The Prisoner’s Throne is a young adult romantasy book and the second installment in the Stolen Heir duology. It’s highly recommended to read book 1 beforehand to become familiar with the characters and fully understand the plot backstory. The story has a slow-burn start following Oak’s imprisonment in Wren’s (Queen Of Night) citadel. When he manages to escape his prison cell, he confronts Wren and professes his feelings for her, only to be thrown back into imprisonment. Once Oak and Wren are escorted back to Elfhame, the pace increases and the story gets much more interesting with various political ploys at play. The evolving relationship between Oak and Wren features popular romance tropes, including enemies to lovers, slow-burn romance, and grumpy vs. sunshine. Black’s writing is uncluttered and easy to follow and includes an abundance of vivid descriptive text in establishing the landmarks, characters, and landscapes of the book.

In comparison to The Stolen Heir, this book has a larger cast of characters, especially in the second half. Fans of Black’s The Folk of the Air series will be excited to see the return of some popular characters, including Jude and Cardan, who play a key role in the second half of this story. Oak’s relationship with his family members is further developed in this book as he has meaningful conversations with them, particularly regarding his disinterest in being heir to the throne and his misunderstood love for Wren. Oak and Wren are such contrasting characters, and readers may have a difficult time believing their romance, especially with Wren’s dismissive attitude for much of the story. In fact, readers may find Wren quite unlikeable, despite her difficult backstory, as she is easy to betray Oak for her own interests and doesn’t return the affection he shows her. The book also includes some LGBT+ representation with the romance between Tiernan and Hyacinthe. In contrast to the implausible and uneventful romance between Oak and Wren, their romance is believable and heated, and there’s potential to further explore their relationship in a future book!

Whereas The Stolen Heir was told from Wren’s perspective, this book is told from Oak’s perspective and provides readers a fascinating insight into his observant character, impulsive decision-making, and comical inner monologues. Readers will likely find Oak more likeable in this book, despite his poor decision-making and constant irritating attempts to win over dismissive Wren. In book 1, Oak was presented as someone who was helpless and innocent, but as stakes are higher for him, he becomes more treacherous and multi-dimensional. The flashbacks of Oak’s childhood present some heartwarming moments and make it easier to empathize with his character. Oak’s magic is mentioned on only a few occasions but is not explained enough for readers to fully grasp its origin or full potential—this is definitely something that should be better established in a future Elfhame novel.

In summary, The Prisoner’s Throne is another captivating tale of the characters and politics of Elfhame, infused with romance, family drama, and magic. Although the story has a slow start, it makes up for it with an action-packed, twisty series of events in the second half and culminates with a harrowing climax and pleasing ending. Narrator Barrett Leddy does a fantastic job narrating with a clear, commanding tone and uses distinct character voices and dramatic vocal effects to enhance the listening experience. If you’ve read Black’s previous books or are looking for a short romantic series with some impressive writing, interesting characters, and royal family drama, look no further than The Stolen Heir series. You’ll very likely be so intrigued by the world-building that you’ll want to go back and read previous Elfhame books!