I absolutely devoured The Hemlock Queen, after truly enjoying The Foxglove King, This was one of my favourite reads. The world building is absolutely amazing and truly imaginative, I love how the author describes what’s going on throughout the book.
My favourite thing is the magic system and how it continues to grow along with the characters.
The book is well written and had a good steady pace.
This book is where the characters truly shine as we get to see them grow and develop throughout the book. You get to see a lot more depth to each character.
There wasn’t too much action in this book compare to the first one but it was an excellent book and I feel it was setting up for the final book in this trilogy.

The king is dead, long live the king.

The Hemlock Queen follows on from The Foxglove King where we've just seen the king die. Everything is in chaos and who knows who is possessed at this point.

Love morally grey monks, give me more. Hannah Whitten does dark atmospheres SO well and I just wish I could find someone who writes more like her. Give me dark, give me angsty, give me possessed.

I truly enjoyed this sequel! While it didn’t quite capture the magic of the first book—which is often the case with second installments—I still loved returning to this world and following these characters on their journey once more. This series is a fantastic choice for romantasy fans who crave an enchanting yet darker, more immersive atmosphere.

This Hemlock Queen I devoured so much more quickly than the first in the series, but I think that was just me being greedy , but especially with how well Hannah Whitten writes her characters. Lore's so relatable as we join her dealing with her pain struggling to move on, it makes you really connect with everything she is going through. . Absolutely loved it and always here for more

The Hemlock Queen is a dark romantic fantasy filled with Gods and magic, but sad,y suffered from second book syndrome. I absolutely adored The Foxglove King, but found the increase in Apollius and loss of Bastian was rough. I loved Bastian’s character and hope we get more of him in the next one.

“I love you,” Lore said around all that sweet, crystalline water. “This is us. This is mine.”

The characterisations are the strongest aspect of this book; I can’t wait for them to finally become a throuple! I need Gabe, Lore and Bastain together as soon as possible. “ Neither Gabe nor Bastian answered, still staring at each other with a heat in their eyes that could mean anything.” - this bit made me laugh…

The yearning, the pining and the chemistry are all practically jumping off the page. I do think this could have been an amazing duology, rather than trilogy but I’m still looking forward to the next book.

I would definitely recommend this to romantic fantasy lovers!

After finishing the first book in this trilogy I was so excited to jump into The Hemlock Queen!! I was desperate to know how things were going to be resolved after the cliffhanger that book one leaves us on, as well as what was going to happen between Lore and Gabe (and Bastian)

This one picks up pretty much from where the first book ended, it just skips out all of the boring in-between where things would have been settling down and going back to ‘normal’ for the trio.
It was VERY slow to actually get moving again though. It seemed like after all the drama that happened in the first book, that all of the characters were just going through the motions, and i’m sure that nothing would have changed if It wasn’t for both Lore and Bastian acting strangely and people becoming suspicious (of Bastian especially, he was acting so out of character)

Without giving away anything too insane, their powers start to influence them a lot more, and they start to kind of develop this other personality in response to having these powers (basically of life and death).
They’re both plagued by strange dreams that seem like memories, and Bastian starts to act so out of character multiple times throughout the book, like he is being influenced by someone else.

For this being the second book in a trilogy it did seem a little more like a filler book, which I think is impossible to avoid, but once things got moving again and the plot really picked up it was impossible for me to put it down!
There was so much development for the characters and the plot especially, that I really can’t wait to see what will happen in the final book!

Firstly, thank you so much to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was so keen to get into this book as I loved the first book. The story picks up not long after the events of the first book and right away, you can tell something isn’t quite right in the House of Commons (to use a common meme). I really enjoyed the mix of action, character development and backstory in this one, it was very cleverly done. And most pleasingly, although it wasn’t quite as compelling as book 1, it didn’t suffer from the same “second book” problems like so many other trilogies.

The developing love triangle between Gabe, Bastian and Lore was great to watch, and it seems to be leading in a certain direction which I am pleased about, but we’ll have to see what happens in book 3.

Overall a great read and I can’t wait for book 3!

