[ARC REVIEW]

Book two in the Wilderwood duology.
So, this was a good book, a good sequel... however...

I felt like the book ended about 50-60% through and the remaining portion of the book was filler, more or less.

thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this title.

I thought that this was a decent sequel to the Wilderwood duology. These sisters risk alot when they try to save eachother and the world from the kings. I like the world building, the writing was done well. I also enjoyed the sisters bond. Once again I felt that the romance was forced. Over all though I did like this book.


My rating is a 3.5⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ebook for an honest review.

The First Daughter is for the Throne
The Second Daughter is for the Wolf...

Red and the Wolf have finally contained the threat of the Old Kings but at a steep cost. Red's beloved sister Neve, the First Daughter is lost in the Shadowlands, an inverted kingdom where the vicious gods of legend have been trapped for centuries and the Old Kings have slowly been gaining control. But Neve has an ally--though it's one she'd rather never have to speak to again--the rogue king Solmir.

Solmir wants to bring an end to the Shadowlands and he believes helping Neve may be the key to its destruction. But to do that, they will both have to journey across a dangerous landscape in order to find a mysterious Heart Tree, and finally to claim the gods' dark, twisted powers for themselves.

I absolutely fell in love with Hannah's writing style in For the Wolf and I couldn't wait to see where she took the story in For the Throne. I loved the dark, twisty atmosphere, however I didn't connect as strongly with Neve and Solmir as MCs as I did with Red and Eammon. The story was full of fun surprises and overall was a very satisfying ending to the duology - I think you'll enjoy it if you loved For the Wolf, but I liked For the Wolf better.

I wasn't sure how this book was going to live up to the magic of the original, while also tying up the entire stories of Red and Neve, but I shouldn't have worried. It did so beautifully. This book is Neve's, and the reader really gets a full sense for her character throughout the book. Of course, there are chapters that feature Red and Eammon and the gang too, so no worries there. Throughout the story is magic and eldritch horrors and strength and love, all woven together with Hannah Whitten's gorgeous prose. And then, just when I didn't know how the story would end, a heart-wrenching finale that had me all in my feelings but felt so perfect and right for these characters. I can't recommend this series enough. The Wilderwood duology has earned a place on my favorites shelf!

This was such a great sequel to for the wolf. The entire duology was so unexpected and just what I needed. The romance was perfect and the pacing was great!

First, book two and Neve’s story are leaps and bounds better than book one and Red’s primary narrative.

Two, I’m shocked that Orbit didn’t force this into a trilogy instead of a duology. I was tickled to find a huge climactic point about 70% of the way through the book! Those kinds of surprises are always nice to see; and in this case could easily have been the splitting point for a third volume (and a chance to capitalize more). But leaving this as a duology is such a nice change of pace; and feels more appropriate as For the Wolf is Red’s story; and For the Throne is Neve’s.

Three, I take back all my criticisms about the end of book one. I was wrong Hannah Whitten knew where she was headed and she killed it taking us deep into the Shadowlands, into the psyche of Old Gods and Kings; and shared the reality that we are all good and evil. Sometimes one of these at specific moments; but often both sides are affecting our persona’s, decisions, and beliefs simultaneously.

Fourth, the absolute best part of this series is that it embraces the idea that few are just ‘good’. And just because you are ‘good’ (in general) doesn’t mean your choices will reflect that. As a choice between awful and terrible doesn’t end in a good outcome. So often we are given bad choices to start with; and so we must live with having made them, even when we had to way out.

And finally, Solmir. Oh how I love thee. Oh how the tortured, brooding soul is always my favourite. From my teen days of Angel and Spike to now, at 40 years old, I have not lost my love of a tortured, weeping soul and how I bleed, cry, and despair alongside them. These characters always speak to me the most, men or women, and I always come out, from stories where they are well written, knowing that many more people in the world than I ever seem to notice hold some darkness inside of them, just as I do.

Thank you Hannah Whitten for sharing these souls (and soulless) with us and for acknowledging that good comes in many forms, and redemption is always possible.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
That said, I already have this book on my wish list when it comes out in paperback. This series is definitely being added to my home print library!

In this breathtaking sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller For the Wolf, Red's sister Neve struggles to escape a mysterious land of twisted roots, lost gods, and mountains made of bone—and the only clues to her rescue are a magic mirror and a dark prince who wants to bring the whole thing crumbling down.

