Holly Black

The highly anticipated conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology by #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black.

The Stolen Heir Duology #2

The Prisoner's Throne

Aimee :)

"Have I ever told you how much you sound like Madoc when you talk about murder?" Cardan said, opening one eye. "Because you do."

Oak expected his sister to be angry, but she only laughed. "That must be what you like about me."

"That you're terrifying?" he asked, his drawl becoming exaggeratedly languorous, almost a purr. "I adore it."

"Crawl to me." Her eyes shine, fever bright.

alexys <3

“That youre terrifying?" he asked, his drawl becoming exaggeratedly languorous, almost a purr. "I adore it.

“What would you say if I told you I grew so bored that I hit myself in the face?”

“No one would believe that lie, could you even tell it.”

He smiles up at her. "She's accepted my ring. And so, I would be delighted to tell you that Wren and I are to be wed."

"The question is whether she will have me be her fool."

Parv

He is not fleeing conflict. He loves conflict.

“He isn’t dead,” Jude says matter-of-factly. “He’s a tree.”

He craves her smiles. The shine of her eyes when she is trying to hold back laughter. 

He puts a hand to his chest. "Have you no feelings to drown?"

“No," she says. Nothing I have would I ever want to give away.”

oh my GOD holly black you’ve done it again

“Being kind to me. I can’t bear it.”

"Then today, my lady, speak freely,” he tells her with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. "You can deny me tomorrow."

"I love you,” Oak says, because he needs to say it simply, so she can't find a way to see a lie in it. He's smiling because she came through the woods in a rush, looking for him. Because he feels ridiculously happy. "Come have a picnic with me."

it was supposed to be a cute line and i am howling 

“I would give her whatever she wanted of me.”

"So many secrets, wife," Cardan says mildly. 

The look Jude gives him in return could have peeled paint.

"Oak,' she says, not yelling anymore, which is when he realizes she's scared. He never wanted her to be scared of him.

“Your crown was secured with my daughter’s blood.”

“My crown was secured with a lot of people’s blood.” Jude turns to her archers.  

“He’ll have an impressive scar,” she returns, voice low. “I mean, not as impressive as several of mine, obviously.”

jude is the best sister and i love oak and oh my god

“You can’t just keep throwing yourself at things as though you don’t matter.”

“We are messes and we are messed up and I don’t want to go through this world without the one person I can’t hide from and who can’t hide from me.”

It has a lot of ‘how can you ever trust me’ and ‘i’m a monster’ (both sides!! Oak and Wren) and at some point I just lost interest in that. 

I still have to think about this story a bit longer to figure out why, but the plot also felt a bit all over the place, slow and vague? 

And I don’t really get why Oak and Wren love each other to be honest 🫣. 

I loved book 1 and Wren’s pov. But in this book, idk, her character felt a bit random or something? There was a lot of distance between Oak and Wren. And I don’t think it really fits Wren’s character to use the bridle on Oak.

Taryn

I guess I’m disappointed 

It has a lot of ‘how can you ever trust me’ and ‘i’m a monster’ (both sides!! Oak and Wren) and at some point I just lost interest in that. 

I still have to think about this story a bit longer to figure out why, but the plot also felt a bit all over the place, slow and vague? 

And I don’t really get why Oak and Wren love each other to be honest 🫣. 

I loved book 1 and Wren’s pov. But in this book, idk, her character felt a bit random or something? There was a lot of distance between Oak and Wren. And I don’t think it really fits Wren’s character to use the bridle on Oak.

it was just GOOD. writing is amazing, character arcs are great, plot twists just keep coming, and the ending was so sweet. can’t wait to read the next one!

Maddy T

it was boring and then the last 100 pages picked up. i fear this duology wasn’t necessary and we could’ve left it out of elfhame. 

ariana :)

switched from Wren's first person POV in The Stolen Heir to Oak's third person POV here... dnfed with around a hundred pages left, just lost all interest in how the journey ended

Taylor Grace

Does not quite compare to the original Cruel Prince trilogy but I enjoyed it nonetheless 

Emma

Juardn really saved the day for this one 

Stella 💫

Both school starting and a reading slump hit me like a freight train so this took forever to finish. Lowkey forget what happened in the first half of the book but still loved it. 

