I found this dark and compelling, original and surprising. Some reviewers have said they enjoyed this less than the first, but I disagree: it felt like a direct continuation and pretty seamless. I did reread the first in series again before reading this though. What I like about this series is I find it unpredictable and I find the magic system very interesting and unique. Many thanks to NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I enjoyed this second book more than the first (which isn't always the case with trilogies) but I felt Whitten did what I wanted and went deeper into the world and its connection to the gods and their magic. Having Bastian's character change so drastically was a brave choice, given he was probably a fan favourite from the first book, but the payoff is satisfying. I did forsee a few of the twists and felt the exposition from the gods was a little heavy-handed at times, but I'm still intrigued to see what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

After really enjoying The Foxglove King, I was excited to read the second installment. Now, I have a lot of mixed feelings.

I still think Lore is a really fascinating character, and the world-building of book 1 was so immersive and unique. However, this book has taken a very radical turn from what the first one was, and I'm not really sure it's for the better.

The plot line of "is someone taking over Bastian's body?" went on for so long long with no progress in any plot direction, then suddenly we got absolutely info-dumped on with a very spelled-out, simplistic villain motivation. Apollius doesn't want to die. That's his motivation. And that could be interesting in an esoteric, how does one defy death way, but the incredibly superficial way it's depicted is incredibly uninteresting. And he's completely aware of his own compulsion, which makes me think a more likely course of action would be getting him some therapy and moving on.

The characters also do not feel consistent from who they were in book 1. Lore becomes an alcoholic for the first 20 pages and then it's never addressed again. (I guess she's cured?) Everyone decides they couldn't care less about Bastian, and want to overthrow him. Gabe ditches his cult/religion/obsession in about five minutes off-page. And Gabe and Bastian are into each other sort of? I don't know.

There is so much nothing happening in the book, and what does happen makes no sense. The reveal of Nyxara and Apollius' backstories really doesn't make much sense with anything we know about the Tracts or the religion as a whole. The Buried Watch makes even less sense, and there's no effort to explain this major inconsistencies.

Also, Horse fans, he's basically not in this book. :(

Maybe this book suffers from second-book syndrome, but I'm loathe to see how a third book could fix the massive issues this one has caused. 2 stars for the last book's set up.

4 stars
This sequel was so good!
Thanks to Netgalley, Orbit Books and the Author for providing me with this ARC!

I absolutely loved this sequel as much as I loved the foxglove king! Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

★★★

/!\ SPOILERS AHEAD

The Hemlock Queen is the second instalment in the Nightshade Crown duology in which we follow Lore and Bastian as they try to protect themselves and their country against their enemies.
I have to admit that I found this book less captivating than the first one, but that might have to do with the fact that I didn't have a good reading experience because the ebook which I got via NetGalley was not well formatted, resulting in a lack of chapters division, and some sentences were cut in the middle.
Other than that, the plot was fairly interesting, especially because of the ghosts living inside Lore and Bastian's heads, and I enjoyed meeting these new characters and learning more about the magic system present in this series. In this book, you can once again feel the French influence, and I liked the dynamics between Bastian, Lore and Gabriel, and I was surprised to see that the love triangle is still there and unresolved!
I will read the last instalment in this book, the Nightshade God, as soon as it comes out (and probably on NetGalley haha).

I absolutely adored Foxglove King so I raced to read this one when it popped up,

Sadly it was disappointing - it felt like the awkward middle book, where it just fills the story between the two main events. There was no character development, and their actions made little to no sense. I struggled to get through it and was left majorly wanting.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this one.
After loving book one, The Foxglove King, I was looking forward to diving into the next instalment. However, it felt like nothing of significance really happened and characters that I loved previously seemed to suddenly become super irrational which completely changed the feel of the series for me.

I was so excited to read this book! The first part was one of my favourites of the year, so I was eager to see what happened next.

This book feels like 'The Empire Strikes Back.' In all the good and bad of that 'middle story' position.

