I love Hannah Whitten. When I first started this I think I was hoping for it to be more like For the Wolf and felt disappointed that it was a different story. I began to really enjoy this book once I realized how ridiculous I was being. This was really easy fantasy to get into because you don't have to work through a ton of world building before the story starts to move. It was such an interesting idea that I found myself sucked in to see what was going to happen. It's somewhat predictable but in a good way. I loved this book and will absolutely read whatever she writes next!

Also posted on Goodreads.

I’m so sad. I wanted to enjoy this so much, the concept seemed really interesting and like it could have a good start to a series. But I also decided I won’t do my usual review formats for books I DNF.

Not only did I find Lore to be pretty obnoxious in a not-cute way, I didn’t care for a SINGLE character. I don’t need characters to be likable to read and enjoy something, but I at least need to care. And I just didn’t. At all.

I will also say that the world building was very disorganized to me. It felt like I was supposed to have prior knowledge with how it was all laid out and explained, and the more detail it went into, the more I felt like we were missing steps 1-3 but were somehow on steps 7-10.

I’m sure people with more patience or who have smarter brains than me might like this. It had potential. It just did NOT work for me, so I sadly DNF’d.

Onto the next.

4.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC via Netgalley for an honest review.

CWs: death, violence, injury detail, murder, religious sacrifice (mentions)

Wow I really enjoyed reading this book! I was really excited to pick it up, and I’m really glad that it lived up to my anticipation of it.
Lore was such a good character. I related to her in a lot of ways, and I liked her straightforward nature but also appreciated her strength and her spying abilities. Her relationships with Gabe and Bastian were super interesting, and I’m really excited to see what happens between these three characters in the sequel! I’m also hoping to learn more about Lore’s past and her powers. The idea of Mortem was fascinating, and I really liked the parts of the book where she had to channel it.
I thought the plot was really well balanced, and the pacing suited it well. There were many moments of action and excitement and they were countered by moments of relationship building, research, and discovering truths and lies.
The writing style was easy to follow along with, and I got completely sucked into this world while reading.

I absolutely adored this new book from Whitten. She has built another beautiful world filled with interesting characters!

I really enjoyed this new book by Hannah Whitten! The Foxglove King was a unique take on religious zealotry and government. I loved the main character though she came off a little gruff at times and the king and his brother were definitely easily dislikable. I was on the fence about the prince the majority of the time. A little slow paced at first, but after that first betrayal it only go better and I couldn't put it down! Would definitely recommend!

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC!

I really had no idea what to expect from this book but now I find myself wanting more! I really hope this becomes a series, but I think it could end as a stand alone as well. The dynamic between Bastian and Lore reminded me of Jude and Cardan from Cruel Prince but with less antagonizing. Gabe played a crucial role of devils advocate and even though I wanted to punch him half the time, I loved him. The twists were perfect and unexpected in the best way! I highly recommend this book.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten was such a different book and I really enjoyed it.
I think the story was intriguing and the writing wasn’t bad- but I definitely think it’s best to go into this one without knowing too much.
I’ll admit I enjoyed this one much more than her other books and I’m definitely going to pick up the next one in the series!

I’ve heard so much raves on this book. So I thought I’d give a try specially it’s one of my favorite genres.
I was really disappointed by the time I finished with this book. If I had the actual book, I would’ve thrown it across the room especially the way it ended. I’m debating whether I should read the second novel after this just to see if it’s any redeeming.
I was really irritated with all three main characters, Lore, Gabriel , and Bastial in this book. However, I liked the plot in a way. It’s the drama between those three young adults. There’s a lot of repetitive mistrusts to the point where it gets really irritating. I’m not really seeing any romance blooming or forbidden love(?) due to lack of character growths and ridiculous mistrusts. I just don’t buy into Lore’s ability to use her powers with grace and understanding without any training and regular usage. It’s just unbelievable and unrealistic. And the way it ended……UGH! I could go on and on. 2 1/2 stars from me.

Hannah can do no wrong imo - this book was amazing.
the story, the characters - all perfect.
she's an instant buy from me.

If there’s one thing Hannah Whitten can absolutely nail, it’s atmosphere. The dark, decaying magic of the Foxglove King is so vivid that it adds a fabulously disgusting layer to the world and its characters. While there is a ton of depth in the religious aspect of the story, I think the world itself is a little lack lustre. I found myself wanting to know more about the world outside the citadel, but I was still captivated by the magical aspect of the story.

