The Foxglove King is full of Dark Political Machinations of church and state, and the constant contrasts between so many different elements of this story fits so well with the over all theme of one thing balances or opposes another. (for example Life and Death, Mortem and Spiritum.)

The Magic system was really well done and I enjoyed that Mortem was quite literally the left over death magic leaking off the buried corpse of a Goddess. So many interesting aspects around this the Bleeding God, and the lesser gods and how their fall effects the magic system.

Now, the love triangle, this is usually a trope I'm not super fond of. Well let me tell you, I really loved this one! The Drama, the angst! I was here for every second of this complicated and layered triangle and I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THEM NOW! on top of the romantic drama I just loved Lore, Bastian, and Gabe as a group of people who are at odds shoved into this weird situation together and forced to rely on one another. It just really works for me.

There is a reason that Hannah Whitten is one of my favorite authors and this book just further solidifies that. I am anxiously awaiting book two in the series and I highly recommend The Foxglove King!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC!

Final rating: 3.8/5 (rounded up)

First of all, I am in the same boat as some other reviewers. I found myself not too fond of the authors work 'For the Wolf', but I'm glad I gave them another shot.

The Foxglove King exceeded my expectations and was very much enjoyable to read through.

While not perfection, the story telling was very nice. There was some good prose and the plot progressed at a good pace. Also, the themes!! So cool. We have cults, religions, politics- and an interesting main character named Lore. Also, the romance was nice ;-)

This was an insane step up from the authors past work. Kudos!!!

Definitely check this one out.

3.5⭐️
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is the beginning of a new fantasy series and is 400 pages. I read and listened to this and thought Emily Ellet the narrator was excellent. I probably enjoyed the audiobook more but that’s just me.
I understand that the author has to build a story but I felt like it dragged the first half. After that I was committed and I can’t wait to see what happens in book two. The romance was light and almost nonexistent. Am I going to read book two? Absolutely. Do I recommend it?? Maybe.
Thanks Orbit via NetGalley.

The Foxglove King is the first book of Hannah Whitten's second series, The Nightshade Crown. Overall it was an enjoyable read, although it got off to a slow start.

The book centers around Lore, a young woman born in the catacombs of Dellaire, who has the ability to channel Mortem, the power of death. Lore is a poisonrunner, that is, she helps to sell illegal poisons that bring the person using them just to the brink of death, granting them long life and a bit of a high through the power of Mortem. When she is taken in by the priesthood, the Presque Morte, for selling poisons, she is recruited into a plot to spy on the Sun Prince. All is not as it seems, however, and the Sun Prince turns out to be more trustworthy than her would-be employers. Together with the Sun Prince, Bastian, and a monk named Gabriel, Lore tries to figure out why all of the inhabitants of several villages in the kingdom have mysteriously died.

The main issue with the Foxglove King is the pacing. The book's central mystery is incredibly slow to unravel, and most of the first 3/4 of the book is spent on uncovering clues that don't really lead to any conclusion. By the climax the characters are not really any closer to an answer than they were 100 pages earlier, and they only receive their answer because the antagonists reveal the plot. Some of this is due to worldbuilding, and two key details that are withheld so as not to spoil the ending. However, without this detail it's frustrating to watch characters stumble towards a conclusion which, in hindsight seems inevitable, and which should have been something the characters were able to figure out on their own. One detail in particular regarding Bastian is glaringly obvious to the reader from very early on, and yet the characters remain in strong denial about this possibility.

The result is a book that is very backloaded. Most of the action takes place in the final 20% or so of the book, and the events leading up to it are not quite strong enough to carry the reader through. It took me much longer to finish this book than it should have simply because nothing in the story or the character was urgent enough that I wanted to read it more than anything else I was reading at the time.

