The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black
Reviewed by Kaelin Lee, age 18
Prince Oak is stuck in the prisons of the icy north, where he is paying for his betrayal of Queen Wren. He’ll have to rely on his charm and calculations to not only escape but prevent a brewing war between Wren, whom he still loves, and Elfhame, ruled by his family, who will stop at nothing to retrieve and protect their stolen heir.
The main aspect of this book that stuck out was how Wren rarely displayed any redeemable qualities. This was such a letdown after I loved Wren’s character in The Stolen Heir, the first book of this duology. She was portrayed as resilient and kind despite all the torture she had endured at the hands of Lord Jarel and Lady Nore. Disappointingly, Wren was cold and cruel throughout The Prisoner’s Throne, abusing her power to hurt others, most of all Oak, just as the aforementioned had harmed her. Wren betrayed Oak out of baseless revenge because Oak deceived her, despite Oak never actually betraying her intentionally. Irking me further, Oak, whose point of view this book was in, dismissed Wren’s wrongful actions of keeping him in her prison, controlling him through a bridle, and endangering his family, out of his insistence on his love for her. Not only did this make Oak seem foolish and left him humiliated time and time again when Wren rejected his love, but it also undermined my enjoyment of the book, due to my lack of care for the outcome of their romance. I wasn’t invested at all in the central conflict of Oak attempting to protect Wren from potential war with his beloved family when Wren never sought to protect Oak with that same vigor. There were still elements of the book that I appreciated, though. The author does an incredible job of building the fantastical setting of Elfhame, including compelling political conflict, and concluding with unexpected twists/betrayals. Additionally, there are delightful appearances from Jude and Cardan, whom I adore because I loved The Cruel Prince series, which Oak’s duology is a spin-off of. I would only recommend Oak’s books to superfans of the original The Cruel Prince books who can overlook the rocky romance between the two main characters.
2.5 out of 5 stars
Find this book in our catalog: The Prisoner’s Throne
Catalog number: YA SF BLACK,H
356 pages