For the Throne by. Hannah F. Whitten | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: For the Throne (Wilderwood, #2)

Author: Hannah F. Whitten

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 496

Publication Date: 6/9/22

Publisher: Orbit

Categories: New Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Twins

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.

Content Warning: violence, self harm, rats and roaches

I finished this duology in one week, yay, so was it better than the first book? Let’s so what did and didn’t work for me:

+ The story is still told through different perspectives: Neve in the Shadowlands with Solmir trying to take care of the Kings, Red and company trying to figure out how to get Neve out of the Shadowlands and Raffe who brings in a new character to their crew, Kayu. Once again, where I was more invested in Red’s story in For the Wolf, I was now more interested in Neve’s in this volume.

+ We learn more about the Kings and what happened in the past. We get to try and decide if Solmir is trustworthy or not.

+ Neve is a strong character and she’s battling with some internal struggles. She’s trying to uncover who she really is – is she good? Or has her actions trying to save Red show that she’s bad? Is it so black and white? Will she embraced all parts of herself, good and bad? Neve held her own in the Shadowlands, she thrived alongside Solmir and killing beasts and taking their god powers. I liked Solmir – he knew he was an a-hole and didn’t try to hide it, basically Neve and Solmir got to know each other on a very real level – flaws and everything. They are morally gray characters.

+ I think the story tied up all the loose ends in the story. I liked more of the action in Neve’s story. I loved that there was a concentration on the love between the two sisters moreso in this book than the first one.

~ I feel like the different perspectives didn’t make this story flow. It started off good and then it fizzled out, then ended with a bang. The pacing was just off for me this whole duology, it moves to slow. This one had more action but only when it was Neve telling the story. She and Solmir get into some thrilling situations, some gross (killer rats and roaches anyone? ugh). I was more interested in Neve’s story but we get a new character Kayu who is helping Red and friends try and figure out who to contact or help Neve. Also the new character being a love interested for Raffe I’m torn about. I’m glad Raffe has someone new to fall for but I felt like it was rushed.

~ If book one was Beauty and the Beast, then I think the author tried to make this like Snow White. The story mentions apples and mirrors. But that’s all I got in reference to Snow White, which isn’t much.

~ We don’t get much more of Fife and Lyra except for the facet Fife is mad he’s still bound to Eammon (but he made that choice) and is is acknowledged that Fife and Lyra bring in an ACE relationship.

~ This happened to me in book one as well and again in this book where I had to pause and reread a sentence to make sure it made sense to me lol. There were times I was like oh, that’s deep and times I cringed and that was my experience with the whole series!

Tropes: monster boyfriend, morally gray characters, atmospheric setting, quest, villain redemption arc, good twin/bad twin, enemies to lovers, slow burn

Why you should read it:

you loved For the Wolf, or didn’t love it but curious enough to read about Neve and her character arc
it’s a romantasy (romance fantasy)
I feel like the sister relationship has more of a spotlight here and asks some interesting questions like what will you do for family or someone you love? Let the world burn to the ground to save her or not?

Why you might not want to read it:

Everyone in this book starts pairing up, not sure if Raffe’s pairing was needed but I thought Kayu was an interesting character. It made their relationship rushed though.
pacing issues like first book

My Thoughts:

So I’m done with both books and I can say I did love Red and Eammon together in book one but Neve and Solmir are more my speed. They faced crazy dangers in the shadowlands – psycho kings, scary godlike creatures, and beasts like rats and roaches (UGH yuck), and they had to kill to absorb power. Neve showed her mettle though and I liked seeing how she dealt with her internal struggle about goodness and evil. The sister love came through in this one and it was interesting to see how the roles were reversed. Neve wanted to save Red in book one and now Red was trying to save Neve and honestly…they both learned they could save themselves. They had to learn that lesson the hard way though. Overall, it was a series that took time to read because there were pacing issues and the books seemed too long. I was entertained enough to finish it through though.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Quotes From the Book:

“May the next world be kinder, Beloved,”
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Throne

“The two of you have overturned worlds for each other, Neverah. It’s hard to get more matched than that.”
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Throne

Saving someone else was a wall you couldn’t scale unless they threw you a rope.
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Throne

For the Wolf by. Hannah F. Whitten | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: For the Wolf (Wilderwood, #1)

Author: Hannah F. Whitten

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 481

Publication Date: 6/1/21

Publisher: Orbit

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Beauty and the Beast Re-telling, Twins

The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.