I thoroughly enjoyed Foxglove King, the first book in the series, and was really excited to dive into The Hemlock Queen. However, while there were definitely elements that stood out, The Hemlock Queen didn’t quite hit the same sweet spot for me. The story had a lot of potential, and I did appreciate aspects of it, but ultimately, it felt a bit too complicated and drawn out in certain areas.

One of the highlights of The Hemlock Queen for me was the ending. It was absolutely heart-wrenching and truly a fabulous conclusion to the book. It had that emotional punch and was one of the key reasons I still gave the book a 4-star rating—because that ending was definitely memorable and left me wanting more. But, unfortunately, the rest of the book didn’t have quite the same impact.

The story often felt difficult to follow at times. There were parts where the plot became overcomplicated, and I found myself getting lost in details that didn’t seem to push the story forward. It felt like the pacing was off, with sections that lingered too long on internal monologue, prose, and world-building that didn’t necessarily add clarity to the story. In fact, at times, these elements seemed to make things even more complicated, and it felt like the narrative was unnecessarily dragged out. I think the book could have benefitted from a simpler, more streamlined approach.

Despite these issues, I’m still really invested in how the series will end, and my hope is that the next installment is more fast-paced and easier to follow.

Death, religion, longing, betrayal this book has all of that and so much more, I just love Hannah Whitten's worlds.

3.5 stars rounded up because I'm still intrigued as to what's going to happen both with the main plot of the gods and with the characters and their relationships.

But...I didn't get on with the book as much as I'd hoped to. It chopped and changed a little bit too much for me in terms of what I expected, that's possibly more on me and what I was bringing to the book as a reader, but I felt like the book was slow to start, with Lore being extremely passive, being carried along by Bastian and events, not speaking up for herself. The book picks up pace and plot in the second half, but somehow in doing so, for me, it also loses the complexity and interesting threads at the same time. So let's try and organise my thoughts:

1. The romance (the love triangle)
I don't normally like love triangle tropes at all, mainly because there's usually lying and betrayal, but I don't think the relationships between Lore, Gabe, and Bastian follow the usual path. They all care for each other despite the complicated experiences they've been through, and how each of them deal differently with their beliefs and values, and they don't lie to each other, they just don't necessarily know how to communicate their feelings for and to each other, and the main plot feeds into this. So I think Hannah Whitten navigates their relationships really well, because this is the only three-person romance I've read where I actually care about and root for all of the characters in different ways. There is one steamy scene, and, while I often find steamy scenes cringey, especially dialogue-wise, that wasn't the case for me here, however, how and when it happened, and with who, given what was going on with the plot, I wasn't entirely sure about. It was kind of understandable, but at the same time, Lore doesn't really know the motives of the person involved at this point, and had been exploring the character's flaws and her own flawed responses to them for much of the beginning of the book, so, I couldn't really root for it.

2. Which brings me onto the gods. Their origins are a little disappointing, and a little, I don't know a better word for convenient. The source of the power is vague and intangible, and also involves a controlling abusive relationship that I can't understand, and didn't like reading about, and it brought the gods down to a human small level. This is interesting to me, because it explores the idea of the power of hero/deity worship, and what makes a deity, and the nature of control, but at the same time lessens the mystery of the gods, and therefore makes them less interesting to me, and reduces the main antagonist to just a bad man, powerful, but human in nature, and a pretty stereotypical baddie. Given the ending, we find that one of them has a lot more control over a certain person and events than originally thought, which brings into question that character even more, which again, makes Lore's romantic decisions a bit more dubious when it comes to this person.

3. The magic - I found the idea of mortem really interesting in the first book, but the combination of spiritum and mortem makes Lore's magic less interesting for me, because it seems to solve every desperate situation she's in, in the main parts of the book. Bringing life back, bringing death to plants, animals, people, and things, manipulating stone - Lore can use her magic in every situation, but at the same time, it's not used in a complex way that can help her think her way out of the main problem she faces.
<spoiler> I was pretty glad that the solution she tries at the end doesn't work out, it followed the pattern of the magic use up to this point, and would have been another case of this being too convenient, so the ending is what gives me hope for the third book. </spoiler>

4. The rest - The side really are side characters. Alie was the better fleshed out of all of them, with a story of her own, but Malcolm was pretty non-descript, and Lore's adoptive mothers while brought in at the ninth hour, don't have much to do except serve the plot.

