A worthy and superior sequel to a solid debut.

Hannah Whitten's For the Throne is the second of the Wilderwood stories, which began in "For The Wolf." For the Throne takes up where For The Wolf left off, where heroine Red and her lover, the titular Wolf Eamonn have contained the power of the Old Kings. All is not well. Red's elder sister Neve, the First Daughter, is lost in the shadowlands, with her only ally being the mysterious and ruthless Solmir who wishes to destroy them

Neve excels when her prominence rises equally to Red's own. She is a fully fleshed out, fascinating and flawed character. Her relationship to Redarys is one of the fores of the book. They're sisters through and through; not without rough patches but the two would walk through hell for one another. Meanwhile, Neve's romance with Solmir is believable and equally compelling, a classic enemies to lovers that leaves the reader hooked until the ending.

The Wilderwood is all about fairy tales and bending them to new narrative purposes. Whitten's writing is beautiful and she utilizes fairy tale tropes to their fullest, while subverting them. The Wilderwood is like any enchanted forest, except it has a powerful will of its own and knows what must be done- even if humans might disagree. The Kings are solid villains, particularly the scheming Valchior, and the characters keep this as a pageturner until the end.

This was by far one of my most disappointing DNF of the year, as For The Wolf was one of my favorite books of last year. I had actually restarted this book 3 different times and never made it past the 65% mark. I am unsure if this was a problem with me and my reading mood, or if this was not as good of an entry into this series. In book one I think what stood out to me was how whimsical and atmospheric the story felt, as well as how deeply attached I felt to our main characters. I did not feel that way at all in book 2. Nothing really drug me in or kept me engaged within the story. It almost felt like a totally different author wrote this book.

Much like the first book, For the Throne is a beautifully written fairy tale with incredible imagery and captivating prose. We join Red and Neve once more as the Shadowlands and the Wilderwood collide. I didn’t think I would see myself cheering for certain characters but was proven wrong within the first few chapters. The monsters are terrifying and epic and I found myself holding my breath through each encounter. Hannah Whitten has truly created a beautiful and dark world.

In the satisfying second half of her duology, For the Throne picks up exactly where For the Wolf ended with Neve trapped in the Shadowlands. This one is a slow burn where Whitten takes her time explaining the prophecy and switching back and forth between sisters and their bond with one another. This was an excellent story of sisterly love that goes far beyond the likes of Frozen. Neve comes across as much more of an antihero than her sister and I enjoyed her edginess and second guessing of her own actions, taking into account possible repercussions with each decision she makes. There was plenty of page turning action and surprise twists to keep the reader engaged. All of the characters stayed true to themselves and were exceptionally well detailed.

The storyline came to a beautiful and fulfilling conclusion and I’ll definitely be looking forward to whatever Whitten comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit, and Hannah Whitten for a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am absolutely obsessed with this author! I finished this duo in less than a week! I absolutely love the magic around the winterwood, the light vs dark. Gold and darkness. Everything about this was absolutely perfect. Thank you

great great great sequel so much fun, and honestly loved the ending. It lived up to the first book i must say. also this cover is so absolutely stunning lets be honest.

For the Throne was better than the first book, For the Wolf; honestly, if I hadn’t been given an arc copy of the second book, I wouldn’t have read it.

However, I will say that I am glad that I read the second book, and I recommend that anyone who didn’t enjoy the first book go ahead and give the second a go - you may not be disappointed! Neve’s perspective is much more interesting than Reds. Great read!

Note: Thank you to Netgalley & publishers for allowing me access to this arc in exchange for an honest review! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Book two of the Wilderwood series is a sleeping beauty retelling in the way that For the Wolf was a little red riding hood retelling. There are references to the sleeping beauty story but mostly its unrecognizable. Neve, the first born daughter and queen, has trapped herself in the shadowlands at the end of book 1 and she wants only to get back to her sister. Shes stuck with her villain, Solmir, and escaping might mean trusting him.

On paper I should hate this book. It mostly does things I hate in plots. Both Neve and Red don't really DO anything throughout the book, they just blindly stumble into "fate". I don't mind prophecy but I don't like prophecy after the facts. There were also a lot of scenes and characters in this book that didn't seem to have a purpose. Why did 6 people travel across the sea to talk to Kiri? Just for a random reveal that didn't even need to be in the book? I didn't understand the point of Kayu as a character. I also didn't understand the "third apple" thing. There is also a false ending to this book and I wish it would have ended there but I also understand why it didn't. I really think I hated the plot of this book.

