This was my first ready by Hannah Whitten and I thought it was a great start to a new fantasy trilogy! The second book will really make it or break it for me.

I thought the world-building set up the series relatively well and I found it easy to follow. This book was far more political than I expected and explored religious extremism. Hannah Whitten dropped us into the world right away and it worked well because of how she revealed more of over time. While we experienced the world right away, my biggest complaint is that the pacing was slow at times. It happens a lot in the first book of a fantasy series, so as long as enough happens eventually, I can look past it.

I enjoyed the main character Lore immensely - she took not sh*t and I am here for female characters just like that. I wanted more from the love triangle - more romance, less angst. - but I assume that will come in the rest of the trilogy. I liked both Bastian and Gabe, which made the trope work for me more than it usually would!

The characters, world, and plot still left a lot of mystery to be uncovered in the sequels - I will definitely be picking up the next one and I hope it fully sells me on the trilogy!

i think the story had a slow start, the first probably 40% was world building so i had to make myself keep reading, but after i got over the jump i was hooked. i'm def looking forward to next one. i really enjoyed hannah's writing

While I enjoyed For the Wolf, I definitely think Hannah Whitten has improved with the Foxglove King. I found myself frequently tabbing some of the world-building details for a number of reasons: one, I wanted to make sure I was as engrossed in the world as possible, and two, because it was fascinating, and I wanted to be able to reference back to it. I loved the idea of death magic being something tied to a those who themselves have experienced death to some degree, with the origin being the dead goddess buried beneath the city. Very cool.

I didn't love any of the characters, and I did find some of their interactions a little repetitive. I find it's a hard balance to strike in stories, the determining of what is extremely prevalent to a character and their personality, and what is simply too much of the same. This, in my opinion, is something. a good editor should be able to help with, and I hope that does occur in the next installment.

I'm planning on continuing on, primarily because of the world, and the potential for where it could go.

3.75 rounded up to 4

I got an ARC for this in November for free in exchange for an honest review, and then I proceeded to not read it for several reasons, all of them having to do with my personal life. But anyway, here I am, and I’m honestly sad about the rating given I was so sure I would love this book.

You see, ten years ago, yours truly was a little 16-year-old weirdo who thought Versailles and Louis XIV’s court was neat, and who read anything I could get my grubby hands on the topic. So when the author was talking about her next series after the Wilderwood duology being inspired by Louis XIV’s court along with some Reylo vibes, I was hooked. But lo and behold, I can’t say it delivered on any of these premises. Not that there wasn’t an attempt – I can see it’s the case, but if I wasn’t aware of those influences prior, it would have completely flown over my head. And look, I'm not asking authors to read academic papers and 700-page books to "get it", but I'm just genuinely confused as to what exactly the author's view of 17th century Versailles is.

Versailles has a very specific feel to it – I don’t even think the series of the same name quite managed to capture it, because I get they were on a budget but they also somehow made it feel very… empty. It’s the result of a long-held grudge Louis XIV had towards the nobility, who revolted against him when he was a child and his mother was regent, and Versailles was basically him putting everyone under his watch and forcing them to follow a very rigid set of rules, where the functions you’d hold basically determined whether you were in favor or not. And by functions, I mean being in charge of handing the King his shirt when he wakes up in the morning, being allowed to watch him have his supper, or even being the one to help him wipe his bum when he goes to the bathroom. I’m not even kidding on the last one. It sounds completely ridiculous, but it worked at subjugating the nobility and it stayed that way until pretty much the Revolution.

So yeah, I would not have guessed that August (because yeah, that’s his name instead of Auguste for whatever reason) is meant to be a Louis XIV expy, because you’re really missing the cold megalomania mixed with a strange dignified kindness. Because Louis was a control freak, but when he liked you, he had a certain warmth to him. So in terms of making people want his approval that bad, it mattered a lot. Closest I’ve seen an English-speaking actor getting the right vibe was Alan Rickman in A Little Chaos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1fHeesAez0

So all that to say, if I didn’t have the notion that the court is supposed to be based on Versailles, I would have thought it was Generic Pseudo-Medieval World #58439058. If I was to guess what time period in French history the story drew inspiration from, I probably would have said “Errr, the Dark Ages? After Charlemagne died and everyone was arguing and Vikings were going around doing raids?” Court intrigue? Where? You can’t just put gold everywhere and say it’s “lush romantic fantasy” and call it a day. The love triangle? Yeah, it's very insta-attraction and it's revealed at the end Lore is attracted to both men because of a prophecy. Yay. For a place that’s supposed to feel French, the names also feel very English (why Lore instead of Laure? Why is Gabriel’s nickname the very American “Gabe”? Why Mari instead of Marie, Marion, Marotte, Manon? Why Bastian instead of Bastien? Why Anton instead of Antoine, Antonin, Antonius?).