The characters and their interactions are the highlight. There is something of a love triangle between Lore, Gabriel, and Bastian, but Gabriel is a monk who has taken vows of celibacy. The romance is very slow-burn, and Lore has genuine chemistry with both men. There's also some underlying tension between Bastian and Gabriel that seems to be based on more than just jealousy, so perhaps the love triangle will resolve itself into a polyamorous situation in future books? Normally love triangles are irritating because one love interest seems to be a forgone conclusion, but for this one it is truly hard to say. In any case, all three characters are well drawn and sympathetic, although Lore is the clear star of the show.

I will probably read book 2 of this series, since hopefully things will move along a bit more quickly now, but if you decide to pick up the Foxglove King, be aware that it is a slow burn.

📖 ARC Review 📖

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
Coming out on March 7th, 2023
⭐⭐⭐

I would like to thank @NetGalley and @orbitbooks for this incredible opportunity to read and review this book honestly.

🥀

I'll start by saying : I was not in the mood for this book so my current opinion might just be a case of wrong timing. Maybe it's just not for me.

Gosh I wanted to love this book...

The synopsis and the idea are right up my alley! A young, 24 yrs old, poison runner reveals she has necromantic powers in public. She is taken away by the Church, convinced she'll finish in the Burned Isles. However, her power is like no other so the Church decides to put it to use by finding out who killed everyone in the villages. By raising the dead, she can ask them. It's full of court drama, a friendship triangle with a hint of romance. How cool does it sound? 😱

Unfortunately, the book was too slow for me. At the 70% mark, nothing had really happened. We were still discovering the characters and their roles. We got a little bit of intrigue at 80% and, believe it or not, the action started at 93%... And it was reduced to a 3 pages scene. Yup. It's that slow.

It is supposed to be part of a serie but it still felt too slow for me even as a first book. It's still very well written, the concept is interesting, it's intriguing but I would have condensed a lot of the story. That's just me!

Again, it wasn't a bad book. It was okay, I'm just disappointed. If you can get over the slow pace, this might be the right book for you. I'm sure it will find it's people.

It was not for me.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is my first 5-star review of 2023!

This book has it all - an atmospheric dark fantasy with masterful world-building, a unique plot, a complex, creepy magic system, dead gods, political machinations, intrigue, snarky banter, compelling characters, a fine line of romantic tension, and all of the angst!

Lore, Gabriel, and Bastian are doing their very best to protect themselves, and those they care about, but what do you do when protecting everyone else might mean sacrificing yourself? The story is told from Lore's perspective, but the insights we get into Gabriel's and Bastian's lives through her interactions with them illustrates a trio of main characters who are fully-formed and many-layered, and I cannot wait to see where Whitten takes them in any future sequels. If you're looking for a fantasy romance, this first installment doesn't deep dive into any romantic entanglements, but there is a slow-burn between a few of these characters that appears to have the potential to develop into an outright bonfire.

I would recommend this title to anyone who enjoys fantasy romance, dark fantasy, and/or high fantasy, but especially to those who have enjoyed Whitten's previous titles, as well as fans of Veronica Roth and Emily A. Duncan.

Overall I enjoyed this story - the world, magic, history was all interesting and kept me pretty invested in finding out more throughout…but it also didn’t pull me in quite as deeply as it could have. It’s a little too long, with a little too much time where not much is happening. I think if it had been tightened up a bit it would have been more fully engaging. There’s also some kind of confusing ambiguity at different points where things aren’t explained/answered very clearly, not detrimentally so but noticeable.

The other thing that was a little weird to me was how Lore seems to keep flip-flopping between feeling like a floundering child and a capable adult. I also wish there had been a little more development/chemistry between her/Gabe/Bastien. I did like them all…I just wanted more meaningful connection. I’m hoping that will come in the next book. And I was kind of keeping that in the back of my mind with any of the issues I noticed while reading - that this is the only the first book so I think it was more about setting up the world and story and by the end we’re definitely all set to go straight into intrigue and action in the next book. Which despite my little qualms with this book, I’m still very much looking forward to!

I am a fan of this authors previous book, but this one was just ok for me.