Overall I think the characters feel a bit generic and unexciting at times, the most interesting character being Lore (thankfully), and the story itself is fairly slow paced and falls into a few typical holes that leave the story wanting for more in the first half. But I’d say it doesn’t deter the reader from the story, I still wanted to know where it was going and see what happened to the characters along the way.

Also, I normally don’t enjoy love triangles, and I’d say this one wasn’t particularly unique, but I think all 3 characters were just interesting *enough* to have me eager to see which direction it might go.

All in all I think it’s a slight step above generic base level fantasy, I’d say it’s a 3.5 star read but I’ll bump it up to 4 because I loved my girl Lore a whole lot.

Original, amazing story telling. really enjoyed how the book flowed so nicely . love the Characters , they were very enjoyable and fun to learn about. Definitely ready to get book two , I can’t wait

If you loved Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, you'll really enjoy the adventures, grudging friendships and mishaps that are in The Foxglove King. The atmosphere and setting were both very intriguing, and the way the magic system and religion intertwined was super clever and unique; I got caught up in this world before I even realized I was invested. The way Anton and Gabriel's complex relationship was portrayed was really well done, and I loved the trio dynamic of Lore, Gabriel and Bastian even though they were very dumb about each other on many occasions. I am definitely excited to read the next book in this trilogy!

Lore lives in a city filled with death magic from a dead goddess. Most of the mages have to almost die to invoke the magic, but Lore can invoke the magic easily, In Dellaire where poison works as a drug, Lore is a poison runner. Then one day, Lore raises a horse from the dead and is captured and taken to the court of The Foxglove King (hard from Orbit) He wants her to raise dead villagers to discover who is killing them, and he wants her to get close to his son to discover his treason. Hannah Whitten tells an exciting tale full of plots and contrivances. It’s lush with potential romance. The ending made me want more.

This book started out very slow for me but in the end it was so worth it. The world, the magic, the characters, the plot, everything came together in such an interesting way. I really enjoyed this story.

Whitten’s plots have always been able to pull me in and is largely the reason why I was looking forward to this one. Lore is a poison runner. After using her powers to save a colleague from being captured, she is taken prisoner by the redcoats. Rather than send her to work on the isles, the king wants her to spy on the crown prince as well as use her powers to discover why entire villages have been killed.

I immediately took a liking to the world and was immersed in Lore's story. Despite her less than desirable circumstances, Lore still manages to put those she cares about ahead of herself. Even when she discovers she might be the only one she can count on, she is unexpectedly kind to those around her. As she tries to ensure her own survival, it becomes increasingly clear that Lore is also desperately looking for a place to belong.

While I liked Lore, it was more difficult to buy into the relationships she forms. There are only few moments that hint at possible romantic feelings before the characters give into them. I needed better development to buy into the relationship even if I was hoping for romance. The most likely pairing felt forced rather than a natural progression of the story.

While the descriptions are not as lush when compared to Whitten's prior works, the setting and world building felt new and interesting. Her take on necromancy was one I liked and the effects on the practitioner were detailed and well written.

I am looking forward to the rest of the series. I need to know what happens to Lore. (3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars)

This book took me quite a while to finish, because I think the worldbuilding was all over the place. I had to re-read three times the first few chapters because my brain would get lost. That said, what kept me going were the characters and their interactions. The writing was quite atmospheric in the the way that death was described gave me chills. I would recommend this book to people who love a stubborn and badass protagonist that can pratically control deaths with a kind and loving love interest.

Thanks to Orbit books and Netgalley for this e-arc.

I'm not sure what I expected, but I did like this book. At times a bit too dark for my taste and I felt the first half lagged until we met the Sun Prince.
Trigger warnings of dead children if this is something you can't handle.

I loved the world building and what was set up in this book. Though I figured some things out on my own, that was due to well foreshadowed writing rather than the writing being poor. Just as Whittens previous titles, I enjoyed this one greatly as well!!

As what happens with a lot of fantasy for me, I loved the vibes, but didn't love the execution. I felt like the world building was inconsistent, the dialogue way too modern for the setting, and the characters lacking in depth.

***4.0 Stars***

Overall,
I do not know what my expectations were when going into this book. I had heard some vague descriptors and obviously read the blurb, but I wasn't really sure what I was getting in to. What I found was a really intriguing world, morally grey characters and some interesting twists and turns that kept me eager to read what happened next.

Recommendation,
A definite yes from me. If you like fantasy, necromancyish death/life magic, light romance and interesting world building this is for you. I eagerly await the next book in this delightful new series.

***I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley and Orbit books in exchange for my free and honest review*** Thankyou!