Also, why is everyone basically speaking in 21st century American English? One of the strong suits of the Wilderwood duology was its beautiful, lush prose, but it feels like Hannah Whitten had a different editor for this book. You could feel the descriptions in the Wilderwood duology, almost smell the atmosphere – not so much here. 17th century France was all about beautiful prose, wit, poetry, but I guess you can’t really have that when the heroine is basically a lower-class poison smuggler and she has to pass as a lady. No, really, why does the King want her as a spy at his court? What makes him think that she’ll fit in? What does that have to do with her magical talents when she also has to investigate what’s going on in different villages with mysterious circumstances? How is she even a good spy if the prince she’s meant to spy on guesses straight away that she’s there to spy on him? If August is meant to be based on Louis XIV and he knew about Lore’s powers for years, why didn’t he keep a tight grip on her and ensure her loyalty, also while giving her a lady’s education precisely for her to fit in the court? If it’s supposedly based off Versailles, etiquette was crazy complicated and someone like Lore would make several faux pas and be revealed pretty quickly. I’m not even sure whether this is supposed to be a lush fantasy or a gritty fantasy, and you could have a mix of both easily but it just felt indecisive to me.

I could also go on about how whenever an author tries to do fantasy Catholicism, or fantasy Anglicanism, or fantasy Orthodoxy, I can immediately tell if they’re from an Evangelical background. The three aforementioned denominations have a very specific feel to them, and the way religion was framed in this story is also what set me off from associating this to 17th century Versailles because it just felt very dark and claustrophobic. Meanwhile, Catholic Mass at Louis XIV’s court sounded like this (and this video is in the actual Royal Chapel in Versailles too!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3LIlzPtsmw

The magic system is interesting enough and it’s what makes the book truly stand out, but I’m just left with so many questions and so little responses, especially with religion feeling like the stereotype of what people think it was like during Medieval times. (I’ve seen people saying Dragon Age is too deritative of Christianity with Andrastianism but honestly they’re pretty bang on and they clearly understand the required vibes and how organized religion works) I’ve seen a review saying to compare Whitten’s take on Catholicism to Margaret Rogerson’s, and I’ll also add in Rosamund Hodge because in both instances, you can tell they know their theology inside and out and use it effectively. I’m not even asking to get into the nitty-gritty of Church history in 17th century France, because oh boi I could go on for hours myself. And there’s a clear attempt to go for the Divine Right of Kings, which was very much a thing in 17th century France and something Louis XIV leaned a lot on, but it leans a little too much into theocracy territory and that’s not quite what it was either.

I would have DNF’d at around the 40% point, because I was already tired of how uninspired the characters were, and when Lore and Gabriel visit a library and Gabriel says something along the lines about how no one really reads, that made me want to scream in a pillow because the 17th century was France’s golden age in terms of literature, with the highest literacy rate in Europe. But this was an ARC I was late in reading so I felt a little bad, so I finished it. Yeah, I probably won’t be continuing the series, but I’m glad to see some people are enjoying it.

This book was really fun! I am a sucker for a book with death magic, strong-willed and stubborn characters, and glorious court politics. Spying on royals isn't exactly a new premise, but I love this really dark new version of it!
Lore is delightful, and I was happy to root for her. The setting and the magic worked for me and the will they/won't they complicated romance dynamics were very fun.

Book age classifications are essentially meaningless, but I do think this book also would have been fine marketed to a YA audience. I'm here for the rest of the series!

Thanks so much for the review copy!

I adore Hannah Whitten. She writes such lush and atmospheric prose that feels so immersive. The Foxglove King is some of Hannah's best writing yet. It follows a character Lore who can use magic that is banned by the crown. As a spy, Lore helped her family run drugs through the city but is betrayed and forced into court intrigue for the king. I loved this book because of its dark themes that explore the corruptive nature of power, complex found family bonds, and the limits of faith.

It took me a while to connect with this book, but once I did, the pages flew bay. I loved the world the story takes place. It is so lush and yet defined. Lore as the main protagonist was such a fun choice and I liked her a lot. I am so eager to know how her story unfolds and the heights her magic will still reach. The love story was quite meh but there is ample time for that to be jacked up in subsequent books.