Content Warning: self-harm

I got this book and the sequel on my online library so I read it right away before my borrowing period ended. I’ve seen good and bad reviews for this book, so let’s so what did and didn’t work for me:

+ This is story is a romantasy and those were the parts that I loved in the book. Redarys (Red) is the second the daughter, and if the first daughter is for the throne then the second daughter is for the Wolf. She gets sent as the sacrificial second daughter to the Wolf in the Wilderwood. No one knows much about him except from legend and lore being told from generation to generation. When Red meets Eammon, the wolf, she learns that his power is feeding the Wilderwood but he needs help and this is where she comes in to the picture.

+ I did like the world building and story about five Kings, magic, and the Wilderwood. I think I had a good grasp of the world this is set it. I think we got a pretty good idea of

+ This being a romantasy means I was invested in Red and Eammon falling for one another. It has very Beauty and the Beast vibes except I was thinking it was gonna be Red Riding Hood vibes because of the cover? And Eammon is called the Wolf? So yeah…maybe a blending of the two stories? So yes, I did love their moments together – they have physical chemistry…as for the emotional chemistry? I think Eammon is just the type who doesn’t talk about his feelings much. I do feel at times this could be more New Adult than Young Adult (I’m reading book 2 right now and it is definitely NA).

~ This story is actually told between two perspectives and I was more into Red’s story because it starts with her. But her twin Neve is on the other side of the Wilderwood, she misses Red, she wants to rescue Red without knowing Red doesn’t want to be rescued. Neve does some things that has dire consequences to the Wilderwood, Red and Eammon and I believe book two is her story. I wasn’t as invested in Neve because of the romance taking place with Red and Eammon.

~ The pacing was off, I was into the story and then there was a lull because Red doesn’t know how to use her power, doesn’t understand it and no one is explaining it to her (looking at you, Eammon). Eammon eventually trains her to use her power but he won’t let her help him take care of the Wildwood so he is self-harming himself like crazy because he doesn’t want help. I wanted to shake him a few times. Like what is Red’s purpose then if not to help him? The both of them were hopeless and stubborn at times 🤦🏻‍♀️ but at least they had good kissing scenes!

~ There are side characters like Fife and Lyra but I didn’t feel like they contributed much to the story. It would be nice to get to know them a bit more. I do have to mention that Lyra is a ACE rep, at least from how Fife described her. Like I said, would be nice to get to know them more.

~ I said I think I got a good grasp of the world-building but I can also say I couldn’t really pin it down. It felt like a blur sometimes even though she went into detail describing it…does that make sense? 😅

Tropes: single bed, marriage/sacrifice, forced proximity, sentient forest, fairytale mash-up, monster boyfriend, girl with magic who doesn’t know how to use it, brooding male, slow-burn

Why you should read it:

Beauty and the Beast, Red Riding Hood vibes – seems like a bunch of fairy tales actually because the ending hints at Sleeping Beauty also
it’s a romantasy (romance fantasy)
twin sisters who care about one another a lot – but needing to learn how to let go of one another and be on their separate paths

Why you might not want to read it:

I should call it a romangstasy lol…because yes Red and Eammon = angsty – I was getting irritated when she wanted to help and he said no or when he asked her to use her power instead of blood and she said no. Like…come on….😂.
a slower read at some parts – mostly because of the repetition

My Thoughts:

