Review: For the Throne (Wilderwood #2) by Hannah Whitten

For the Throne

(Wilderwood #2)

by Hannah Whitten

June 7, 2022

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Review

Wow the Wilderwood duology has been a wild ride. With even higher stakes and more complicated relationships, For the Throne was not what I imagined but in a good way. A fine conclusion.

Super dark and full of angst, I was invested in For the Throne from the very beginning. The atmospheric writing coupled with the slow burn tension between all the characters had me on the edge of my seat. I found myself praying for the survival of the sisters as the story took a steady pace towards the climax.

For the Throne sees Red trying to save Neve in an ironic twist of events carried over from For the Wolf. These sisters make the most frustrating of choices but it's impossible to fault them for it. The love they have for each other was endless. Red and Neve's unbreakable bond tied them perfectly to the Wilderwood and the Shadowlands. Detangling themselves was a slow but necessary process.

I was not expecting Red and Eammon to be so spicy! At the same time, the tenderness they showed each other was impossibly sweet. By contrast, Neve and Solmir's forbidden romance was angsty and unpredictable. I enjoyed watching them dance around each other but I most admired their stoic maturity. "Very rarely can the entirety of fault be held by one person." (p. 287). 

For the Throne kept me guessing until the very end. Despite having some doubts, I loved how the story wrapped up. Hannah Whitten has a way with her words and I'd like to read more of them!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the copy I received.