I am eager to read book 2.

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the ARC

4.5 ⭐️ 5 ♥️ I did not have high expectations going into this; For the Wolf to me was lacking any meaningful description and I personally prefer detailed description of clothing and setting.

The world building is a bit heavy handed, however it HAS some. The quotes before each chapter taken from the book of holy law, combined with a bit of organic exposition and some info dumping (that’s where the heavy handed comes in) it is scattered throughout the book, so I don’t feel like I’m being bludgeoned over the head with all the information concerning the gods and gods fall in chapter one and left out to dry for the rest of the book.

The relationships between the characters are interesting - particularly Gabe and Lore, and Bastian earned himself a little place in my heart, but for me there was very little real development in each of the main three - I can tell that we’re being set up for a nice arc over the series, but it’s always nice to have a mini arc in each book. I felt that other than Bastian, Gabe and Lore were very much at similar places at the end of the book, as they were in the beginning.

That being said, I loved this book, it very much gave an adult, creepier version of Throne of Glass vibes, and those vibes have always been immaculate.

This book was lushly dark, had a unique premise, and an unapologetic female MC, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. The tale starts off in the thick of things which I generally like in fantasy books, and the stakes were understandable in this fantasy world. The world-building and religious themes felt very catholic to me (just in alternate world) and I think the theme of what she was trying to imply was pretty clear.

I love the idea of Lore being a "nobody" who inherits all this death magic, and I even enjoyed how Gabe and Bastian presented themselves as characters. However, I really don't go for love triangles and I knew it was going to be that way when Lore kept mentioning that she felt like she knew them (within moments of meeting both the love interests). I am cautiously optimistic that this will be for a larger purpose in the rest of the books in the series(?) but the love triangle trope is just not for me...

Overall, I think I'll read/listen to the next book, as I'm interested in seeing where this series goes!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced readers copy. This did not affect my review in anyway.

3.5 stars!

The Foxglove King follows Lore, a 23 year old girl in the city of Dellaire with death magic. Unfortunately this magic, which is illegal in unsanctioned people, leads her to the court of the Sainted King where she must work with the Presque Mort to figure out who is responsible for the villages dying out. Not only does she have to deal with keeping the Presque Mort and the king happy, but she's also found her self torn between Gabriel, a duke turned Preque Mort monk, and Bastian, the Sainted King's heir.

I think I might've needed to manage my expectations about this book. I went in extremely excited - death magic, loosely based on Versailles and the Sainted King, a little mystery. All things I love. I definitely liked it a lot more than For the Wolf, but I just wasn't in love. I did think that the incorporation of a dual monarchy and theocracy (because the government has both a king and a head of church) was super interesting, and I did like our main character Lore, but the majority of this book was kind of filler? It was over 400 pages long and I didn't feel like much happened until the last 50 pages or so. There also was a love triangle and I'm not sure I was really rooting for either of them. I do think that I will pick up the sequel because I'm excited to see what will come about of the ending of this first book.

This is what I saw, in the reflections of the tomb.” She whispered it almost to herself, broken-voiced. “It’s what the goddess dreamed, but I thought I could prevent it. I thought you would choose the world over yourself.”

“I’m far too selfish for that,” Lore whispered.”

The Foxglove King was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I was quite pleased with it. From the very beginning, we are dropped into a gorgeous, darkly captivating world. From the cover, to the opening passage and all the way to the end of the book. This book is an immersive experience and was made even more complete due to the fact that I was able to completely submerge myself in the world by reading my advanced copy and then switching on the gorgeously narrated audiobook.

3.5. This book is a mix of prophecies, politics, a WHOLE lot of church and necromancy. Lore the FMC escaped a cult at the age of 13 only to get swept into the court, also full of cultish politics. I found the first 70% of the book moved at a snails pace. There is a love triangle and tension throughout the story which is still not resolved by the end. Enjoyed the characters and story enough to want to read the next in the series. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I so thoroughly enjoyed this. The world building, the magic system, the political and religious intrigue. And the *banter* oh the banter. I was drawn in by the mystery and atmosphere of it all and the ride was so fun. I do feel a little dissatisfied and confused by the ending. The answers didn’t feel like answers…there’s so much more to it than what we were told. I’m excited for the sequel in the hopes we get some more solid answers than the climax delivered.

When Whitten’s previous books, For the Wolf and For the Crown took the internet by storm, I couldn’t buy into the hype. But the internet insisted once again that this book was the bees knees - and they were right! Thoroughly enjoyed it and may go back and revisit her previous works with a clear head.