So, a mixed bag, but note my star rating, my mixed feelings not withstanding, I enjoyed reading this book and want more! What Hannah Whitten does really well for me is write immersive worlds with a sense of past and history, grounded in human conflict that I find really convincing, and write romances that feel real and not too cliched, the characters react to their experiences and I can understand and empathise with their characters which makes me care about romantic plotlines that in other hands I just wouldn't like. I feel like the third book is going to redeem my issues with this second one, because it felt like the book was headed in a definite direction, it just wavered a bit in how it was getting there. So still excited to read about how Gabe, Lore, and Bastian are going to get out of their various predicaments (if they all do -eep!)

Review “The Hemlock Queen” by Hannah Whitten

This is the second book in the Nightshade Crown Series by Hannah Whitten, so beware that you have to read The Foxglove King first.

I really liked the first book because of the unique magic system and religious political court. However, sadly, Hemlock Queen didn’t reach the expectations I had for the book.

The book starts where the first ends, where the MCs Lore, Bastian and Gabe find themselves in positions of power in the Sainted Court because of the events in the Foxglove King. With Bastian's coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping through the catacombs is unleashed.

The book was very slow paced, it felt like nothing severe was happening. I don’t know if it's because this book is suffering from the "middle book syndrome" or just the lack of action, but for me it felt over long. However, we got a lot more insight on the gods, religion and world building.

I really liked Lore in the first book, because she was strong and sassy, but sadly, she had a very passive role in Hemlock Queen and let the other characters handle the plot. Towards the end, she took matters back into her own hands and hopefully in the next book she will become stronger and more determined than before.

The swoon worthy Bastian I liked instantly first lost his flirtatious and swaggering self in this book. (Spoiler: But maybe that is because an insane god inhabits his body??)
I really felt the anger and sadness in Lores's need to protect this precious human. He deserved better.
The love triangle gave me a hard time. The tension and chemistry were nowhere to be found like in the first book and neither me nor Lore could decide which one it will be. In my opinion, the romance part suffered in favor of worldbuilding, and I wish there were more cute scenes with the three of them.

However, this book presents a consuming dark world with life and death magic, awaking gods and political intrigues. The characters are overall likable and the writing is bespelling.

You'll enjoy it if you like:

• Gothic Fantasy/Romantasy
• Unique Magic system with Death Magic and Necromancy
• Love Triangle / Romantic Angst
• Gods
• High-stake secrets

Thanks to NetGalley, Orbit and Hannah Whitten for the eARC in exchange for a honest review <3

A fantastic second book in an outstanding fantasy series that takes even further into the world of gods, magic, fonts, love, betrayal, and the endless fight Lore must wage to save the ones she loves. Epic, masterful, and action pact until the very end! I am so very ready for the final book! I loved all the characters, even the ones I wanted to hate, and I enjoyed taking this next step in their journey with them. Well done to the author for creating this world J can not seem to let go of.

This book had me more gripped than the first. The character growth was very intriguing. I loved the dilemma that the 2 main characters were in. The magic system from both books I absolutely loved and that's what I like with books about magic, something different.
I also loved the political element and the forbidden romance, love triangle AND the warring between gods and goddesses and the personal angst that all the characters are going through in this book.
I do fear that the 3rd book will give us heartache that most of us aren't prepared for as I certainly am not as I've grown to love these characters. Cannot wait for book 3 now.

Thank you Little, Brown book group uk and Netgalley for sending me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely adored this follow up to the Foxglove King. Whitten expertly expands the world and the lore of the gods, whilst keeping the heart of the novel with the core romance.

What. A. Rollercoaster!

I loved this book! The Hemlock Queen is the sequel to The Foxglove King, which I didn't realize when I requested it - oops! But I flew through book 1 to get to this one and oh my was it worth it. I found the world highly intriguing and good fun. The characters all have my heart broken because I want them all to be happy, but I'm still not sure where the love triangle is heading. I'm here for it though!

Lore cracks me up. She's funny and so honest. I think one of my favourite aspects of the world - aside from the banter and chemistry between the three main characters - is the poison trade. Of course, that's where the series gets its name. It's an interesting take on substance use and abuse. I cannot wait to get my hands on The Nightshade God

I needed to know what would happen after foxglove king. This book had the usual second book syndrome - it seemed to be slow in places - but I did enjoy where the story went and I am looking forward to the next one.

