A review by folkofthebook
The Prisoner's Throne by Holly Black

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Oak knew what wanting the throne did to people. He would never be like that.

it's actually incredibly unfair that elfhame isn't real, and holly must be a love talker bc she made me not only love a guy w a tail, but a guy with HOOVES too !!!!!!

the way i DEVOURED this. getting oak's perspective was a delightful switch up, i actually adore him even more thanks to this book. jurdan appearances are fun and exciting, and i enjoy madoc SO MUCH as a character. dad and daddy lol. i feel like this did an excellent job of confronting the complexity of their family.

i wish i had reread the stolen heir before this to refresh my memory on some things, bc i wasn't sure how much we as the readers were supposed to have known throughout this. regardless, i enjoyed the mystery and the pining on oak's behalf.

i will always love being in elfhame. i might be a little idealistic in thinking we may be getting more elfhame stories in the future, but a girl can dream.

spoiler for a side character's fate [if i had a nickel for every time a character got turned into a tree... well i'd only have two nickels but crazy that it happened twice lololol (hide spoiler)]

“So advise me—I wish to be obeyed, even if I cannot be loved.”

Wren saw things that were far more terrifying and cruel than anything he witnessed. And perhaps somewhere inside her, she is coming to learn that she can be all the things that once scared her.

“We do not love because people deserve it—nor would I want to be loved because I was the most deserving of some list of candidates. I want to be loved for my worst self as well as my best. I want to be forgiven my flaws.”
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