readers to pick up her other series, but this one was just a miss for me personally.

The first one was boring and nothing happened, for the throne was slightly better but not very entertaining. I really disliked this book we were promised so much and got nothing back.

This was such a solid sequel and ending to the series. I loved seeing the development of the characters and getting to learn more about them and get in their head about their feelings.

I did not finish this book. The pacing was terribly slow and the story line was nonexistent. I tried to keep going in hopes it would pick up, but I never got to a place where it did. Enjoyed the first book as feel it should have been a standalone.

I loved this duology conclusion, Whitten had such a beautiful way of writing that I can't get enough of. I loved the pacing between the two books and I think limiting it to two volumes was completely perfect.

Also big kudos to the cover designers for both of these books, they are punchy and graphic and bold and I love them.

Thanks so much for the review copy!

The shoe is on the other foot with this conclusión to Whitten’s duology as this is very much Neve’s story. If you weren’t her biggest fan in For the Wolf, this May not be your favorite but it definitely gives more detail on Red and explorers Neve’s own experiences more.

As excited as I was to get an eARC of For the Throne, I kept putting it off and putting it off because I wanted to savor Hannah Whitten's sequel. Unfortunately, I'm such a mood reader, I haven't been in a fantasy mood until now.

And I was still disappointed with the conclusion to the Wilderwood duology.

Take this review with a grain of salt, if you want. I loved Whitten's debut...but really only remember blood, angst, and more blood. I probably should've re-read For the Wolf (I thought about it for a hot second but decided to put a dent in my TBR instead), so that might be part of the reason I didn't love For the Throne. Even if I had marathoned my way through the Wilderwood series, I still don't think I wouldn't have loved the sequel as much as For the Wolf.

The Characters.

We'll start with Neve because, even though there are multiple POVs, For the Throne is essentially her story. To put it quite simply, I just don't like Neve. I wasn't a huge fan of her to begin with, but I liked her even less this time around. I don't need protagonists to be likable to enjoy a story (though it certainly helps) and have been known to like an "unlikeable" character or two. Unfortunately, Neve isn't just unlikable, she's uninteresting. There's nothing particular compelling about her. Is she good? Is she evil? I don't care ‍♀️ which is kind of problem when the two questions are a central part of the story.

I don't hate her. I mean, I found her kind of annoying at times, but overall, I was just apathetic when I was reading Neve's story. I could list out reasons I found her to be an uninspired protagonist, but honestly, I don't feel like investing time and energy to do that. How do I love hate feel thee? I would count the ways but I don't care enough to do so.

Solmir.
The once-god.
The rogue king.
The Big Bad.
(maybe).

The problem is with Solmir is that he could've been a really interesting character. He could've been compelling and complex and complicated, but he was just a one-dimensional tortured hot villain. People who like The Darkling are probably going to Solmir; unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.

I think I remembered liking Red during For the Wolf, but she just felt kind of undeveloped in For the Throne. Her chapters could essentially be boiled down into to motivations: she loves her sister and wants to save her. She loves her husband, and he's hot. It was all just so lackluster and forgettable (literally the only thing that stands out is the number of times she was described as beautifully "feral"). I had a hard time connecting with her and had zero emotional attachment to her which is a shame because Whitten had a great opportunity to build off of Red's character development from the first book. Unfortunately, she ended up feeling more like a plot device than a protagonist.

Raffe. Honestly, I'm not sure why Raffe gets his own chapters. Plotwise, he doesn't play a big role, and his POV doesn't add much to the story. His sole purpose seems to be holding up his end of the love triangle. He doesn't even earn the distinction of being a male damsel in distress because he doesn't need saving. He's just kind of...there. In many ways, I feel like the book would've been tighter and more compelling if we just alternated between Neve and Red's POVs; after all, the bond between sisters is a central theme in the story, not the bond between two sisters and some rando childhood friend/lover.

The Relationships.

Speaking of childhood friends and lovers, let's talk about the romance.

