🌿✨ 3.75/5 ✨🌿

This one had me so torn! I absolutely loved the way it was written! Hannah F. Whitten’s style is rich and captivating. The world felt dark in all the right ways, and the atmosphere really pulled me in from the start.

The magic system was so unique! It felt fresh and eerie in a way that totally fit the tone of the story. And Lore? I adored her. She’s messy, determined, and constantly navigating this line between power and vulnerability, which made her such an interesting character to follow.

That said, while the vibes were immaculate and I was totally hooked on the concept, I found myself wanting a bit more from the pacing and character connections overall. Still, I’m definitely picking up the sequel—there’s so much potential and I need to see where it all goes.

If you’re into fantasy with necromancy, court politics, and a heroine who walks the line between light and dark, this might be your next read. 🖤🌒

Thank you to Orbit for an ARC of this book!📖 🙌

Thank you so much to Orbit books for offering these books as a read now for influencers! I found Hannah later in the game but this book was phenomenal!

✨The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten✨

Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 480
Series: The Nightshade Crown, Book 1

📚When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.

Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.

Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.

📝If you like a dark witchy vibe and a love triangle romance, you’ll like this!

I liked that the plot of this fantasy takes on a darker tone. The death magic, poison smuggling, and religious undertones give it a kind of gothic vibe, which I like.

That being said, I definitely felt that the book was long-winded. Plus, I’m not the greatest fan of a love triangle, but this is a slow burn and Gabe and Bastian are very different.

I’m almost done with book 2 so stay tuned!

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read this one. I started off reading the ebook but ultimately ended up switching to audio when my hold from the library came in. This is a big book and sometimes I find myself paying more attention to audiobooks when there is a lot of world building.

The magic and world building are really interesting here but there is a bit of a learning curve. I feel like this is a series where I’ll probably have to reread the previous books before sequels to make sure I remember everything.

I also usually don’t love a love triangle but I kind of liked it here? Holding out hope that Gabe is endgame but seems unlikely that the priest will get the girl over the future king 😂

I will definitely continue the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay. I'm giving this 4.5 stars. It's not perfect, but I had such a good time. There's death magic (Mortem) and necromancy! How cool is that? What's even better than that? Normally, people only gain the ability to channel Mortem after a near-death experience. These people, the Presque Mort, have seen some shit and have the scars to prove it. But, our girl Lore, has been able to do it since birth. Impressive, but also why does she have that power? When she's caught using it, she’s dragged into the heart of the Court by the Priest Exalted, Anton, and the Sainted King, August.

From there, the story unfolds with political intrigue as Lore tries to uncover why people in the villages are dying, navigate the power dynamics of the Court, and spy on the Sun Prince, Bastian. Lore is meant to be a street-smart, drug-running spy, but sometimes she’s almost hilariously bad at being subtle. I still love her, though. I like her attitude, her curiosity, and her boldness. As for romance, we’re given two love interests: Gabe, a monk, and Bastian, the prince. If anyone tells me this is a love triangle, I will crash out. This isn't a triangle, those boys are not in love with each other. 😂 I have to shake my head a little about how she's pulled to both these men that she barely knows. They are mysteriously "drawn to each other". Oy vey.

The religious elements of the worldbuilding really stood out to me. There's a prophecy about the return of Apollius, the one true God who supposedly vanquished the "evil" Goddess Nyxara. Her tomb leaks Mortem into the catacombs beneath the city, and the Presque Mort are responsible for keeping it contained. I found it fascinating that the world once had many gods, but they seem to have vanished in favor of this one. I have a strong feeling Nyxara isn’t the villain she's made out to be, and I hope we get more backstory in the next book.

Overall, it does get a little info-dumpy and the descriptions are overdone. Still, my enjoyment stayed consistent the whole way through. I felt pulled to keep reading just to see what would happen next. I immediately started on Book 2 because the ending was OMG.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the free copy ahead of the Book 3 release!!!

I first read the Foxglove King in August 2023, and it has not left my mind since then. The more time passes, the more intensely I love it. This was my first reread of this book in anticipation of The Nightshade God release.

Hannah Whitten’s writing is rich, lingering, humorous, violent, reflective, and atmospheric. There are so many lines that I still think of, even 2 years later. Reading her work, I can feel the decadence, decay, poison, corruption, gore, desire, power, desperation, dust & bone, color & grayscale.

“Sometimes Lore thought that if you peeled off her skin and turned it inside out, there’d be a map on the slick underside, pressed into the meat of her”

“She knew what she looked like, and it was death walking”

“Things sunken where they shouldn’t be, other things sticking up, making tents of torn flesh and valleys of mashed bone and organ”

This IMAGERY omg !!

The Foxglove King explores religion, guilt and redemption, salvation and the weaponizing thereof, inheritance, wealth, reputation, structures of power, life and death, choice, condemnation, hypocrisy, fate and the cycles of history, selfishness, control, debt, and so much more.

“It hurt, carving out trust from places it had lived so long. Even if it had been manipulated into you.”

