The Prisoner's Throne

By: Holly Black

Narrated by: Barrett Leddy

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame.

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.

With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the stunning blood-soaked conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology.

©2024 Holly Black (P)2024 Little, Brown Young Readers

A good ending to the series

I didn’t like how the narrator went about it, it made it seem almost childlike. I might have loved it more if I read instead of listening. Overall the book was good, and a nice ending to the series

I never wanted it to end

I was upset at first that they had a different narrator from The Stolen Heir bc I love Saskia so much, but this narrator blew me away with his talent and range! The story and writing was as lovely as the first book in this series and I hope there is still more

Another great story

The story was very well written and very creative. I love all of Hollly Black's books! It was a bit odd at first to switch from a female narrator in the first book to a male in the second, but they were both great. I would have liked it more if they were both used in the story. I'm not sure why that doesn't happen more often.

loved!

I have loved the entire series. I like paranormal fantasy....usually with smut. This series was great without it and I was able to listen with my kid in my car. The characters, descriptions, world building, and narration is top notch!

Great Book, Bad Narrator

I loved this book, but the voice over was so distracting. It sounded like it was being read by an AI instead of a real person. I would have stopped listening if I didn’t like the story so much.

I can’t finish listening, bad narrator

I can’t finish listening to this book. I love the story and all of Holly’s books within the world but can not get past the mispronunciations and just overall drastic change from magical and fitting narrations in the past books to one that is simply ordinary and unbecoming of the Cruel Prince world. Holly, your books are amazing. I will be buying this one and reading it rather than finishing listening to the bad narration.

This voice actor is FUNNY

I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. It was MWAH. The story had me gripped. So so so good.

Give the sequel a chance!!!

I know most of us are attached to Jude and Cardan’s story. But this book has an amazing plot that leaves you wanting more. Wren is such a great character and her backstory broke me. Oak is not as similar as Cardan, he is a mix of all the people he grew up with plus trauma.
All I can say is: I NEED MORE OAK X WREN 😫

Loved It!! Cannot get enough Elfhame!!

Thank you Holly Black for giving us more Elfhame stories! More please!!! It was so amazing visiting this world again but with lots of new places, people, creatures. It was like going back home visiting and catching up with old friends! I only wish the same narrator had been used as in the Cruel Prince series but this was not a deal breaker for me. Narrators for both books were very good.

Best for fans of the Folk of the Air series

Enjoyed this overall. Oak’s struggle with how to differentiate between obsession, seduction and the sincere expression of love was unique and even philosophical. However, at times I felt it got a bit bogged down trying to catch the reader up with the events of the Folk of the Air trilogy. The female main love interest Wren doesn’t show much agency in this book and doesn’t appear as often as I would have expected. In the end I feel like Tiernan and Hyacinth have a more compelling romance and I suspect it’s because they spend more time working together throughout. The narrator suited Oak and excelled at dialogue, but I wished the third person narration had the poetic/storybook tone to match the first in the duology. One nitpick: in the first book we are repeatedly told Wren has a distinctive wraspy voice because of her damaged vocal cords, but from what I recall that is depicted here neither in text, nor narration.