Darker, grittier, atmospheric, and with some genuinely scary scenes with an emotional roller-coaster of an ending, For the Throne is an amazing conclusion to this duology.

I actually had to double check that this was a duology because there was a scene towards the end where I was like nuh-uh you are not leaving me like this. If you are one of those who are really attached to this story and it's characters there is many a scene that will make you tear up.

Red and Neve (Neve especially) had so much character growth and development. I didn't like Neve in the first book and in this one she grew on me so hard. The action, the depth of this world building was so good, some deeper messages in it too. This duology is a great read for YA and Adult Fantasy lovers both.

While I was expecting a little more from this book than I got, I did enjoy it a lot. I liked that there was more romance going on and the systems in this were pretty cool to try to follow. I am here for all the drama.

I liked this book quite a lot, it was more serious and dark than the first book. The romantic interest was complicated and interesting and I liked the chemistry between them. Overall, I thought it was more mature than the first one and was an enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend it if you liked the first book.



* Spoilers *


Most of all I liked the idea of the Old Ones, much like Norse Gods, like in books like Hunger of the Gods. It's fun to see how authors differently interpret that trope/concept. I always enjoy worldbuilding with giant, cruel gods that have mixed motivations and desires.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

You know that scene at the end of LoTR, where the ring was finally destroyed and Frodo is lying on the side of a volcano as it erupts all around him, and he says in the most belaboured and relieved voice "It's done" -- that's me right now.

Believe me, no one is more shocked by this than myself but two months later, here we are. If you've been around my reviews for a while, you'll know that I loved For the Wolf. I devoured the ARC I received in just a few days and even re-read it before the sequel came out. And now I'm sitting on the other side of that sequel feeling entirely disappointed. Was it the small print of the book, like should I have read it on my kindle? Was it the deckled edges that I hate? Was I not in the right headspace or was it just simply not a good book? All I know is I never ever put a book down on pause to read literally anything else instead, and I did that often with this.

Where the first book followed Red and her adventures in the Wilderwood with Eammon, the second follows Neve in the Shadowlands. Or at least, it tries to. Where Red's book was broken up for short interludes with Neve, this felt far more split down the middle with Neve, Red, and Raffe. And I just didn't care. Red's story didn't feel very thrilling anymore, and her and Eammon were surprisingly annoying with all their lovey dovey business. So many forehead touches, my word. And Raffe, well, I dunno, his moping didn't feel all that exciting to me. These interludes didn't really serve a purpose this time around. All I wanted was to go back to Neve and Solomir, but even that didn't quite click for me.

I really struggled with the worldbuilding and lore. You would think, this being the second book and a direct continuation of the first's storyline, that I would be able to keep up. Apparently not. I genuinely did not know what in the world--erm, Shadowlands, Neve was doing. Something to do with the Kings and a magical tree and the old, monstrous gods. But like I said, none of it seemed to click for me and I could not read much without getting bored. No characters stood out, no monsters felt truly terrifying, and I genuinely don't know what the Kings wanted in the end or how Neve fit into those plans. I also felt that a lot of the settings and descriptions were ... lifted from Pinterest images. Like, I felt as though I'd already seen it all before, and that had me feeling some type of way, pulling me out of the story because I wasn't able to form my own picture.

And where was the romance? I was so keen on a proper villain monster - corrupted queen romance between Neve and Solomir, something that I thought had been hinted at in the previous book, and instead I got literal crumbs. When something did happen, it was very blink and miss it. Such a disappointment, just as the ending was.

I do not know what happened, but I am genuinely upset that this book did not work for me. I waited so long for it, and now I just want to go sit in the corner and mope for a bit because not only did I barely finish this, but I'm this close to donating both copies and never looking at the series again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this dark and enchanting fantasy. Whitten has the ability to immerse you into her atmospheric worlds with ease. I found the main character and plot line of "For the Throne" even more gripping than its predecessor. The complexities and 'morally grey' plots and characters were very compelling and I loved every bit of it. I would recommend this to anyone who likes an edgy, dark fairy-tale retelling.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

For the Throne is a gorgeously written conclusion and sequel to For the Wolf. Hannah Whitten's storytelling is dark with beautiful gothic vibes. The pacing can be slow at times as the chapters build and as the imagery begins to take place in your head.

I love stories with morally grey characters and darker tones; For the Throne hits the mark.

I recommend if you've read One Dark Window and The Wolf and the Woodsman.

4 stars

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I was ecstatic getting approved for this book. I love this story so much! It definitely did not disappoint.

I loved that this book was more about Neve. I do enjoy Red but it was fun reading about her sister. I loved the writing as always and the love interest between Neve and Salmir.

I think the author ended the duology well. I felt satisfied after finishing it. I would definitely recommend this series.