The system of magic in this book is based in Mortem (death) and Spiritum (life). I feel that this author doesn’t do a very good job of explaining how the magic works. I had it figured out eventually, but at the start it was quite confusing.

It is quite obvious to me the setting/time period was heavily inspired by Louis XIV and Versailles but with some name changes and magic. I personally would have preferred either a unique setting or have it truly set in Louis XIV’s Versailles.

I thought that the main character Lore was quite interesting, she is a survivor with a difficult past. I really liked her take charge attitude.

I think this author has some interesting ideas, but they didn’t quite gel in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review.

The Foxglove king was a lot different than Whitten’s previous work in the Wilderwood series. You can tell, while keeping her dark and atmospheric tone, she’s improved a lot as a writer. The magic system and the religious(?) aspect of the book took me a minute to understand, but once I got it the rest of the book made a lot of sense. Unfortunately the book didn’t become steady until the very end.

I found the three main character’s Lore, Gabriel and Bastian really enjoyable. I’m not a fan of love triangles so hopefully the second book resolves this quickly (lol). Other than that The Foxglove King delivered an extremely unique world and magic system and I’m looking forward to finishing the series!

The Foxglove King was full of twist and turns and kept me on my toes. I have never read any of Hannah Witten‘s previous books, but I think she did a great job with this fantasy novel. I am definitely in anticipation for the sequel. She built a really interesting magical system, and cast of characters. I think one of the strengths of the book is character development. Lore has a really strong sense of self that comes off the pages. Some of the characters are a little bit more difficult to get a read on but hopefully that is answered in the coming sequels. Overall, I really enjoyed this story.

Than you to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
Rating: 5 stars
Series: The Nightshade Kingdom #1
Pub Date: 3/7

Let me start by saying that I was not expecting to fall completely in love with this book the way that I did. I rushed to request this one the minute it was announced, and it was even better than I had hoped. If you’re a fantasy fan, you’ll want to pick this one up when it comes out next week.

Lore is a necromancer, born with powers that she needs to keep mostly hidden to stay off of the royals’ radar. She lives with her adopted mothers and works as a poison runner and spy for their operation. When a job goes south, she channels mortem (death magic), which is illegal unless you’re a clergy member. She’s taken to court to see the king, where she expects to be executed. Instead, she is tasked with spying on the king’s son, Bastian, and reporting her findings back to the king. Gabe is a former duke turned member of the Presque Mort, a group of religious monks, who will accompany Lore on her mission to teach her about the court and its politics and help her fit in.

I tried to savor every word of this book because I never wanted it to end while also reading furiously to see what was going to happen. I immediately fell in love with the dark themes, cultish vibes, and hauntingly beautiful setting. The tension and mystery had me reading well into the night to discover where this story was going.

I’ve seen other reviewers talk about the slow start or the info dumping initially, but I didn’t get that feeling at all. Whitten does an incredible job of pulling us into the action right away while seamlessly teaching us about this new world we’re in. The premise felt fresh, and I loved the magic system. It’s all very unique, and I’m curious to see what else Whitten has in store.

This book is right up my alley with its chosen one vibes, strong female MC, religious ties, royalty, court politics, and mystery. I am not a fan of love triangles, but the relationship between Lore, Bastian, and Gabe is complex and multilayered and goes deeper than just lust or even love. We’re just scratching the surface of how these three fit together, and I already can’t wait to see where Whitten takes these characters in the rest of the series.

The Foxglove King is a fresh, epic fantasy that you’re going to want to pick up on pub day on 3/7. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit books for my advanced reader copy.

Myth: 4/5

This series is off to an atmospheric start. The Foxglove King brings Gatsby’esque parties, midnight walks through catacombs and crypts, and lots of secrets. Lore was easy to ride along with as she goes from transporting illegal goods to working for the heads of church and state. Forced into this new world, she tries to figure out who to trust and how to get herself out of this situation alive.