It was just so forced and awkwardly handled. I'm not a fan of love triangle to begin with and wasn't the least bit invested in the whole Raffe-Neve-Solmir thing we had going on back when Solmir was wearing someone else's face. I certainly wasn't expecting to be any more interested now that one side of the love triangle was an evil kidnapper. Not that I really had to worry though, because we got a major cop-out when Whitten wrote her way out of the love triangle using the most transparently thin excuse she could. Again, I'm not someone who was super attached to the love triangle, but I wish she'd at least "solved" it better. Even if we ended up with the same result, it would've been nice to see it developed more.

The idea of sisterhood was shoved down our throats, so you'd think it'd be fairly central to the story. Unfortunately, there were so many missed opportunities for Whitten to give us an interesting and complex exploration of sisterhood. She kept playing with the idea of this bond between Red and Neve, setting up these really obvious and somewhat forced parallels between the two, but never fully committed or gave us something meaningful. I wanted to see more of this deep love between the two sisters that was hinted at but never fully fleshed out.

The Story.

I don't know what to say about the plot. It was there in theory. The story was ostensibly about two sisters embark on mirrored journeys "to find a mysterious Heart Tree" and "claim the gods' dark, twisted power for themselves," but in reality, Neve and Solmir basically took a long walk through the Shadowlands and sometimes killed creatures. The story would be broken up by occasional interludes where Red would have visions/dreams about her sister and Raffe would be a Regular Guy dealing with confusing feelings about love.

Again, it's been a while since For the Wolf, but I kind of remember it liking it in an all ✨vibes✨, no plot kind of a way. Maybe the plot in Whitten's debut is about the same as it is in the sequel. Unfortunately, I was not vibing with it this time around. The whole book was a meandering mess of a story that I never really got into. It just felt like the story was a backdrop for an angsty enemies-to-lovers romance that, if I'm being completely honest, wasn't even that good.

This duology is fantastic. While I'm not so much into For The Throne getting a bit more descriptive of Red and Eammon's relationship. I still loved it.

This was a great conclusion to the duology. The romance between Solmir and Neve was twisted and complicated and not without thorns, and I really enjoyed watching their journey unfold. I would highly recommend this book/ series. If you love beautiful writing, dark vibes, monsters, fairytale retellings, morally grey characters, enemies to lovers and slow burns?? This duology has it all! Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I had really wanted to finish this book faster than I did, but it didn't live up to the first book in my opinion. That doesn't mean it wasn't good, it just didn't have the same feel as the first book which I really enjoyed.

Thank you, NetGalley & Orbit, for this ARC!

I started reading this in the e-format, BUT I got the book because I love Hannah's work. What does this mean? I took my sweet time reading it, and yeah, hence the super late review. Anyway!

I think I am low-key sad about this duology because I think it needed to be a trilogy. In my silly opinion, the end was so abrupt, and I wish we had more time to explore Wilderwood. But I am not mad about it; I guess this comes from my love for the characters and the universe Hannah created.

Another thing that I enjoyed a lot from this second premise was Neve. Don't get me wrong, Neve was not my favourite in FTW, but in FTT she changed my mind.

Please don't hate me if you pick it up and feels meh to you, I love this duology and Hannah Whitten's imagination.

I just love Hannah Whitten she writes such lovely stories. I have to say I liked for the wolf and foxglove king more than this one but that doesn't make it a bad book. I just loved for the wolf so much. I would and do recommend her books to anyone who loves a good story and I look forward to each new release.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit books for my copy of For the Throne by Hannah Whitten in exchange for an honest review. It published June 7, 2022.
This is definitely a sequel, in that you must read the first book before this one. Unfortunately I missed the memo, so I was utterly confused! The story itself is very well-written, but you definitely need the context to understand what is going on. Don’t be like me, read book one, then book two, not the other way around!

I’m going to set this one down for now and try again later. Somehow I’m not getting into the book but still want to try it again later