I feel like I’m still processing this one but also I already started book two since it’s fresh in my head and this is definitely not a Young Adult series…I’m saying it’s New Adult because Red and Eammon have some sexy times right away. For the Wolf, was entertaining enough for me to stick it through. I do like fairytale mash-ups when they make sense. I was expecting Red Riding Hood but got more Beauty and the Beast instead. Red and Eammon have that angsty, non-communicative relationship which can be so frustrating but I liked when they stopped talking and kissed instead. So I have mixed feelings about this one to say the least. I also was more into Red’s story than Neve but now that I’m reading book two…Neve’s story seems already better than Red’s, maybe because Solmir is more talkative. So we shall see how everything turns out for both sisters.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Quotes From the Book:

People with power resent losing it, and too much power for too long a time can make a villain of anyone.”
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Wolf

People created stories to fill the gaps they didn’t understand, and religion grew up around it like rot on a fallen tree.”
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Wolf

“She could count the number of people who loved her on one hand, and they all kept begging for the only thing she couldn’t give them.”
― Hannah F. Whitten, For the Wolf

Top Ten Tuesday: Childhood Favorites

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl – definitely check out her awesome website to see more info. This week’s topic is…Childhood Favorites! Not gonna lie – this one is challenging for me.

I did not grow up in a reading household. My parents immigrated from the Philippines to the USA. Growing up as farmers, they didn’t have the luxury of leisure reading in their motherland. They worked hard as children and as adults had to work hard in Hawaii to give me and my sister a better life. So my joy of reading came first from my elementary school librarian. I loved her! She was this petite Japanese-American woman, named Mrs. Aoki, with a high pitched, sweet, soft voice. Story time at the library was always my favorite part of the day!

Madeline – I loved when our school librarian read Madeline books to us in the afternoons before school ended. I wanted to be Madeline in Paris with her uniform and chic hat.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses – I’m not even sure what version our school librarian read to us – all I remember is the story. I love how these sisters snuck out at night (element of danger) and danced the night away. I would wonder where they went and my imagination would take flight. I thought it was amazing to be able to dance all night that their shoes would get ruin. 😂

Cinderella – once again, this isn’t the exact book I read as a child, but I did read the Disney version of Cinderella and fell in love. I loved the animals more than anything. Her gown was pretty and it was nice she got a Prince in the end, but I loved the magical aspect of the book.

Tikki Tikki Tembo – I still remember my first grade teacher reading us this story. It was after a field trip and it was hot as heck, but there were like 15 minutes to the bell ringing to end the school day. She read this book, as we tried to cool off, sitting outside of the classroom praying for a breeze and I got lost in this story. I’ve now read it to my own son and we love saying Tikki Tikki Tembo’s name. 😂

Green Eggs and Ham – This book was my favorite by Dr. Seuss when I was a child because green eggs and ham do not sound appealing. But it’s so funny how Sam-I-Am insists it’s amazing throughout the whole book. I still enjoy this book and my kids love it too now.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales – because I was going to say Rumplestiltskin is a favorite of mine BUT…since I love a lot of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, why not list them as one? Rapunzel, even Cinderella was writing by them, and so many other fairy tales that are now re-imagined today in YA books.

Since I mentioned Brothers Grimm, then I have to add Hans Christian Andersen in here as well! My favorites from him are The Little Mermaid, The Little Match Girl and Thumbelina to name a few.

East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon – I remember we saw a play of this story for a field trip in the 5th or 6th grade and I was entranced by the story. Just the title itself sounded magical! Definitely a love of mine and I’m thinking I needed to buy myself a copy and re-read it.

Sweet Ferdinand! The Story of Ferdinand is short and sweet with a lovely message about a bull who wanted no part in the violent world of bull-fighting. How can you not love a bull who loves flowers? He is the sweetest! It’s a story that always made me feel happy at the end.

Last, but not least, the very awesome, The Giving Tree. It’s a beautiful, sweet simple story with a message that relates to children and adults alike. I could read this one over and over again.

There you have it! Ten amazing collections and stories that shaped my love of reading as a child. Today, some of these books are shaping my own children’s love of books and reading.

Did you enjoy any of these as a child as well? Let me know in the comments below. Happy Reading!