I always have less to say when I’ve really enjoyed something (because how many ways can I say I've loved it and it was incredible?), so this will likely be a short review. I had an AMAZING TIME rereading this book. I felt everything even more deeply the second time around😭 The characters, the plot, the world-building — just all of it!!! The Foxglove King sets up the trilogy PERFECTLY.

“His docility rankled her, for reasons she couldn't quite name. […] [H]e wasn't supposed to be like this, placid and easily led, smothering the flames of his anger. He was someone who should let it burn.”

My love for our main character Lore & the trauma trio as a whole cannot be overstated. I am NOT ready for their written story to end 🥹.

TLDR: Loved it even more the second time 🖤

This was such a strong start to the series with a dark, gothic atmosphere and an intriguing take on death magic. I really enjoyed Lore as a main character - she’s chaotic, morally gray, and easy to root for even when her choices are messy. The court politics, tension, and slow-burn dynamics between Lore, Gabriel, and Bastian kept me hooked, and the writing had a lyrical quality that fit the tone of the story so well.

The pacing slowed a bit in the middle, and I would’ve loved a deeper dive into some of the side characters. But overall, the plot builds toward a powerful ending that left me immediately diving into the sequel. This book was a rich, moody romantasy that definitely lived up to the hype!

Something interesting I've noticed over the past two years is more and more nonbinary people being named Lore, and I am pretty sure that this book is the culprit. It's a really really good book, and it has basically everything I wanted out of a fantasy novel. I have fallen off re: the sequels, however.

Finally finished this book. Every much enjoyed all of this book. The characters and plot were intricate and fun! The ending felt a little weird though Also the epilogue is repeated twice.

Lush and magical, with a darkly romantic edge. Whitten’s worldbuilding is rich and her protagonist compelling. Some pacing dips in the middle, but the intrigue and atmosphere pulled me through. A strong start to a promising fantasy series

The Foxglove King is such an intriguing, unique story and I ate it up!

Lore has spent most of her life hiding and running due to her past and unique death magic. To keep herself secure, she works as a poison runner, jumping from job to job. But all of that changes when her magic is revealed and she's taken by the religious sect of the court, the Presque Mort, on behalf of the Sainted King. Now Lore is trying to navigate the politics and social expectations of the court while secretly working for the king to find out why villages are dying overnight.

I thoroughly enjoyed the magic system, complex character relationships, and romantic elements of the Foxglove King. Waiting to learn more about Lore's past and her future had me eager to turn every page. The ending was full of twists and turns, some expected and others completely shocking. I already have the second book queued up and ready to start!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

im honestly quite shocked that this is written by the same author who wrote ‘for the wolf.’

The Foxglove King is a romantic and haunting start to a new dark fantasy trilogy. The gothic fantasy world was the perfect setting for this story of love, loyalty, and power.

I hope we get more of an explanation for the magic system in book two. Spiritum and mortem are such a unique way to explore death magic. I love how visual Lore's magic was and I cannot wait to see how she grows into her powers in the next book.

In the real world, there are three things that I am most fascinated by: culture, religion, and languages. In fantasy, I like when these dynamics play a huge role in the plot and setting. In Foxglove King, the plot and characters heavily rely on religion. The politics in this book are extremely interesting as they really focus on the religious aspects created by the author.

I have no idea what is supposed to happen in regard to this weird little love triangle. Bastian appears to be her opposite and that could be a good thing, right? But Gabriel (Gabe) is moody and we like that, don’t we? Honestly, the romance took a back burner in this book, which I am not mad at, whatsoever.

That being said, it was a slow start for me. Up until about 40% I wasn’t sure if I’d continue. Around 25% though, is when things started getting better, but 40% was when I decided that I needed to know more. The first quarter wasn’t bad by any means, I think I was just in a bit of a reading slump.

But Lore had been born with the ability to channel Mortem. Born with the dark running congruent to her bones. It’d only ever been a wound, a fault, a thing to fear and run from. Maybe now she could use it for something good.

This book follows Lore, whose a poison runner in the slums. She's spent her life acting as a spy for her "mothers" but she finds herself betrayed by one of them when she gets caught and taken to Presque Mort. Lore is given the option of facing a death sentence or help King August spy on his son, whom he believes to be a traitor to his people.

Lore must pretend to be Gabriel's, a duke-turned monk, cousin whose returned to court. Lore has to balance this new fake persona and this huge task. Amidst all this Lore may be developing feelings for the King's son AND Gabriel and so this sets the stage for a love triangle.

📚 Love Triangle
📚 Political Scheming
📚 Necromancy
📚 Gothic World Vibes

They’ll force you to be stronger, and then break you down. Reduce you to nothing but a womb for magic they can’t make. But only if you let them. Even when you ascend, you must remember that you are wholly your own.

If you were a fan of One Dark Window, you might be very much into this!

Ok, I finally read this. 3 stars because I felt like I was pushing my way through the books at times. I wasn't very invested in the story and didn't feel the emotional impact of anything that was happening. So overall, ok book but not one. I would read again.