The Good: Lore is still great. Moving from strength to strength, battling what appears to be her fate, social rank and gender expectations, she's a fantastic protagonist. When she's not happy, I absolutely understood why and related to her. A+ character-ing.

It was fun to see the rest of the cast expanded on as well. Lore's smuggler parents are wonderful, and it was great to see her tiny circle of 'revolutionaries' come together despite their very tangible differences.

The Less-Good: The world-building is fine, but I'd still like to see more rather than just hear about it. But the feeling of being trapped is part of the story, so that's ok.

I miss Bastian. Again, I know that's part of the story, but his cocky presence was sorely missed as he was forced to take a back-seat. It did effectively put me even more on Lore's side, though. Evil God is EVIL.

The Bad: I'm sorry, but there needed to be a trigger warning in this book. The very sudden SA was entirely plot-appropriate (evil god and all), but its graphic nature still hit me hard for personal reasons and left me with a bad feeling about the book as a whole.

The exposition-dump that made the story grind to a halt. Yes, it was good to know... but I really wanted to get back to the characters I cared about.

The ongoing (albeit subdued here) love-triangle. I hate love-triangles. Give her both, please. Polyamory is allowed these days!

An excellent book - really excellent - but with those caveats. This series stands so tall above its peers, and I hope-beyond-hope that the final book brings it all together so that the missteps above work as part of the whole.

Bit disappointed in the overall love triangle which I was rooting for in the first book as the throuple/poly relationship conclusion. But I wasn't expecting the characters progression to rapidly decline because Lore is so unlikeable in this sequel and I don understand why. She was meh in the The Foxglove King and I got over it because of the dynamic with Bastian. Getting to Bastian, what happened to his character whom I loved his sarcasm and demeanor just became a comeoeltly different character and his motivations just rubbed me the wrong way. Gabe, oh I don't even want to talk about him. Overall, a disappointing sequel and the book suffers second book syndrome wherein the characters are kne so no longer care for.

DNF @ 82%

It wasn't terrible but it still was a waste of my time. It was waaaaay longer than it needed to be. We're literally going nowhere for the first half of the book. This whole book is them figuring out something we can very clearly guess from the first few chapters.

The characters were fine, but there was no plot whatsoever. No, that's not entirely true. There is a plot and it is interesting and worth reading but it is not moving, so it feels like there is no plot. Does that make sense? I just got to a point where I didn't care and couldn't bring myself to push through it any more. I tried. I tried for 2 months.

Unfortunately, this is a clear case of the middle book in a trilogy that should have been a duology.

This book was even better than book 1 of this series! I found it exciting and mysterious. It is very slow burn and I know some people will struggle with the love triangle. Not me though. I love a slow burning book and this delivered for me. I felt the gothic vibes could have been explored a little more but I am excited for book 3!

This is a review of a second book in a trilogy so spoilers for first book, but not for this one

We pick up after the massive ending of the first book, with August dead, Bastian is King and Lore is by his side. Gabe, after the choice he has made is now Priest Exhaulted

Not everyone is happy with the changes Bastian is making and there are people who wanted August to succeed in his plan, but Bastian is trying his best to right wrongs with Lores help

However, nothing is as right as it should be and Lore and Bastian might not realise the old feud they have gotten themselves in the midst of

Lore must figure out the whole story, and help Bastian succeed in what they planned to do. But what if the Gods have other plans....

Amazing continuation of this story, and for a middle book it hooked me and I shall be counting down the days to book 3. I loved the characters even more throughout this book and also loved seeing more of the Gods backstory along the way

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the review copy, all opinions my own regardless

The Hemlock Queen almost became a victim of the worst slump I’ve been in since I got back into reading, but luckily, I took a step back until I felt better and I’m truly glad I did because I can confidently say that this is my favorite book of the year so far.