Magic: 4/5

With a focus on death magic, it’s one of those fascinating worlds where the use of the magic is illegal by anyone not in the religious order. Of course, our girl Lore’s power puts everyone else to shame, and it’s really a journey for the reader and to some extent Lore, to learn why that is.

Overall: 4/5

I thoroughly enjoyed the world and the characters. This is absolutely a series and my only complaint is that I didn’t feel like I got any questions answered by the end of book one. I definitely know the story isn’t over yet and there is a trilogy planned, but I kind of expect one fact by the end of the first book. The Foxglove King wasn’t ready to hand over its secrets yet but sets the main characters up for more court politics, heresy, and romantic entanglements in book two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hannah Whitten for providing me with the arc of The Foxglove King! I love fantasy books and after reading the blurb for The Foxglove King I knew I needed to read it.

Lore spent the first 13 years of her life in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. She spends the next 10 years of her life working for her moms, being a spy and drug runner. After a drop takes a turn for the worst when she accidentally uses her death magic, she is captured by the Presque Mort. These warrior-monks who work for the church are the only ones who are sanctioned to use Mortem, the same death magic that Lore posses. Instead of an immediate death sentence, The Sainted King August and his twin brother Anton (the Priest Exalted) give Lore an ultimatum: work for them in the court as a spy, or be sentenced to die.

Lore spends the rest of the book trying to figure out why surrounding villages are dying without a trace, and what that means for her powers. She is guarded by Gabriel, a Presque Mort who is used to the court that Lore is all of a sudden thrown into. And Bastian, the one person she is supposed to spy on, doesn't fall for the trap his father, The Sainted King, is trying to lay. Full of secrets and double crossing, Lore doesn't know who to trust and who will provide the answers that she needs to find. After spending 10 years trying to escape the consequences of her death magic, it all catches up to Lore and she might be the answer to everything that's happening.

This is the first book I've read by Hannah Whitten, so I don't know how The Foxglove King relates to her other books. I feel like the make-or-break of so many fantasy books that have a magic system is whether or not the magic system is explained in a way that the reader doesn't spend most of the book wondering what's going on, but also doesn't get info-dumped on in the first 20 pages. The Foxglove King has a unique magic system using Mortem and Spiritum, and personally I felt confused for the first half of the book. There was a lot of ground work to lay for this world building, between the different magic systems and the political/religious side of things (the church and the kingdom) and I occasionally didn't understand the intricacies of everything.
Regardless, I really enjoyed The Foxglove King, especially the last half of the book where things were picking up and the stakes were being raised. I love romance in my fantasy books, and thought that the love triangle and chemistry between Lore, Gabe, and Bastian was perfect and I can't wait for the second book in the series because I need to know what will happen between the three of them! I hope to see more character development and that the magic system continues to be explained effectively.

*3.5 stars rounded to 4

This review contains spoilers.

I received a free eARC from Orbit and Netgalley in exchange for my opinions.

This is a tough one for me to rate, because the biggest issue was so small and easy to cut out, but it jerked me out of the story multiple times. I'll start with my complaints, which is really only a single complaint: the inclusion of modern-day sexual and identity mores in a light fantasy world based on Versailles-era France. This happened at least four times that I can remember, and I remember physically jerking my head back in at least one instance. I recall a courtier mentioning her brother's period cramps, a mention of pregnant people (that term will never not sound awkward), and at least two instances of women being described as femmes. This is a term I haven't even heard most modern liberals use, and all of these instances felt incredibly jolting, untrue to the time period I think Whitten is trying to cultivate here, and honestly pretty obnoxious.