By the end, I was intrigued and curious about where the series was going to go but my overall reading experience with this wasn't enough to make me want to actually continue.. I think YA just isn't for me anymore unfortunately.

Foxglove King

Oh, how I love a good dark, gothic fantasy. The Foxglove King fed something inside me I felt I needed right now. It hit all the classic tropes of a good fantasy; political unrest, classism, forbidden lust, theocracy vs. monarchy, and a unique magic system. We even have a cult! I’m such a sucker for cults.

Our FMC, Lore, is the self assured woman we need. She’s confident in her sexuality, and not easily swayed by a hot priest, or an arrogant prince. She sees purpose within herself, yet she’s still flawed.

Lore’s male counterparts, Bastian and Gabe, the clear pawns in this battle between monarchs and theocrats, are immensely lovable in their own ways. Gabe, the stoic, Presque Mort, is so pious and angsty you just want to shake him. There’s very real, palpable tension between Lore and Gabe. It’s romance without overshadowing the High Fantasy. Then, there’s Bastian, the cocky, overly arrogant Prince, who is someone you want to hate, but somehow weasels his way into your heart.

The characters are written with perfect intention. The plot is dark, but allows for light humor, and fun. It’s something that easily brought me and took hold. The Foxglove King is a pace medium paced high fantasy, with enough action to keep your interest.

I enjoyed my time with this one!

The world building, while not overly complicated- kept me intrigued throughout. The magic system was decently fleshed out! This was a good start to the trilogy and I can't wait to read the rest

⭐ Rating: 4/5
🔥 Spice: 1/5 – some romantic tension, nothing explicit

This book had such an interesting setup. The magic system is what really hooked me—Mortem (aka death magic) is super eerie but cool, and seeing how it’s connected to a magic born from life made the whole thing even more intense.

Things That Stood Out:
- Lore is layered. You can tell she’s been through a lot, and she’s carrying some heavy stuff from her past. She’s guarded, but it makes sense, and it kept me invested in her story.
- Gabriel gave quiet protector vibes. He’s kind of thrown into the same mess and doesn’t trust anyone, but you can see how much he starts to care about Lore—and how he’s one of the only people who actually seems to be on her side.
- The twist at the end?? Bastian, sir?? I had a feeling something was off, but I didn’t expect him to go full power-play mode like that.
- The pacing dragged in a couple places, but overall I thought it was engaging.

It wasn’t mind-blowing, but it was a really solid setup for the rest of the series. Definitely excited to see what happens next, especially with the way things ended.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is a darkly enchanting start to The Nightshade Crown series, blending gothic atmosphere with magic, mystery, and just the right amount of romance. At the heart of it all is Lore, a fierce and complex heroine with a secret identity and a dangerous power over death. The story pulls readers into a world of crumbling cathedrals, hidden agendas, and political intrigue, where nothing is quite as it seems and trust is a rare commodity.

With a swoon-worthy prince, a simmering love triangle, and a forbidden romance that adds just the right level of tension, the emotional stakes are just as high as the magical ones. The writing is rich and immersive, the pacing keeps the suspense building, and the hints of danger and betrayal make it hard to put down. While there’s some strong language and innuendo, the romance stays in fade-to-black territory. If you love YA fantasy with a gothic twist and high-stakes secrets, this is a great read. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to dive into the next book!

The Foxglove King was an engaging but uneven read. I enjoy Hannah Whitten's storytelling with a strong plot, immersive gothic vibes, and a confident heroine in Lore. I enjoyed the necromancy, court intrigue, and forbidden romance, though the love triangle felt a bit forced and overly reliant on fate. Still, despite its flaws, I was entertained and curious to see where the series goes next.

4.75 ⭐

This is the first I've ready by Hannah Whitten and now I'm desperate for more! This book was so dark and magical with beautiful world building. I don't know why this is so slept on!

We follow Lore, a poison runner from the slums who is just trying to survive with a dangerous secret. She can control Mortem (death magic), something that no ordinary girl should be able to do. She is found out; instead of sending her to her death, Lore is put under the protection of Gabe, a Presque Mort of the holy order to spy on the crown prince. Court drama is a large portion of the book and there's a masquerade!

Though Lore is under Gabe's protection, she also gets close to the prince, Bastian. The love triangle ensues as she's forced to unravel some mysteries with both men. I adored this so much, we see a bit of everything I love, drama, unique magic systems, poisons being an integral part of the culture of the kingdom. There's some good aspects of Lore not belonging within the court because she's an orphan from the streets, but I hope we see more of that come up in the next one.

I don't usually care for love triangles, but both guys are so different it feels like they start to love different pieces of Lore. I'm so excited for the next one after that ending!!

👑 Love Triangle
👑 Dark, Gothic World
👑 Glorious Worldbuilding
👑 Political Scheming
👑 Snarky Banter

Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit Books for an eArc of The Foxglove King for review.