For The Throne

Book Title: For the Throne

Author: Hannah Whitten

Series: For the Wolf #1

Date Started: January 22nd 2023

Date Completed: January 28th 2023

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

I had a lot of fun with For The Wolf, finding the creative inspiration of various fairy tales really satisfying while appreciating how it gave itself plenty of creativity to create its own story. It's at times a little cliche and angsty, but For The Throne was still an enjoyable read to close off the tale.

You can get away with a lot if you have good characters, and the Wilderwood duology is a good example of that. The ensemble wanes from falling into tropes, and while it's apparent effort is made to make them their own thing, it often does slip in favour of the angsty moments. But in those moments that might have me rolling my eyes in other circumstances, I'm happy to let go when there's a connection between characters. I have a lot of love for Neve in particular so was happy to see she got to take centre stage this time around. What I really wish was that there was a bit more adventuring in the series as a whole, to spend more time building these characters and relationships up to make them really move me, over just being cute. (The romantic ones not so much, but the platonic friendships that are so deeply routed in this story, but often aren't given the limelight.)

For The Throne was particularly cool in the worldbuilding department. Last time we had the Wilderwood, but now we get to explore the underworld, which is both creepy and spectacular. In the first book I was fascinated by the religion, customs and tradition and how it moved the characters and their stories (Neve was so intrinsic to this theme and was what made her really stand out to me). This is lost a bit in the sequel, but the imaginative landscapes are still a strength, and so much of the events of the book first map out the arcs that are finalised here.

Overall, these books have been very enjoyable, if a little more predictable having seen where the first one went. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun with For The Throne, and am eager to see what Whitten has brewing up next (and I'd be more than happy to visit this world again, as its cast are so well set up for a spin off).