The Foxglove King has a lot of the tropes I go feral for. I was very intrigued by the synopsis and wanted to absolutely love it. I didn’t totally love it.

I think it’s a good book and a solid romance - definitely recommend if that’s what you’re looking for. I was just waiting for a little more with the storyline. And while the twists were great - it was still missing something for me.

A solid 3 to 3.5 stars.

The Foxglove King
By: @hwhittenwrites
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Hannah Whitten proves once again why she is an instant buy author for me. I really enjoyed this book!
It started off at a great pace that left me wanting to read well into the night. If a book can get me to stay up late, you know I’m enjoying it.
The relationships, to me, were the most interesting part. They always left you guessing. Loyalties changed like the weather and it was so much fun to try and figure out people’s true intentions. The magic system was cool. It took me a little bit to understand. However, that is the beauty of how Hannah writes. There is an air of mystery that slowly unravels throughout the book.
And that ending…While it wasn’t a gut wrenching/earth shattering cliff hanger, it left me with such a feeling of dark foreboding. Like…stuff is about to go down in book 2 and I am all here for it.
Much like how For the Wolf set up an incredible sequel in For the Throne, I have a feeling The Hemlock Queen, is going to be mind blowing. I can’t wait to see where this story goes.
🍀
Thank you so, so much to @orbitbooks_us for the amazing arc and finished copy! I can’t wait for #thehemlockqueen Also…PLEASE SEND ME AN ARC!
Amazing job, Hannah!

DNF @20%

I was obsessed with the premise and thought this was going to be an amazing book. I was even telling other people that they should try it out before I even started reading, but man was this a big let down.

The plot to that point felt like it was all over the place and I really could not tell what was going on. I felt nothing for the characters and was just waiting for something to happen. There were also a bunch of things happening that didn't feel needed at all.

One thing that took me out of this hardcore is the fantasy elements, full trying to world build and the characters started talking like a 21st century person and I just couldn't do it. I don't mind cussing at all, but here it felt so wrong.

Hannah Whitten’s Wilderwood duology immediately marked her as an author to be reckoned with in the high-concept fantasy space, and her story of two sisters (one a vague Little Red Riding Hood retelling, the other a pseudo-Snow White stand-in) mixed fairytale staples, folklore elements, and delicately inverted imagery across the two novels to create something both visually gorgeous and intellectually thoughtful. Series conclusion For the Throne was one of my hands-down favorite fantasy novels of 2022. I say all this to provide a bit of context, if only so that when I tell you that her latest book, The Foxglove King, easily outstrips both of them, you’ll understand, dear readers, I mean that this novel is e x c e l l e n t.

Featuring a complex and refreshingly unique system of magic based on the powers of literal life and death as well as incredibly detailed political history and religious hierarchies, this book has the sort of rich, fully-lived-in worldbuilding that makes you wonder why it isn’t already a very expensive Netflix show. (Even when this particular trilogy is over, I already desperately want to read more stories in this universe, if only because it’s so unlike almost anything else I’ve seen before.)

This was the lush, gothic fantasy I've been searching ages for. I will admit, it took me a little bit to connect to Lore and her world, but once I was hooked, I could not put it down. (I knew from the summary alone that Bastian, the prince, would be my favorite and I am happy to report that I was correct!) The magic system was so (creepy) awesome, the writing style was easy to read (without being "simple") with a beautiful, descriptive prose. Like always, though, it was the characters that stole the show for me - Lore, Gabe, and Bastian felt like actual people with depth rather than one note. I cannot wait for the sequel - "The Hemlock Queen" (the title alone has me excited) - to come out!!

The foxglove king blurs the lines between life, death, magic, and everything we think know about what is real.

In a world where your worth is measured in what you can do Lore is a rare commodity, she can raise the dead, be it for good or bad, to bring peace or war Lore knows that her life will only last as long as her usefulness.

Through trials of conscience and bearing the weight of the world on her shoulders she works to find a way to not only survive the day but to make sure she'll make it to the end.

With life and death, love and loss we watch out characters grow, we see the moments when they begin to realize what it is that's truly going on and I for one was fascinated with what they did with that knowledge.

With brilliant world-building and storytelling to rival the greats this book is beautifully written in a way that even the darkest, scariest of moments have you looking toward the end, wondering who would make it out and what side they'll be on.

Also, can I just say that ending? I'll be counting down the days until I can get my hands on The Hemlock Queen.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.