My twin sister is the true queen of Aryd. She survives, hiding and clinging to life in the desert, while I reign as the false queen alongside the monstrous King Eidolon. There’s only one escape from this gilded prison: Reven. My Shadowraith. My heart. Only the shadows that he struggles to control are growing more sinister, more powerful.
It’s just a matter of time before they turn on him…and on me.
Even escape doesn't mean true freedom, though, when we're still on the run from Eidolon’s unstoppable armies. And when we discover there’s a traitor among us, I have no choice…I must become the queen I was never meant to be.
Because as one evil hunts me, the other loves me more than himself.
And my fate lies with both.
It’s just a matter of time before they turn on him…and on me.
Even escape doesn't mean true freedom, though, when we're still on the run from Eidolon’s unstoppable armies. And when we discover there’s a traitor among us, I have no choice…I must become the queen I was never meant to be.
Because as one evil hunts me, the other loves me more than himself.
And my fate lies with both.
Abigail Owen turns up the heat in this darker, emotionally intense sequel. The Stolen Throne picks up right where The Liar’s Crown left off, with Meren caught between who she was raised to be and who she needs to become. The stakes are higher, the danger sharper, and the emotional force between the main characters even more devastating. I'm always concerned that I won't remember enough to pick up additional books in a series to follow along, but Owen does a fantastic job of catching you up.
Meren's personality continues to shine. Her struggle with identity, especially as someone who was born to be a placeholder for her twin sister, feels real and unpretentious. She's done hiding. She's making impossible choices, stepping into danger, and claiming a destiny that no one ever showed her. Her entire life has been about pretending to be someone else, so watching her come into her own is super satisfying. And Reven, our brooding shadow wraith? He remains a doozy, so full of angsty feelings. He’s torn by loyalty, by love, by the past, and that quiet control of his starts to unravel. Their chemistry is just as electric as it was in book one, maybe even desperately so now that secrets are unraveling and the stakes are climbing higher and higher.
There's an urgency to book two that wasn't there for The Liar's Crown. The pacing is tight, with plenty of action and suspense, but what really stands out is how Owen balances that with quieter, softer moments. There are moments of vulnerability that hit just as hard as the big twists. With a lot of moving pieces to keep track of in this story, as well as more twists and higher stakes, it's nice that Owen finds the time to let things pause before the next hit comes.
The Stolen Throne leaves everything behind, carrying us towards book three, The Shadows Rule All. This YA fantasy takes no prisoners. Do I want a happy ending eventually? Sure. But only after they’ve been torn apart, emotionally flayed, and stitched back together by choosing each other, through the wreckage.