For the Throne by Hannah Whitten provides a powerful Completion to the story started in for the wolf. There were several things I liked in the story ; namely the powerful relationship between or two main female characters that prevails spite than being separated by Worlds.

While I enjoyed the continuation of the story did have trouble narrative constantly shifting between the two worlds. And would have liked to see A more focused story structure.

This story is an excellent set for readers who enjoy fantasy what a fairytale air and dark twist.

Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

This is the second book in the Wilderwood Duology-you would know the first book as For the Wolf.

I freaking loved For the Wolf in Summer of ‘21! I was perusing NetGalley and every so often I would check Orbit’s NetGalley page and I was hoping For the Theone would be on it. It ended up being on NetGalley and I just had to request it. Thankfully I got approved, which made me beyond excited. This book definitely feels a bit different than For the Wolf since we are primarily following Neve as she is lost in the Shadowlands. We do get other point of views as well. With this feeling a bit different, I still really enjoyed this book. Neve and Red’s sister relationship was well done and I just loved that each of them would do anything for the other even if it may be a bad decision, but it was made with good intentions. I thought it just ended okay and was not my favorite ending.

I wasn’t able to finish this one but I really look forward to buying a physical copy to go with my first book and finally finishing it!

Having read the second installment of the duology right on the heels of the first, I enjoyed it, although not quite as much as For the Wolf. I found Neve to be a less compelling heroine than Red, and was glad that Red and her Wolf still featured heavily in this book.

Whereas Red is wholly good, Neve is more of a morally grey character, and she wrestles with herself (and her attraction to equally-morally-grey Solmir) throughout her journey. I do have a soft spot for morally grey characters, and appreciated that Neve accepted her truth and still worked to do the right thing.

The romance was a bit predictable, although I did like the enemies-to-lovers slow burn, and I thought the ending wrapped everything up a bit too neatly, with all of our characters paired off. Loved the ace-spectrum rep, but could have used more queer characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

The first thing I will say about For the Throne (and really about both books in the duology), is that if you are a reader who struggles with more abstract descriptions, then I suggest listening to the audiobook of this novel.

The second thing I will say is that I think Hannah Whitten is an incredibly strong writer and storyteller. Her books have a great dark lyrical feel to them, and I am impressed with her world building and the way she develops her characters through the conflicts they experience.

For the Throne was a very satisfying companion/conclusion to the story that began in For the Wolf. This novel mainly focuses on Neve, who has been pulled into the Shadowlands and finds herself working with the once-king Solmir, but the reader also gets POV chapters from Red and Rafe, who are desperately trying to find a way to bring Neve home.

Some of Neve’s chapters in the Shadowlands felt like they were dragging a bit, but just as with FTW, the second half of the book picks up the pace quite nicely. I appreciate the detailed mythology of this world, and I really enjoyed all of the characters that are brought into the help resolve the main conflicts.

While there is a good enemies-to-lovers romance in this story, I love that these books are really about the relationship between Neve and Red and the strength of their love for one another.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and if you are a fan of dark fairytale-inspired stories with lyrical language and interesting world-building, then you should definitely check out this duology!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: Adult
Content: language, fade to black scenes

I enjoyed the first book and I liked this one too! This book was heavy on the dark elements that took the readers out of this world and I was lost a few times but I read this in the course of two days!

Second book in the series, and I liked it more than the first one…but it just could not hold my attention. It’s super interesting and detailed, but just not for me! It’s very high fantasy and the spin off of a red riding hood re-telling.

For the Throne // by Hannah Whitten

For the Wolf has been one of my favorite ARCs in the past so naturally I was thrilled for the sequel as well. Something I really liked about the first book was that the ending was written in a way where the book really could’ve been a standalone as well though of course we still want to find out what happens to the sister as well. That is what For the Throne is: the story of Neve in the Shadowlands.

While Red still plays a major part in this book as well, most of the excitement definitely stayed with Neve, which makes it like an inverse of book 1. For a duology, that definitely is a fun setup. Seeing that much of the book is set in the Shadowlands, I was expecting things to be a bit darker than they were in For the Wolf but I probably should’ve known that since the first book turned out more romancy than expected, this one would too. While there is nothing wrong with that necessarily, especially since I do love a good romance also, I did find all of the relationships in this book rather predictable.

I did still love the dedication of the sisters for each other, although that seemed to make Red a bit more gullible than I would’ve liked in some parts. Thankfully she had a trusted group of friends to help her out in difficult times. I liked being able to explore both the Shadowlands as well as the normal world in more detail in this book.

I just found out that there will be a prequel called For the Wilderwood as well. While, so far, For the Wolf is by far my preferred book in this series, I still am looking forward to reading that one when it comes out as I love finding out about the history of fantasy worlds that I’ve become invested in.

