This is this year's most exciting crossover title. A Friend. A Father. A Kingdom. Which one would you sacrifice? This compelling trilogy of court intrigue, adventure and romance is a winning combination of imagination, powerful storytelling and magnificent characters. Fifteen-year-old Wynter Moorehawke returns home after a five-year sojourn in the bleak Northlands. All has changed in her absence. Wynter is forced to make a terrible choice: stay and bow to the King's will, or abandon her ailing father and join her friend Razi and the mysterious Christopher Garron in their efforts to restore the fragile kingdom to its former stability. But this changed kingdom is a dangerous place, where all resistance is brutally suppressed and the trio constantly risk assassination, torture or imprisonment. Atmospheric and intriguing, it evokes an enchanting and convincing other world - love, treachery, jealousy, tenderness, war, wisdom and court life are all vividly depicted. Set in a fantastical medieval Europe, "The Poison Throne" is a gothic tale of intrigue, adventure and romance which draws the reader in from the very first sentence and doesn't loosen its grip until the last.
My thoughts:
When I first started this book, I wasn't sure about it...the reader is thrust right into this fantasy world with little explanation. It felt a bit strange to me to have no introductory world-building to make me more comfortable in this reading space. However, as the story progresses your immersion begins to feel more complete and before you know it, you are completely engrossed!
Loooove Wynter! Yay for another non-whiny strong female protagonist! Razi and Christopher are wonderful characters as well and I anxiously flipped pages to see how these friends fare. In fact, as soon as I finished the book, I immediately went to the library and picked up the sequel The Crowded Shadows.
If you are a fantasy-lover, enjoy strong characters and like tales of intrigue you'll love this book! Highly recommended.
4/5 stars
I've never heard of this before, but I like the descriptions you gave:
ReplyDeletefantasy, strong female protagonist, strong characters...
Mostly, it says a lot that you went immediately to the library to get the sequel. I wonder if my library has these books. I can't get to them right now, but I trust your recs. :)
~Asheley
I love that your reviews are very down-to-earth and accessible to anyone. I'm hoping I'm pulling that off on my own, but I fear journalism format is sneaking into my reviews haha. Fantasy your genre of choice it seems?
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