Oak and me are the same person except his delusions actually came true.

sophie <3

Both school starting and a reading slump hit me like a freight train so this took forever to finish. Lowkey forget what happened in the first half of the book but still loved it. 

Oak and me are the same person except his delusions actually came true.

Tbh i only read the book for jude. Like yeah wren oak whatever i like the dynamic of oak with his family I WANTED JUDE TO LITERALLY KILL EVERYONE LIKE WDYM CARDAN ALMOST GOT KILLED. WHILE I WAS READING THAT PART I CLOSED THE BOOK AND WALKED FOUR FIVE MINUTES IN MY ROOM CAUSE WTH. i serisouly wanted jude st the end ti just slice bogdanas throat and call it a day. Why imprisoning if murder is an option?

But yes i want more jude and cardan i did not care at all for wren in the second book.

Tbh i only read the book for jude. Like yeah wren oak whatever i like the dynamic of oak with his family I WANTED JUDE TO LITERALLY KILL EVERYONE LIKE WDYM CARDAN ALMOST GOT KILLED. WHILE I WAS READING THAT PART I CLOSED THE BOOK AND WALKED FOUR FIVE MINUTES IN MY ROOM CAUSE WTH. i serisouly wanted jude st the end ti just slice bogdanas throat and call it a day. Why imprisoning if murder is an option?

But yes i want more jude and cardan i did not care at all for wren in the second book.

This book was so good! I loved seeing the continuation of Wren and Oak’s story as well as seeing more of Cardan and Jude. The plot was super addicting and the last 100 pgs had me in a chokehold. The last few paragraphs of the book was great as well. I think it is a great close to Wren and Oak’s story. 

Hannah Williams

Looking forward to more books in this series. Not sure if there will be another based on the ending but I hope so. 

Leah Diaz 

sophie bastow

AHHHH it was so good 

 jurdan scenes >>>

I love Oak & Wren so much. This was not the strongest book in the series - it felt like the conflicts were resolved too easily and the first half dragged on while the second half felt rushed. BUT this is such a comfort series for me that none of that really bothered me too much, I’m just happy to be in the world with all my favorite characters. AND it was nice to get answers after that massive cliff hanger in the first book.

Some loose ends in this book too - I’m smelling another Elfhame duology?! 

Alli

I love Oak & Wren so much. This was not the strongest book in the series - it felt like the conflicts were resolved too easily and the first half dragged on while the second half felt rushed. BUT this is such a comfort series for me that none of that really bothered me too much, I’m just happy to be in the world with all my favorite characters. AND it was nice to get answers after that massive cliff hanger in the first book.

Some loose ends in this book too - I’m smelling another Elfhame duology?! 

Bethany

showstopping amazing no notes bow down to holly black she can do no wrong in my eyes

gracyn neely

Z♡ 

3★
the first 60% felt really long and dragged out but the rest of it was so fun and i really enjoyed seeing some of the characters from TFOTA make an appearance! it took more than half the book but i eventually got over my dislike of Wren, too

I absolutely adore Wren and Oak together. I really enjoyed their story. 

Veronika

This was SO GOOD!

I absolutely adore Wren and Oak together. I really enjoyed their story. 

Oak might just be one of my fav characters now,,,

 ☆RoRo☆

holly black you’ve done it again i absolutely cannot 

abi a

The highly anticipated conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology by #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black. (Exclusive Barnes & Noble Edition)

I did dread a lot of this book because i truly didn’t want anything to happen to Jude and Cardan, which made me scared to read it altogether. However i loved it, i loved the chemistry between the main characters and i adored being able to see old characters again and have snippets of them. The book was very short, which i was confused about but nevertheless i enjoyed it and nothing felt rushed. It was an easy and quick read, but not a 5 star because of how scared i was going into it unfortunately.

Emilia Vulliamy

The highly anticipated conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology by #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black. After the shocking events of The Stolen Heir, Prince Oak is in deeper trouble than ever before. As his situation grows more precarious, Oak is desperate to find a way out, before all of Elfhame is caught in the coming storm.

The Prisoner's Throne The Stolen Heir Duology #2