I absolutely loved book 1 and I also loved this sequel. I love the world, the magic, the darkness. All of it. After finishing book 1, I could not wait to delve into the sequel. Fairytale retellings are one of my favorite types of books to read. I especially like when authors have a unique retelling like this one. I am so sad this series is over. I didn't want to reach the end of the book. Wonderful story and I will be rereading!
*thank you to netgalley for an arc.

I love the first book For the Wolf! This book was even better than the first book. It had more action and was very fast-paced!

I didn't enjoy this second book in the Wilderwood series as much as I loved the first one, For the Wolf.

All credit due to Hannah Whitten for writing a deeply intricate world with complicated, intense relationships. WOW. What must it be like inside her mind? There were so many plot twists and turns that I definitely didn't see coming, and had no idea where they'd whip off to next.

I just didn't like Neve in the first book, and I think that carried over into this one and it took me a loooong time to warm up to her - and the story as a whole just moved too slowly.

This book follows not-all-good Neve and her not-all-good love interest, and I found it much more compelling than the first book, because I simply find these grey characters more interesting than the all-good Red and Wolf and their misunderstanding-based romance. The writing is also much improved, with way less repetition. There is a quest-plot that is well done, with enough variation to keep things interesting.
Still, the ending dragged, so much! The author doesn't seem to know when to stop writing, or when to wrap things up, and the last chapters were really full of unnecessary details and back-and-forth on decisions and over-indulged emotions. The ending could also have been a bit better for Neve, it feels a bit bland and random.

I enjoyed this more than the first book, and found it quite good until the last few chapters, that massively dragged.

For the Throne is the sequel to For the Wolf and pick up shortly after the end of that book. This is the final book in the Wilderwood duology which mostly follows Neve who is now trapped in the Shadowlands while her sister Red tries to find a way to bring her back. Not my favorite of the two as I much preferred Red as the main protagonist but I love this take on fairytales and how the book ended.

A great conclusion to this series! I really enjoyed the multiple viewpoints and the magic. The bond between sisters was a great take.

This second installment added on to the magic of the first book very well, it has more politics in it (as expected as it is following the sister that is “For The Throne”) and effectively gave a “the other side of the coin” view to the story. Still very atmospheric and while I found the other leads more interesting to read, the two we have here are also interesting in that there is more darkness in both of them that I learned to appreciate by the second half of the story.

I really enjoyed this book! Neve’s journey was unlike Red’s, but they mirrored each other in so many ways. I loved the interwoven and subversions of popular fairytales. The ending wrapped everything up quite nicely.

I can’t wait to see what Hannah Whitten has in store next!!

"Power is pain, Shadow Queen, and monsters in the eye of the beholder." There is just something about this quote that resonated with me and is just so so true. To be honest the wolf was not my favorite in the first book, but this book just really redeemed him for me. I think it is funny because before reading I think you would almost expect something a little lighter, but I personally loved how dark it was. From start to finish it was a fantastical ride done really, really well.

Readers who enjoyed For the Wolf will be delighted by this second installment in the series. I loved the switch to the other sister as the main character.

This was a satisfying ending to this duology, but I didn't love it as much as the first book. I really enjoyed the setting of the first book and this immediately goes somewhere else. While I really enjoyed the lore of the wolf and the first daughter, it felt like it was all kinde of scrapped for this. I really didn't enjoy Neve's chapters so my rating was definitely lowered by them. Overall, this was a nice, fast, fantasy romance that is satisfying enough that I'll continue to pick up books by Hannah Whitten in the future.

For the Throne is a fantastic ending to a book that was among my top favorite reads in 2021. Not only do we get the continuation of the fantastic romance between Red and the Wolf, but also we get another treat in the form of Solmir and Neve's experiences in the Shadowlands. I had no idea what to expect from page to page, as Ms. Whitten keeps you guessing throughout the novel. The ending is oh-so-satisfying and solidifies my determination to read anything Ms. Whitten writes going forward.

This book was dark and magical. I love a good retelling or stories that give a retelling vibe. The unique magic system? Completely opposite sisters? Immersive world building? Morally grey characters and enemies to lovers? Heck yes! This was a really excellent conclusion to the duology. A solid fantasy novel and a solid ending to the character’s stories.