The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black
Publication Date: March 5, 2024
Summary from Goodreads:
An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame.
Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.
With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.
Confession:
I did enjoy this second book in this series, although I did have a few issues with it. I really enjoyed Oak and his take on his life, and his thoughts and emotions about Wren. But without Wren’s point of view being presented, we lost that connection to her, which was a bummer. But the writing was just as beautiful as always and the intricacies of the plot were wonderfully twisty!
I just adore Oak! It was so much fun spending time inside his head finally. It was also wonderful to see how his feelings for Wren and his family have him so mixed up inside. Also the fact that he can control people with his voice has him doubting all of his past relationships, which just made my heart break for him. I also enjoyed seeing him interact with his family, I loved how he knew just what they might be thinking and how to manipulate that to his advantage. I really hope that we get to see more of Oak in the future.
Wren unfortunately felt like a secondary character in this book. We didn’t see much of her, except for a few interactions with Oak, many of which were heartbreaking. I really wanted to know what was going on inside her head, especially at the start of the book when she was acting so cruel to Oak. The plot that was going on around her was fascinating and I wanted to see more of that from her view point, but alas we were not given it. I also felt a little lost on the romance between these two, because they spent so little time together the connection they had was a little thin at times.
My favorite secondary characters had to be Tiernan and Hyacinthe. I just adored these two when they were together. They certainly deserve to be happy together and I think they just might achieve that. I also enjoyed seeing Jude and Cardan and many of the other characters from the original series. It is always nice to visit with old friends and see how their lives have changed since the ending of a favorite series.
The political shenanigans and all of the betrayals that happened in this book were marvelously well done. There were so many twists and turns in this plot that it will almost make you dizzy, with one final twist that I didn’t see coming. The writing of course was gorgeous, but the pacing seemed off at times. That was ok for the most part, although the ending did feel a bit rushed because of it.
If you enjoyed the original series, I think you will enjoy this duology as well. If you have not read any of these books, you really need to start at the beginning with The Cruel Prince. And please check out my review for the first book in this duology, The Stolen Heir, which is told from Wren’s point of view. Even with its few issues this was a solid ending to this duology.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
I didn’t like Wren in this book so switched my alliance to Oak!!!
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She was kind of hard to like when we saw so little of her!😂
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