What I loved was Neve as a character. All four stars go to her, her attitude, and her vibes.

I have to say For the Throne was amazing but I still enjoyed For the Wolf slightly better. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives especially Neve’s being stuck in the shadowlands. I am glad this was a duology and I still loved every scene with Red and Wolf. They will forever have my heart. I also loved Solmir. He was a complex character but eventually grew on me. I enjoyed the sisterly bond between Red and Neve. But I especially loved the romance! Thank you NetGalley for giving the opportunity to read an amazing story. I literally screamed of excitement when I got approved. I already own a physical copy because this book was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed Hannah F. Whitten writing. I will definitely read anything she publishes in the future.

For the Throne - what do I say about this book? The end of the book is satisfying in a way so many duologies are not. I am so glad I got the chance to read this book. She is an incredible author and poses deep questions within this text. What is the cost of power? I think folks who enjoyed the first book, "For the Wolf", will be satisfied!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was an amazing sequel and the story is beautiful. I have greatly enjoyed Hannah Whitten’s writing and look forward to reading more of her works.

One Sentence Summary: After Neve falls into the Shadowlands, she sets herself on a path to fulfill a prophecy she doesn’t know, alongside a once-King she hates, while her sister Red will do anything to get her back.

Overall
For the Throne is a satisfying conclusion to the duology, wrapping up with Neve’s story. Where For the Wolf felt more reliant on fairy tales, For the Throne took on a life of it’s own, crafting a fascinating world and an interesting story for Neve that more fully explores the mythology of this world. It also takes a close look at the exceptionally close relationship between two sisters and how, despite being complete opposites, they will literally do anything for each other. Their love for each other was a beautiful thing in this book, which is great considering the romance felt almost non-existent. This was a great way to end the duology, but Red’s story kind of felt like a let down and the story was slow to get going.

Extended Thoughts
After the events of For the Wolf, Red and Eammon house the entirety of the Wilderwood within their bodies and Neve has slipped into the Shadowlands after doing everything in her power to save her sister from the Wolf. For the Throne is Neve’s story, her journey through the Shadowlands, accompanied only by once-King Solmir. In order to fulfill a destiny she doesn’t even know she and Red are hurling towards, Neve and Solmir set off across a world in shades of gray to get Neve out of the Shadowlands and to deal with the Five Kings for good, while they will do everything in their power to manipulate things to go their way. In the meantime, Red will do anything in her power to save her sister, including letting a foreign princess she knows nothing about in on the plans.

Unlike For the Wolf, For the Throne didn’t feel as steeped in fairy tales. Instead, Neve’s story felt like it took on a life of its own, one that was actually centered on the mythology of her world. I loved that it shed the fairy tales and loved that it places the sisters on center stage. This turned out to be a beautiful, almost heartbreaking story of sisters and what they’ll do to get back to each other. The love they have for each other is special and beautiful, and their bond was a lovely thing to see. But this is also a story of what it means to be monstrous and what being a villain in a story means. Neve and Solmir are not exactly good, but they try, making their journey feel like it kept swinging back and forth while a forgotten prophecy holds them in its grip. As a story of sisters, For the Throne hit every note, but the romances left me feeling dissatisfied.

For the Throne takes on the conflicts between light and dark, life and death, and man and nature and swirls it into a story of sisters who are mirrors of each other. I found it to be a fascinating concept of how two people who are so different still love each other so much they’ll die for each other. There’s Red who has always been painted as the good sister, as the beautiful one everyone loves and adores. She also epitomizes life and nature since taking in half of the Wilderwood. And then there’s Neve who is so far from good she’s practically a monster. She hasn’t made good decisions and she’s hurt many, many people trying to pursue her own goals. She’s basically the complete opposite of her sister, taking a darkness into her as she travels a world in grayscale. I loved the idea of the sisters basically being two sides of the same coin, as exact opposites and mirrors of each other. They were so different, but held so tightly together by their love for each other.