Now for all the things I liked! I absolutely loved the magic system. The idea of a necromancer able to actually direct "death" into particular objects or people (and out of them!) was so interesting to read and think about. Lore wasn't a terribly original character, and she read pretty YA to me, but her abilities and struggles made her entertaining to read about. Gabriel was my favorite. I really like characters who struggle for parental approval; it rings so true to life, and a talented author can do a lot with this internal struggle. Gabe is torn between loyalty to a beloved foster father and his new relationship with Lore. Bastian was probably my least favorite of the trio. I feel like I've read about this character dozens of times over the years, from YA to NA and beyond. He gets interesting toward the climax of the book at the end, but his relationship with Lore felt very forced, and I still haven't figured out his issues with Gabe. I'm a little afraid Whitten is going to try to shoehorn a romantic relationship between Bastion and Lore, and I just really struggle to buy that. The final showdown and all the reveals at the ending were so much fun! I think I finished the final 40% in a single day. I'm really excited for the sequel, and in the meantime will be reading Whitten's earlier duology.

The Foxglove King has all the makings of a great fantasy romance novel, but lacks the spice we all desperately crave.

The Foxglove King follows Lore as she’s brought into the King’s court to help uncover evidence that his son, the Sun Prince, is a traitor. Lore immediately ingratiates herself with Bastian with the help of Gabriel, a monk turned duke who is being forced into the role of his old life after his father turned traitor.

The Foxglove King is full of political maneuvering and posturing. Lore and Gabriel find themselves at the center and find it difficult to navigate. Their plans do not always turn out as expected, but I enjoyed their fumbling. Both Lore and Gabriel do not have experience with the politics of the King’s court, so it would have been unrealistic had their plans unfolded without a hitch.

There is a slight love triangle, however the angst is at a medium level and there is little to no spice. The Foxglove King very much focuses on the plot and magic system.

The magic system is slightly confusing. It isn’t well defined. The magic system centers around life and death magic with fallen gods and goddesses and ascensions. This lack of definition and confusion is the reason I rated the novel three stars instead of four.

The ending sets up what is going to be an interesting sequel. I made my own summary so that way I’ll be able to pick up the sequel as soon as it’s published.

One of my favourite aspects of The Foxglove King is its Paris/Versailles vibes. Whitten even went as far as giving the nickname Sun Prince.

Overall, The Foxglove King has all the makings of a great fantasy romance novel, but lacks the spice we all desperately crave, however the plot kept me interested and excited for the sequel.

I wanted to DNF The Foxglove King by Hannah F. Whitten after 200 pages, but I powered through and finished the book for you, dear reader. As someone who highly rated both of Whitten’s previous books, For The Wolf and For The Throne, I am sad to say I forced myself to finish this lackluster tale.

Lore has ingratiated herself with Michal, a local poison runner in Dellaire. This shady underground trade keeps poison running through the city, so citizens can dose themselves and get close to death in hopes of extending their lifespan. Working with Michal is the latest life Lore has taken on while spying for her foster moms, but she’s collected enough intel and is ready to move on to the next job. Before she can make a break for it, Lore gets called in to help with a poison drop happening during the festivities surrounding the Sun Prince’s Consecration. But when the drop goes sideways, Lore is forced to reveal a dark and disturbing power she’s hidden away, catching the attention of the Priest Exalted and the Sainted King. Lore will be forced to play courtier and unravel a plot behind the kingdom’s recent mass killings while a war with a neighboring kingdom looms.

The plot and character foundation in The Foxglove King was flimsy, and it made it impossible to buy into the story. I constantly felt as if the book told me one thing, but the opposite would happen or it would be poorly executed. For instance, Lore has literally spent her entire life spying in the poison-running trade. It’s a major plot point and one of the reasons why she is blackmailed into spying on the prince. But as I read on, I discovered that Lore is quite literally the worst spy I have ever encountered. It’s not even as if we’re made to believe her skills weren’t up to par in the court. Whitten sold us on this spy element, but Lore failed to show anything for it. This was an ongoing issue in the book, and I found that a lot of the bones of this story were brittle.

If the characters were shells of themselves it should come as no surprise that the relationships were even more lacking. Every interaction is forced and filled with awkward dialogue. Needless to say, I cringed. A lot. Our protagonists are a hot mess. I was treated to these grown adults making absolute fools of themselves as they threw out words and actions to see what would stick in the moment. They are flat and trope-y and follow their formula to a T. Whitten delicately built the trust between her protagonists in the Wilderwood series, but here it’s like forcing mismatched puzzle pieces to connect. The character development from the other series cannot be found in this book. It’s a shame because I have experienced Whitten work her magic before, and I desperately searched for that spark to no avail.

