Hannah Whitten

'Hannah Whitten is my new favourite obsession' Jodi Picoult, New York Times-bestselling author In the second instalment of Sunday Times Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten's lush, romantic epic fantasy series, a young woman who can raise the dead must navigate the dangerous world of the Sainted King's royal court. The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore - a necromancer and former smuggler - to his right hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the sainted court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kyrithean Empire is beating down their door and Lore's old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian's changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he's reckless, domineering and cold. And something's been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that's telling her there's more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything. 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. Praise for The Foxglove King: 'Sinister, deadly and so seductive you won't be able to tear yourself away from this dark gem of a book' Stephanie Garber, New York Times-bestselling author 'Beautifully written, lushly cinematic, unsettling, mysterious - an unputdownable story' Ali Hazelwood, New York Times-bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis 'Dripping with dark opulence and sizzling intrigue, The Foxglove King proves Hannah Whitten is a force to be reckoned with. Never before have I been so completely captivated' Erin A. Craig, New York Times-bestselling author 'Darkly sumptuous and beautifully dangerous, The Foxglove King wraps you up in a velvet gown and then holds a knife to your throat' Ava Reid, Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman 'I am obsessed with this book! Hannah Whitten just keeps getting better and better' Katee Robert, New York Times-bestselling author

The Hemlock Queen

“Six broken, battered cups, when there should only be one. The cycle has begun, now.

I really love the premise of this series and while I am reading the book I am enjoying myself and intrigued to find out what is happening, but then when the book finishes I kind of just feel... 🤷 neither here nor there. I do think this is a good book, it's well written, the prose is interesting, the snippets of banter are fun and like I said, the idea of the storyline is great, but there is just something about this series that is not gripping me like I wish it would, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. 

 picks up a few weeks after the events of 

 and sees Lore, Bastian and Gabe all stepping into positions of power within their realm. War is still imminent with the threat from the Kirytheans on their borders, the politics of court life are still as convoluted as ever, with the courtiers trying to decide whether they support their new king and his deathwitch, and the other courtiers who had been part of the betrayal in the first book either on house arrest or shipped to the Burnt Isles, and Lore is trying to find her place amongst all this mess.

The first part of this story is pretty slow going, we spend a lot of time following the politicking and frivolous partying leading up to the Summer Progress, a lot of time in Lore's head as she monologues about her dreams and her love for Gabe and Bastian, and a lot of time world building up to the main part of this book revolving around the pantheon of gods returning to the land. This part of the story took me a really long to read, my motivation was low but I pushed through. I wasd was glad when a few interesting events started occurring and from then on the rest of the story was relatively fast paced and I was hooked again. The revelation and history about the gods was probably my favourite thing about this story, the way the religion was built right from the beginning on a base of betrayal, half truths and corruption really drives both the past and present POVs of this story, history is repeating itself and it's up to Lore, Bastian and Gabe to change the outcome.

Divinity is never destroyed. It is only echoed.

Lore, Gabe and Bastian are an interesting group of main characters, their love triangle is a lot of fun but also a little bit one dimensional. I love the dynamic between these characters, how they all love and care for each other but also butt heads and can't stand each other at different times. But I also can't really see what is drawing them together 

other than the gods in their heads influencing their feelings for each other

because honestly I don't think their relationships were really developed in this book as much as they should've been. I feel like they were all at the same level as they were at the end of the first book and nothing had really changed. I do like that it's not clear who Lore is going to choose, or if she's even going to choose at all and this might turn into a "why chose" story with a power throuple, but I really do think their feelings for each other are rather superficial. I also think most of the storyline was quite predictable, I figured out what was happening quite early and got frustrated that Lore was intent on remaining in denial, which drew the book out a bit too much, but then I wasn't expecting some other twists and that definitely kept me intrigued enough to finish this book and I am glad that I did.

Overall, I am still entertained by this series and I will definitely be picking up the third one when it is out. I think maybe this book suffered a bit from middle book syndrome, but also I think maybe Whitten's writing just doesn't connect with me as deeply as I was hoping it would. Many of the same points I made in my review of the first book and still points in this book that hold it back. I do think this will cement itself a strong middle ground series where people either like it or dislike it but don't ever really feel to strongly about it on either side. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for this copy of the book, even if I was a bit behind schedule reviewing this, I really appreciate it!

The girl Nyxara had been, who loved Apollius enough to follow Him into ruin. The goddess She became, who ripped out His heart.

Genevieve 

“Six broken, battered cups, when there should only be one. The cycle has begun, now.

3.75 ⭐

I really love the premise of this series and while I am reading the book I am enjoying myself and intrigued to find out what is happening, but then when the book finishes I kind of just feel... 🤷 neither here nor there. I do think this is a good book, it's well written, the prose is interesting, the snippets of banter are fun and like I said, the idea of the storyline is great, but there is just something about this series that is not gripping me like I wish it would, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. The Hemlock Queen picks up a few weeks after the events of The Foxglove King and sees Lore, Bastian and Gabe all stepping into positions of power within their realm. War is still imminent with the threat from the Kirytheans on their borders, the politics of court life are still as convoluted as ever, with the courtiers trying to decide whether they support their new king and his deathwitch, and the other courtiers who had been part of the betrayal in the first book either on house arrest or shipped to the Burnt Isles, and Lore is trying to find her place amongst all this mess.

The first part of this story is pretty slow going, we spend a lot of time following the politicking and frivolous partying leading up to the Summer Progress, a lot of time in Lore's head as she monologues about her dreams and her love for Gabe and Bastian, and a lot of time world building up to the main part of this book revolving around the pantheon of gods returning to the land. This part of the story took me a really long to read, my motivation was low but I pushed through. I wasd was glad when a few interesting events started occurring and from then on the rest of the story was relatively fast paced and I was hooked again. The revelation and history about the gods was probably my favourite thing about this story, the way the religion was built right from the beginning on a base of betrayal, half truths and corruption really drives both the past and present POVs of this story, history is repeating itself and it's up to Lore, Bastian and Gabe to change the outcome.

Divinity is never destroyed. It is only echoed.

Lore, Gabe and Bastian are an interesting group of main characters, their love triangle is a lot of fun but also a little bit one dimensional. I love the dynamic between these characters, how they all love and care for each other but also butt heads and can't stand each other at different times. But I also can't really see what is drawing them together 
SPOILER>>>
other than the gods in their heads influencing their feelings for each other
<<<END SPOILER 
because honestly I don't think their relationships were really developed in this book as much as they should've been. I feel like they were all at the same level as they were at the end of the first book and nothing had really changed. I do like that it's not clear who Lore is going to choose, or if she's even going to choose at all and this might turn into a "why chose" story with a power throuple, but I really do think their feelings for each other are rather superficial. I also think most of the storyline was quite predictable, I figured out what was happening quite early and got frustrated that Lore was intent on remaining in denial, which drew the book out a bit too much, but then I wasn't expecting some other twists and that definitely kept me intrigued enough to finish this book and I am glad that I did.

Overall, I am still entertained by this series and I will definitely be picking up the third one when it is out. I think maybe this book suffered a bit from middle book syndrome, but also I think maybe Whitten's writing just doesn't connect with me as deeply as I was hoping it would. Many of the same points I made in my review of the first book and still points in this book that hold it back. I do think this will cement itself a strong middle ground series where people either like it or dislike it but don't ever really feel to strongly about it on either side. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for this copy of the book, even if I was a bit behind schedule reviewing this, I really appreciate it!

The girl Nyxara had been, who loved Apollius enough to follow Him into ruin. The goddess She became, who ripped out His heart.

The Hemlock Queen

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