In the first book, I found myself more fascinated by Neve. Her desperation and single-mindedness turned her into the monster she believes herself to be, and this book wasn’t so much a redemption of her as an acceptance by her of what she is and what to do next. It’s so painfully clear to her how very different she is from her sister who is so well-loved by everyone and just how monstrous she is in contrast. But, other than how horrible a person she is, I didn’t get much more of a sense of her. There were times when she just felt like she was feeling sorry for herself and other times when she just felt so cold she may as well have been ice. I liked how she held herself as a queen and managed to keep her poise so well, but I also longed for something a little softer, a little more human from her.

But I did enjoy Neve’s story. It was fascinating and strange, even if I really had no clue what was going on for much of the book. The story was slow to get going and felt kind of plodding for the first half. Neve’s thrown into this horrifying world with a man she hates with a passion and there’s just not a lot going on. The second half, though, really picked up Neve’s story and so many threads came together all at once. Really, it felt a little on the simplistic side with a journey and then hard decisions. I did like how it ended, but it also felt like it took far too long and some of it felt a little too repetitive. Red’s story, on the other hand, mostly felt unnecessary. For the first half she and Eammon didn’t seem to do much more than look through books. I liked the sense of desperation, but knowing the sisters are locked into a prophecy just made it feel interminably long. She didn’t seem like she really had a purpose, but, because she has a pretty important role at the end, I suppose the reader had to be continuously reminded of how much Red loves Neve.

In terms of romances, there were three that really stood out. There’s Red and Eammon who are now happily and deliriously married. Honestly, they felt so lovey dovey it made me feel like I was wading through a field of sweetness. It’s nice to know they’re so happy, but it felt like it took that a step too far to the point where they felt even more irrelevant during the first half of the story. Then there’s Neve and Solmir who were so slow I barely believed how it ended. It felt like their romance was a little forced and maybe they might have made for really good friends. I did like how they kept denying they were good enough to be loved, but even that got a little tiring after a while. Overall, I just had a hard time believing them and I wish a romance between them hadn’t been written in. The one romance I did enjoy, though, was between Red and Neve’s friend Raffe and an unknown Nioh princess, Kayu, who arrives suddenly in Valleyda. Raffe’s been in love with Neve forever and Kayu clearly feels drawn to Raffe, but there’s this shadow between them. Not much of their relationship is woven through For the Throne, but I loved picking up all the little details, all the looks and glances. The subtlety won me over.

The one thing I adored about For the Throne was the world building. Valleyda and the Wilderwood are well-established, and I enjoyed reading about how the Wilderwood going into Red and Eammon changed things. But the story mostly took place in the Shadowlands, a world that is the inverse of Valleyda. It’s fascinating and horrifying as it’s the home of the Kings and the Old Ones, monstrous beasts worshiped like gods. Lesser beasts still roam the world, and the remaining Old Ones are frightening in their own ways. But the fact that the world is colored in gray scale was absolutely fascinating to me. To be in a world washed of color sounds like quite an adjustment and I really enjoyed the details of how dark or light something was. Otherwise the world felt fairly empty with, I suppose, similar landscape to Valleyda, including an utterly interesting castle. The Shadowlands was a fascinating world and I enjoyed getting to know it.

For the Throne is a satisfying ending to the duology. It’s a lovely story of sisters and what they’ll do for each other despite all the other people they love and who love them. I wish more of what happened in this book had been hinted at in the first book to really tie them together, otherwise I couldn’t help feeling like that was Red’s story and this was Neve’s and that was enough to hold them together. Even the overarching story of getting rid of the Kings was elusive to me as I finished the first book. But, like the sisters, these books felt like two parts of a whole, so I appreciated that reflection.

For the Throne is a story of sisterhood and what it means to be monstrous. Neve was a fascinating character to follow through an equally fascinating world. I wasn’t a big fan of Red’s story, and the romance between her and her husband just felt a little too overdone to properly enjoy, but I liked the inclusion of a new character and loved getting to see characters from the first book. Overall, I enjoyed that this shed the fairy tale skin in order to become something different and interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angela Man at Orbit for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

For the Throne is the second book in the Wilderwood duology and it picks up right where the first one ended. Neve has gone down to the Shadowlands and is stuck down there with Solmir, the once-King who tried to kill her sister. Up in the Wilderwoods, Red and Eammon are trying to find a way to get Neve out of the Shadowlands. Both Red and Neve need to find a way to The Heart Tree before the Shadowlands collapse and the Kings are released to wreak havoc across the land.