Thank you for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah Whitten returns and is truly wonderful in her much-anticipated sequel. I don't want to give much away with spoilers, but the story is charming and sure to please!

“I haven’t been powerless a day in my life, and I won’t start now.”

I do appreciate that unlike the first book, this book has been POV’s. The first book focused on Red, with a few chapters from Neve, but this book focused on many characters.

I do feel like it was quite slow, and for that reason, I never could get fully immersed.

I loved the second and final book of the duology. It was dark, but had a lot more romance than the first book. Not everything is what is seem, what may look like something for you, may not be what that character is experiencing from their own point of view. Very well written.

For the Throne was a good sequel, but, in my opinion, not as good as the first. I really loved the dynamics of the darker shadow/mirror world and the juxtaposition of the sisters in their worlds, with their magic, and their "monstrous" men. Yet, it became a bit too similar in all the comparisons to the plot of the first.

I enjoyed Nev a lot more within her own story as she showed a lot of courage, intelligent choices, and found her own love story. I do wish the romance aspect was developed a bit more as it kept being referenced to feelings that she and Solmir (as another character) had been developing. Unfortunately, I was more focused on Red and Eamon and did not pay much attention to them. Solmir is probably my favorite character of the two novels. I really enjoyed his development through both books as the morally grey, yet lovable, character stuck between what he thinks is right and what he desires. He and Nev's back and forth during their adventure and challenges/battles they face were fun to follow. I would love more stories of them off on adventures!

As with For the Wolf, I really struggled with the plot pacing and found myself putting down the novel several times for a break. In addition, perhaps part of this, was some of the unnecessary side quests and characters, such as Raffe. I like Raffe, I do. But, I could not see his purpose, or that of Kaylu (right name?) unless another novel will be about them?

What a wild and heartbreaking ride this duology was. For the Wolf was one of my favorite reads of 2021 and let me tell you: it was a STRUGGLE to wait for the release of For the Throne. Now the duology is complete and all of you can experience all the heartbreak and sacrifice and love without needing to wait. This is a tough review for me to write because as much as I loved the romance and atmosphere, I struggled with parts of the worldbuilding.

"Power is pain, Shadow Queen, and monsters in the eye of the beholder."

For the Throne is Neve's story and picks up right where For the Worlf left off, so you may want to re-read the first book before diving back into the world. Hannah Whitten's writing is just as atmospheric and evocative, transporting me to the nightmarish realm of the Shadowlands.

"A Terrible, twisted grove, blood on white branches, darkness dripping."

The Shadowlands is a place of nightmares, an upside-down devoid of color where no one can truly die. The Five Kings aren't the only danger: there are monsters great and small, as well as the Old Gods. This is a darker tale where Neve not only battles the darkness of the Shadowlands in a reluctant alliance but also with her morally gray tendencies. What defines a monster, and is she one herself?

"Heroes and villains and the spaces between, a prism that changed reflections depending on the angle you turned it."

I wasn't sure how I'd like a Neve-centric book because I didn't resonate with her as much as Red, but I found myself drawn to her chapters and darkness. The pacing was a bit uneven for me and I found Red's chapters largely uninteresting and a bit repetitive, bogging down the plot overall. Barring the trip to the Rylt and a couple of other scenes, the Red & Co. chapters didn't do much to move the plot forward or increase the reader's understanding of events. I love Red and Eammon and would happily read a book of them just being Domestic Together, but not like this. I'd rather the pages went to expanding on the worldbuilding (fact versus fiction and the truth of the Five Kings) than just chronicling everything on the other side.

"I acted like I cared because I fucking did. [...] You're easy to care for, unfortunately."

The romance somehow both played more and less of a role in this book. I am a sucker for rivals turned allies who catch feelings and gleefully sent screaming gifs to Amanda. The limits of what we are willing to sacrifice and how that line shifts is a joy for me to read, and Hannah Whitten did this well. I just wish that more had been done to provide Solmir's true backstory and his obviously fraught relationship with the other four kings. There are countless references to his villainy but also to his weakness, but more could have been done to bridge the gap between what we thought we knew in For the Wolf and who he turns out to be. I feel a little cheated from character growth?

"They all knew that love made monstrous things necessary sometimes. They all knew their own capacity to burn worlds down."

At its heart, the Wilderwood Duology is a story about sisters and the lengths they will go to save each other. Their matched love instead of a romantic interest touched my heart in ways I couldn't express. While I didn't quite love For the Throne as much as the first book, I truly love this duology and wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of atmospheric adult fantasy where romance plays a prominent role.

eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for my honest review. This has not affected my opinion or the contents of my review. Quotations are from an unfinished copy and are subject to change upon final publication. I have since purchased a finished copy.