2.63k reviews for:

Throne in the Dark

A.K. Caggiano

4.09 AVERAGE

brittrichardsofficial's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The whole premise was one I haven’t really come across before and book one is just the tip of the iceberg. Ama was relatable FMC who apologizes way too much, as a lot of us women do, and stands firm on what she believes in. Damien’s character was really interesting and I loved his internal battles with feelings he wasn’t supposed to have. I also really enjoyed how he and his father communicated, his father calling him kiddo! Can’t wait to read book two!

ola90210's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

emfill's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kathrynjean97's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Easily my favourite fantasy read this year! I swear to Sestoth, I've never had this much fun with a book.

VIBES

💜 Fantasy romcom

💜 Whimsical + tongue-in-cheek, a la…

💜 Disney Renaissance

💜 Slow burn, high UST

💜 Grumpy × sunshine

💜 Neutral evil × lawful good

💜 Adventure/quest plot
💜 Lots of lore + worldbuilding

💜 Side character heavy

💬 Dual POV

💬 Third-person, past tense

THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)

Okay but hear me out, if you love Hercules and The Emperor’s New Groove, you’re gonna love this. The humour and plot are so Disney Renaissance/Post Renaissance coded—there’s so much banter and whimsy and PG-13 chemistry. And I’d 100% recommend the audiobook, as the narrators really brought the Disney vibes to life!

The writing and worldbuilding are top tier. There’s a lot to absorb, especially in the first few chapters, but information is presented in such a fun way that it never felt too wordy or expo heavy. I really love this interpretation of gods, demons, infernal creatures, planes of existence, and magic. + Liathau trees are cool as fuck.

Existence was broken into six planes, everyone knew, even Amma who paid little attention in theology. Planes were actually not arranged in any kind of order, they all existed at the same time in all of space, on top of, inside, and around one another, but if they were stacked up, as so often they were depicted in art, Empyrea would be at the top.

The main characters are so much fun. Damien—a half-demon, half-human, all-evil™ blood mage— is a true ‘grumpy’ MMC who gets his heart slowly thawed by Amma, the all-human, all-good™, true ‘sunshine’ FMC. I really love them both. And there’s some great character development, too!

The relationship is delicious. It’s ‘slow burn’ in the sense that they refuse to admit to their mutual attraction and fucking nothing happens, BUT this is packed with longing glances and lingering touches and inappropriate thoughts and sneaky sexual remarks that literally had me blushing. Seriously. There’s a ‘yes ma’am’ here, there’s a ‘good girl,’ there’s an—

“Apologies if I was too rough for your liking.” She shook her head, still averting her gaze as he tried to find it with his own. “I see. Tighter next time, then,” he whispered.

The side characters are so whimsical and endearing. Obviously, the imp sidekick Kaz is the most prominent. I love him! He’s a little bit dumb, he worships Damien, and he hates Amma until she buys him a lil sweater, lol. He gives me major Pain (from Hercules) vibes! But there are so many minor characters to enjoy (Zagadoth the Tempestuous, the cult, Anomalous and Mudryth, Xander, Lora’iel and the elves, Laurel and Perry and Tia, and probably more I’m forgetting). And on that…

The pacing and plot honestly feel like a D&D campaign. The action and intrigue never let up. Every chapter feels like a distinct leg of their journey. Every leg of the journey involves a different group of whimsical characters. It really does feel like a quest!

The ending was satisfying! It’s easy to just cut off a story somewhere arbitrary when you’ve got a trilogy planned, but this ended at a natural turning point for both the plot and the relationship.

The audiobook was incredibly immersive. The two narrators did such an incredible job bringing this book to life. It’s not a duet, but I actually really enjoyed the way they voiced each other’s characters. The side characters feel really distinct from each other AND their voices are consistent across both narrator’s chapters. So good. I will say, though, I’d recommend reading along so you can really soak up the worldbuilding!

So, yeah. This is the best. I will not be taking questions at this time.

0.5 🌶️

→ no spice

→ half a pepper for the UST

5.0 🎙️

→ two narrators

→ dual (not a duet) (didn’t need to be)

FAVOURITE QUOTES (a non-exhaustive list)

He offered her a room for half off with a shifty smile, but from what Amma understood, goblins sometimes ate humans. Half off sure sounded good unless it was one’s limbs.

_____

Blame not one’s failings on cruelty when ignorance is the much more likely cause, or, more simply, most of the time people weren’t mean, they were just dumb.

_____

CHAPTER 6

THE ROAD TO THE ABYSS ISN’T PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS OR REALLY ANYTHING, PAVEMENT HASN’T BEEN INVENTED YET

_____

“Now, tell me, which do you like better for the man we’re making?” […]

In each hand, Mudryth was holding up the severed heads of what looked like swamp eels. Amma squinted, then gasped when she realized they weren’t eels at all. “Well, if I were him, I guess I’d appreciate that one a little longer—I mean, more.”

_____

“‘Sorry?’ […] If I did not think it would render you mute, I would use the talisman to strike that word from your vocabulary.”

_____

“This woman is mine. Do not even think of touching her again.”

_____

“Branson seemed really interested in showing me how those barrels get filled.”

He glared across the tavern at the man. “The only thing that barkeep is interested in filling, is you with Branson-son.”

She gasped, too playfully now to be convincing. “No! That can’t be what he meant. It’s got nothing to do with chickens.”

“Chickens?”

“He said if I went back there with him, he’d show me his massive co—"

_____

“If you would like [your] death to be swift and painless, I would suggest not insulting me with words like thoughtful and hero.”

_____

It felt… darkness, he supposed it felt wrong, but by whose moral standards he absolutely refused to ponder.

_____

[…] and why in the Abyss, at a time like this, was he even thinking with his—

“Master?”

_____

CHAPTER 31

THE FUTILITY IN FINDING HUMOR IN EVERY CHAPTER OF A ROMANTIC COMEDY

_____

His blond hair swooped a bit too much in front, his satiny tunic glinted a bit too much in the candlelight of the room, and his shit-eating grin wrapped a bit too far around his stupid fucking head.

_____

“Careful talking like that, or I’ll think you really are mine for the taking.”

_____

Content Warnings

lady_mnemosyne's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

madelene_'s review against another edition

4.5

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

4.5/5
This feels like being in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in the best way! Once I picked up on that, listening to it the audiobook with that in mind made for a very fun reading experience. It doesn't take itself over-seriously and you can tell the voice actors are having a lot of fun doing all the character voices (the NPCs if you will). There's some genuinely funny moments and the storyline kept me engaged. The world is very familiar to this who engage in fantasy content, which makes it almost a comfort read. I like being in this world and I'm really looking forward to the next book!