This book tore at my heart! There were a few times I was almost in tears. I am a twin and I told my sister that Hannah understands twins. There is not a love like it because our bond is so strong. We would go to the darkest underbelly of the world for each other and that's what Red and Neve have to do. I really enjoyed both of these books and highly recommend them.

For the Throne continues the Wilderwood duology by striking a careful balance between a riveting plot, romance, and character development. The atmospheric flair from the first book takes on a new life here, with new settings that were described so vividly I felt like I was in the story along with the characters. Speaking of the characters, as much as I loved them in the first book, I love them even more now! It was delightful to see them grow and overcome the challenges they were presented with. This duology now sits as one of my favorite duologies of all time and I will never stop raving about it!

ahhhh I am floored! I am incoherent typing this! I am so so in awe of hannah’s writing it’s unbelievable.

I’m always a sucker for fairytale retellings so when I got introduced to DARK fairytale retellings, I’m so in. for the wolf was one of my favorites of the past so when I got approved for the sequel’s ARC, I just about peed myself.

the scenery was gorgeous, the characterization was so well done, and what more can I say without sounding like a gushing fan girl? (I am)

this was a perfect ending to the duology and I just about suffered all of the emotions through the last 20% of the book

red and eammon’s relationship was front and center (as it should be), and the banter between them gave me hope for love life for all :)

thank you to netgalley and orbit for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

A great sequel to wrap up this duology! Not only did it dive into more of the characters from the first novel of also brought in some new faces. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I absolutely loved this book! This was such a great ending to the wilderwood duology. I loved seeing the characters grow. I really enjoyed seeing Red and Neve's love for each other. As someone who has sisters i understand their feelings and wanting to save one another. I also enjoyed the romance's. Overall this was a wonderful book!

I didn't enjoy For The Wolf but I thought why not give For The Throne a shot. I really really tried to like this book but it just isn't for me. The writing is overly descriptive. I feel like 90% of it is just describing the scenery or atmosphere. I always want more dialog otherwise, I feel like nothing is actually happening in the book. What I did love about the book is that there was more romance in this one! That's always a plus for me.

Last summer, I picked up Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf after hearing some buzz about it online, and was happily swept into a world of religious-based fantasy, a hungry and sentient forest, plenty of plant magic, Very Strong and Badass Women, folk and nature horror, and reluctant romance. With Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast vibes, forest magic, and well-crafted and well-rounded characters, I fell in love almost immediately. I loved the book. What I love even more— when that book has a sequel and it’s part of a duology.

For the Throne is the second and final book in the Wilderwood duology, opening right where For the Wolf left off. There’s a saying in the world of the book: the second daughter is for the wolf, and the first daughter is for the throne. For the Wolf was more the second daughter’s (Red’s) story, so it’s safe to say that For the Throne focuses more on the first daughter, Neve. However, this book is a true sequel and not just Neve’s story vs Red’s story, since both books follow what happens to both sisters. That being said, the central character in For the Throne is Neve, and after the events of For the Wolf, Neve finds herself in a horrible position: stuck in the Shadowlands, an inverted kingdom where the vicious Old Kings have been trapped for centuries, with only the rogue king Solmir as an ally… although Neve would really rather not have anything to do with him.

Brimming with dark magic, danger, romance (enemies to lovers anyone?), and the pursuit of power, For the Throne is a worthy sequel to For the Wolf— maybe even more so as Whitten has grown in her writing since her debut (though it’s been incredible and beautiful all along). Definitely pick up the first book in the duology before this one— but even better now that they’re both published and you don’t have to wait between books! Go read these NOW!!!

I absolutely devoured For the Wolf and For the Throne in less than 24 hours.

Red and Neve are twins that just can't seem to separate themselves from, well...themselves. After Neve lost Red, she vowed never to lose her again. Encased in a glass coffin, in the Shadowlands with someone she should mistrust...Neve must work out what it truly means when they say the First Daughter is for the throne.

Polar opposites of each other in every sense of the word, the twins must make their own decisions to help the strings of fate align to save the world.

Absolutely beautiful world building, the characters are loveable and hateable in all the best ways. There is something for everyone in this novel. I shed so many tears, I'm glad my Kindle is waterproof.

A solid 4.5/5 for this one and a combined 4.75/5 for the duology.. The fact I can recommend this book to a young adult without fear of too much spice. While there is romance and implied acts, Hannah wrote it so poetically.