THRONEWARD: Volume 2

by Nina K Zhao

407 pages, Hardcover

Published December 14, 2025

Reviews

[halli]

This was an absolutely outstanding continuation of Vienna's story and I loved every part it! The characters we know and love from Homeward are joined by new characters that we come to love as well. Vienna is one of my favorite FMC's ever because she doesn't shy away from physical battle but she also feels her feelings and relies on her friends to help through it. Her and Teshan have such a wholesome relationship and it was so unique getting to see them grow from friendship to romance over the years. Her friend group also becomes a family and they always encourage each other through the physical trials and the emotional struggles. The losses were hard to read but you can tell how intentional the author was when she wrote it. On the other side, I thought the humor was done perfectly to balance it out. Ruvo is the comedic relief and there were so many times that I laughed out loud because of the comments he would make. The complexity of his character is a testament to the author because he also felt his feelings so much stronger than other characters and didn't hesitate to share it.

I thought the overall journey was so meaningful for Vienna and it was nice seeing their mentors make such a big impact on the group. There are a lot of darker aspects that we didn't see in the first book but it didn't feel out of place because a lot of it was Vaunell's doing. I also liked that the author didn't shy away from those parts because if she had tried to gloss over it, the impact wouldn't have been as deep. The battles were written so well, and sometimes I struggle to follow scenes like that but I didn't have any trouble with these.

There were so many amazing aspects of this book and the ending was just perfect. I literally cannot wait for Eastward because I do not want to leave this beautiful world!