KA LINDE The Robin on the Oak Throne. Reviewed by Amelia Dudley

KA Linde continues her Oak and Holly fantasy series with plenty of intrigue, engaging characters – and a content warning.

As another orphan in the aftermath of the war between monsters and humans, Kierse has never had time to worry about being unable to remember her family. She’s just had to survive. In Book 1 of KA Linde’s Oak and Holly Cycle, The Wren in the Holly Library, she is working as a thief in New York when she is caught red-handed breaking into a rich man’s house. However, Kierse discovers the man, Graves, isn’t human, and according to the Monster Treaty that ensured an uneasy peace between monsters and humans, he could legally kill her for trespassing. Instead, he offers her a job: to help him steal the mythical Spear of Lugh.

In this fast-paced sequel, we follow Kierse across the Atlantic to Dublin as she searches for the answers she desperately craves about her heritage, the source of her magic and the long-lost family she can’t really remember.

When she hits a dead end in her search, she turns to the infamous Goblin Market, where customers can purchase almost anything they desire, if only they can pay the exorbitant price (and they’ll wish it was only money). Just to gain entry, Kierse must steal a well-loved bracelet from the queen of the nymphs during a palace ball that’s crawling with all manner of monsters.

It was supposed to be easy but, to her absolute horror, Kierse needs to be rescued by Graves; she hadn’t wanted to owe him anything ever again, and thought she was done playing his games. But if the Market can’t restore her lost memories, she may need to make another deal with the devil: help him to steal the Cauldron of Dagda in return for his assistance with her memories. Graves claims he wants nothing more than for them to be equals, but can a leopard really change its spots?

Kierse’s determination, grit and lively sense of humour make her a very engaging heroine:

Her hope flickered like a fragile butterfly in her chest. This couldn’t be the end. She refused for her story to end with some man choosing her fate.

With a cast of inclusive and often chillingly believable three-dimensional characters and some clever twists, the overall plot remains absorbing throughout. This book has a lot of insight to offer into human relationships and the importance of letting the people we care about have the freedom to make their own mistakes.

As in Book 1, the dialogue is lively and funny:

Kierse rolled her eyes. ‘It’s not like that.’

Colette smirked. ‘It could be. You have wiles. I wouldn’t be afraid to use them, darling.’

‘The day Kierse uses wiles to get what she wants instead of subterfuge and stabbing,’ Corey muttered under his breath.

What I loved the most about the first book, and still love about the second, is that this story manages to be a dark fantasy romance without the female protagonist needing to rescue the broody, bordering on abusive male love interest from his own inner demons. Instead, they each have their own issues to work through, but to what extent they manage to do so remains to be seen. There’s a good amount of suspense as Kierse and Graves continue to dance around being honest with each other:

Graves nodded. His expression was carefully blank. Was he beating himself up because he’d let her get hurt? Or because he’d almost lost his prized thief?

There is an explicit content warning on the back cover to make it clear that The Robin on the Oak Throne is for adult readers only. It really lives up to that warning and then some in terms of the sex scenes, even more than the previous book, but there’s much more to the story than just the adult content, thank goodness.

A complaint I often have about American fantasy stories set in an alternate modern world is that they can be full of magic from European folklore that’s assumed to have been in America ‘forever’, neglecting the indigenous people. This story doesn’t do that. Instead, it shows magic that has been changed or added to by European colonisation.

‘This place is older than the pilgrims, actually. Puritans rename everything,’ he said with an exasperated sigh. ‘The market had settled in New York space before the Americas were even colonized. It only began to reshape itself around the Manhattan entrance after the area was taken from the indigenous people.’

The novel is still (mostly) inspired by Irish folklore, as the author is focusing on myths related to her own heritage. However, it is refreshing to see that this acknowledgement can be done for a story set in America, without pretending the native peoples don’t have their own history on that land.

The Robin on the Oak Throne is both entertaining and deep. The series so far is a fitting love letter to Irish folklore – Linde takes a little bit of that magic and very much makes it her own.

KA Linde The Robin on the Oak Throne: The Oak and Holly Cycle Book 2 Tor 2025 PB 400pp $34.99

Amelia Dudley has degrees in plant biology. But despite spending a lot of time in the garden, her plants still occasionally die.

You can buy The Robin on the Oak Throne from Abbey’s at a 10% discount by quoting the promotion code NEWTOWNREVIEW.

You can also check if it is available from Newtown Library.

Tags: dark fantasy romance, Irish folklore, KA | Linde, monsters and humans, New York to Dublin, Oak and Holly Cycle, The Wren in the Holly Library, US authors