The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

Thank Netgalley and Little Brown Books for providing me with an advance copy.

This book, a much quicker and easier read than the first one in the series, resonates with Lore's relatable coping mechanisms. We see her dealing with her pain through alcohol, a method many of us can understand, as she struggles to move on from the events of the previous book. Her feelings of anguish, pain, and anxiety were portrayed so beautifully that I could really connect with what she was experiencing.

The love triangle, a significant and compelling theme, continues to unfold in this story. Gabe's reluctance to acknowledge his feelings allows Bastian to step in, creating a complex story

#thehemlockqueen #netgalley #littlebrownbooks #BookReview

Tropes:
* Epic magic
* Religious political system
* Love triangle
* Gods in earth
* Slow burn

This was a great sequel in a series that I have devoured so far and can not wait for the 3rd book in the trilogy.

I hated how passive Lore was at the start of this book but it makes sense when she’s coming to terms with so much change. There’s more politics, religion and magic in this book where all are intrinsically linked! It’s a complex story where the plot is far reaching, coming full circle and all is explained in the end. There are romantic ties between our two main MCs Bastian & Gave. I am personally a Bastian fan as I feel he fights SO hard and others underestimate or brush him off. I can’t wait to see what is to come…

4.5 ⭐️ 1 🌶️

Quotes:
* Sweetness was as foreign to her as it was to him, and she craved it.
* Be morally ambivalent with me, then.
* poison where His heart should be. Fitting.
* All godhood passes in selfishness and desperation.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK - Orbit for this eCopy to review

I really enjoyed the first book in this series (The Foxglove King), however The Hemlock Queen was over long, very slow and over complicated. It didn't seem to have the same sexual tension between Bastian, Gabe and Lore s the first book. I really struggled reading it. Perhaps it was because the gods are taking over the characters their great personalities from book 1 were lost in this sequel.

I am still interested in how the series develops I'm just hoping the characters improve and the plot is a bit more straight forward and fast paced

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In book 1, Lore and Bastian survived a plot by Anton that would have seen Lore dead and Bastian wielding the power of life and death. Now, in book 2, Bastian is about to be coronated, Gabriel is the priest exalted, and Lore has become Bastian’s right hand. As Bastian's rule begins, Lore notices a change in Bastian and fears what could be causing erratic behaviour. Something is happening to Bastian, and it appears someone is putting ideas in his head, but who could it be and how can Lore help before Bastian loses himself entirely.

The character development in this second was so much better than in book one. There's still a love triangle type situation, which isn't normally my thing but I'm holding out for them to just become a throuple, but i fear there is going to be some heartbreak in the 3rd book instead. The Hemlock Queen was even better than ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In book 1, Lore and Bastian survived a plot by Anton that would have seen Lore dead and Bastian wielding the power of life and death. Now, in book 2, Bastian is about to be coronated, Gabriel is the priest exalted, and Lore has become Bastian’s right hand. As Bastian's rule begins, Lore notices a change in Bastian and fears what could be causing erratic behaviour. Something is happening to Bastian, and it appears someone is putting ideas in his head, but who could it be and how can Lore help before Bastian loses himself entirely.

The character development in this second was so much better than in book one. There's still a love triangle type situation, which isn't normally my thing but I'm holding out for them to just become a throuple, but i fear there is going to be some heartbreak in the 3rd book instead.

Even though I remembered enjoying book one. I went into this one remembering absolutely nothing about it and it took me a while to get back into the world, and I almost gave up a few times as nothing was clicking for me in my head and I had no idea what was going on. However I’m glad I continued as I did end up liking this one okay, seeing how Lore continued to deal with having powers and then having a goddess in her head was interesting and I enjoyed seeing that aspect.
I think this book would have been given a greater depth of story telling if we had a P.O.V from Bastion (and maybe even Gabe) as I think Bastions story is much better as he is completely taken over by his god and I wanted to hear his side and how he is trying to fight for his control of self.
The writing/world building again was fine and not overly complicated. But the characters all seem too young for their ages and they read more teenagers than late 20s.