The Foxglove King tried to accomplish a lot in terms of worldbuilding, but again, the execution was not there. First, the book tries to establish the use of poison and how it can extend lives or totally degrade a person into an addict that turns to stone. This seems important at first but eventually gets pushed to the side and brought back as a plot device when needed. The story also hints at several gods who have fallen, but not much is revealed besides the two primary gods related to the sun and darkness. Everything we learn is primarily served via info dumping as well. There’s not a lot of mystery to be had. The secrets of the world are either told to the reader directly or delivered in such an obvious manner that there is no room for speculation. Subtly was not this story’s strong suit.

This book had promising elements but ultimately the ideas were not executed well. I’ve dosed myself with enough poison after reading The Foxglove King and will let Lore carry on her journey without me.

Rating: The Foxglove King - 4.0/10

This was an enjoyable read! There were a lot of action packed moments that I found exciting and I couldn’t put the book down in the last 50 pages due to all the twists revealed.

The magic system that exists in this story is unique. The power associated with death and life and how one can wield it was not something I have read before. At least not in the way it was presented in this book and I was definitely entertained!

The love triangle between Lore, Bastian, and Gabe had me on the edge of my seat at times but I found myself wanting more. It reads like it has the potential to be a fantasy romance but there just wasn’t enough tension for me between the three of them.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book but I just found myself wanting a bit more from the characters and the world-building. However, I am excited to read the next installment in the series as I think this has potential to grow into an epic NA fantasy series that’s exciting, spicy, and shocking! This book felt like it was setting us up for a much bigger story so I can’t wait for the next book in the series to release!

(Review will be posted on Goodreads and Instagram - @makennasbookclub on release day)

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Starting this was tough to get in to, it really drops you into Lore’s life without a ton of info—there’s a lot of relying on context clues for the first ~40 pages. The writing was a bit clunky with a lot of obvious foreshadowing: “even when the effects of her strange childhood had manifested in terrible ways. None of them talked about that, though”. Just give me the juicy details already now that I know they are coming!
The plot picks up pace and gets much more fun to read about ~100 pages in, albeit with some cliche plot devices sprinkled in there too. Overall an entertaining read, excited for what comes next!

Foxglove King is an intriguing and unique story.

I personally have not read any of Hannah F. Whitten's others books, but I will say that I did enjoy this one.

I did think this book started off incredibly slow. It took about the 30% mark before I started getting invested in the story. I think the world-building was a little clunky and definitely could've used some refining. I also didn't really understand why this book fell into the adult category. It didn't seem like that was the right genre for this book in my opinion.

I think Lore was a fun character and different. I liked her for the most part, however I did struggle with her at the beginning of the book. Gabe was something else. I struggled to feel the attraction between the two of them. I think the romance could've used a lot more shaping and definition. It felt secondary to everything and even forced at times. I also wanted more of an internal struggle for Gabe's character.

Overall, I really liked the premise of this book, and I think it has a lot of potential and promise as a series. I will be continuing on with this series as it comes out. There is a lot of room for growth, and the bones are there. Would recommend to anyone who's looking for a different kind of fantasy read and for fans of FBAA.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

The Foxglove King is a wonderful beginning to a new fantasy trilogy. It contains great elements like:
✅️ a mysterious orphan
✅️ betrayal upon betrayal, layers upon layers
✅️ political intrigue
✅️ magic/drugs/poison
✅️divided loyalties
✅️possible love triangle
✅️UST

Lore is such a prickly, difficult character, but her hurts are so obvious and as a reader, I could not help but root for something to go her way. Both of the male main characters have aspects that are appealing and made me spend time speculating on their future after this portion of the story ended. I also really like the mythology/ religion and magic system set up in the story.