‘The Twisted Throne’ by Danielle L. Jensen

Title: The Twisted Throne

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

Series: 5 of 6 book series

Synopsis: Ahnna, the battle-scarred Ithicanian princess and commander, enters a perilous political marriage to secure aid for her suffering people, only to get tangled in a forbidden attraction to the wrong prince while navigating Harendell’s court scheming.

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Content Warnings

General Rating: Adult (18+ / TV-MA)

Spice Rating: Severe

Masturbation in chapter 30, open-door scene in chapter 41

Violence Rating: Severe

One particularly gruesome scene of self-harm and second-hand descriptions of murder, also action violence scenes

Profanity Rating: Severe

Frequent use of f*ck

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Book Review

Overall rating: 4.5/5 stars

What I Liked

I’ll say it again—Danielle Jensen knows how to write landscapes and geography! If Ithicana is like the Caribbean islands, then Harendell is like England and Cardiff is Wales or Scotland. The Harendellians are a polite, stoic, and proper people, but behind their masks lie cruelty and betrayal. The court schemings are second to none, and while there isn’t as much physical action as in the previous books, the subtle scheming kept me on my toes far more than well-choreographed action.

Ahnna is a stellar protagonist. Some might think she is too naive or too direct, but I loved her. I could deeply relate to her desire to protect her people at all costs and I felt the depth of her pain when she felt like a failure to all those who depended on her.

What I Didn’t Like

Ahnna and James’ relationship carried more of a spark than the previous novels’ main characters, but it’s still fairly superficial. Without spoiling, I’ll just say that the perceived betrayal at the end of the book would have been mitigated if they’d taken the time to get to know one another on a deeper level than the physical.

Major Themes

1. Trust and Betrayal: This is a common theme throughout this series. Not surprisingly, a breach of trust is the hardiest storm against young love, so Jensen employs the tool of betrayal as a hammer than will either make their love stronger or break them entirely.

2. Grief and Post-Traumatic Stress: All of the Ithicanians struggle with the grief of loss and the post-traumatic stress of having fought in catastrophic battles against Maridrina. It’s a realistic depiction of the life of a soldier and each one deals with it in a different way—one turns to substance abuse, another to perfectionism and hypervigilance, and another to vengeance.

3. Advocating for Your People: Ahnna discovers just how difficult this is when one is alone in a foreign country; James knows a lifetime of pain in hiding his Cardiffian heritage to favour his Harendellian blood. Prejudices and self-interest make it nearly impossible to reason with those who are from different nationalities.

Writing Style
This book is far more political and courtly than the previous ones. There is a lot of talk as one person schemes against another. The web is tight. Jensen handles all of the factions with her usual talent, drawing the reader to empathize with first one character, then another who thinks entirely differently. The writing is intense but clear, though the plot might be a hair too complex and could have been simplified for clarity.

Tropes

• Forbidden love

• Political marriage

• Court scheming

• Strong female warrior

• Hidden secrets

Books like this

• The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross

• Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent

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