I started it in late March and I loved the story and new revelations, but my slump made it very hard for me to get invested. Since this was such a highly anticipated book for me, I took a step back and returned a month later and ended up reading the last 60% in one sitting because I truly could not put it down.

Everything that I loved in book 1 was even better in book 2.
The world and magic are just right up my alley, it’s such a cool mix of royalty, gothic and necromancy, I love it.

I loved Lore in book 1 but occasionally found her a bit irritating, but in this book, I think she really found her strength and really embraced her powers. Her character development is so great and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the finale.

I was a bit worried about the love triangle throughout the first half of the book but I eventually got the feeling it would all be resolved well.
Gabe and Bastian had very interesting character arcs themselves. I love them both in their own ways but Bastian just has my heart and I love him and Lore as a couple so much.

There is a trope in this that can be hit or miss for me, but this is my favorite I’ve ever seen it done.

Once I reached the last 30% of the book, I honestly just kept thinking ‘this is so good, this is SO good’ and that’s when it really clicked just how much I’m loving this book.

Needless to say, I highly recommend this book and series and I truly cannot wait for the finale.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

I loved every minute of this, it was everything I wanted and more, my only criticism is was it was a bit too slow burn (for someone who loves slow burn too) but I understand why as it needs to build for the next book, so it’s just a minor criticism, I loved this and can’t wait for the next

Thankyou to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review.

If you liked the Foxglove King then im sure you will like this too. I loved the Foxglove king and loved this!
-I love a well done love triangle and like with the first book i couldnt decide who i wanted her to be with!
-Love the backstory
-Love the gothic vibes however i think this wasnt as strong in this book
-Side characters were great

Cant wait for the third book!
4 stars!

Hannah, Hannah… what will I do with you? After the mixed feelings The King of Foxglove gave me, I expected the sequel would solve my doubts once and for all. Now I have even more doubts, lots of feelings and I don’t know what to do with myself.

There is so much to love and hate in The Hemlock Queen and I feel I had the exact same experience while reading the first book. I love this worldbuilding, I love the concept and the aesthetic of it. I love where the plot is going and I can’t wait to see how everything will be wrapped up in the end. But the pace of the first part was just so slow and this coming from me, is a bad sign, believe me. The story isn’t that complex to take forever to go somewhere and the twist was pretty obvious, so the time it took for it to be revealed was just annoying.

On the other hand, the second part was so amazingly good. The action, the angst, the twists were so heartbreaking that I even tear up. Because the truth is, I care for these characters. I really love them and this story. My heart was wrecked by all those painful emotions and that cliffhanger almost killed mr. So yes, I’m mad, because this series is favorite material and there is always something ruining it for me and I can’t accept it.

I don’t even know if I’m excited or scared for the last book. I know I will read it, because I’m crazy it seems. I just want it to be perfect, please.

Thanks to netgalley UK for given me the ARC in exchange of an honest review

I will be needing the next instalment immediately!

The Hemlock Queen follows almost directly onto the events from the Foxglove King, and the author did not disappoint. Somehow you fall further in love with the characters. Lore is a badass, I absolutely adore her. The love triangle between her, Bastian and Gabe is done so well. Usually I can't stand them, but in this series, you are rooting for all of them. There's mystery, brooding, a little bit of violence and a little bit of smut. I couldn't put this down. I loved the different POVs at the end, and I cannot wait to see where the story goes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Orbit for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

Although I really enjoyed The Foxglove King when I read it last year (even though I felt it wasn't often high stakes enough) it's sequel, the Hemlock Queen, just didn't work for me. Its incredibly slow pace and lack of intriguing moments lost me, as did the MC.

Absolutely loved this eerie, even more dramatic and adventurous sequel! Hannah Whitten has a beautiful way of spinning stories and I could not get enough of the twisted court politics, sprinkled attraction, secrets and playing fouls in this sequeal to The Foxglove King - the trio was hilarious as ever and gosh I just love reading more and more about this world! Lore's character grew so much and I cannot wait to see what will happen in the conclusion!