This was... fine. The world building and the magic system definitely had a learning curve and I still wouldn't say I entirely understand it, but honestly that was probably the best part.

I did not buy into the romance in this, especially between Gabe and Lore, and while I think I understand what the author was doing, I don't think it was executed that well.

All in all, I doubt I'll continue reading this trilogy.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022, and it both lived up to my expectations and didn’t. Maybe. I’m not entirely sure because any final decision hinges on what happens in the sequel. Let me explain.

This book centers on a young woman named Lore who escaped a super-creepy cult of cave dwellers only to realize things aren’t so great aboveground either. The main way this book lived up to my expectations was that whole premise and the fantasy world Whitten built. It’s unique and imaginative and pulls you right into it from the very first page.

The magical system (at least in Lore’s area) is derived from a substance called mortem, which flows from the veins of an entombed (and assumed deceased) goddess of death. And, yes, it is exactly as cool as it sounds.

Lore is able to use more mortem than she should, and her abilities land her smack-dab in the middle of political intrigue she is not prepared for. It also places her between a duke-turned-monk named Gabriel, and Crowned Prince Bastian.

SPOILERS BELOW

Where this book let me down (potentially) was the goddamn love triangle. I hate them. Hate them, I tell you. If I’d known there was one going into this, not even my love for the author would have made me read it. But The Alliterates got an early Advanced Reader Copy, and I dove in before anyone even could have warned me (there were no real reviews yet), so, alas, here we are.

My main issue with this, and most love triangles, is that the heroines always choose the wrong man. If one of the two options is a morally gray anti-hero, THAT IS THE ONE; CHOOSE HIM, GODDAMN IT. But they never seem to. They always cling to the bland, vanilla “good guy”. It was especially painful here because, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, it was done well.

Lore has a lot of issues and a lot of self-hatred. She’s been alone for most of her life, and praise isn’t something that’s doled out freely to her or her kind. The monk (Gabriel) plays the part of the “good guy” here, and while it would be easy for me to call him a self-serving, blinded-by-his-faith asshole, there’s as much depth to him as all the other characters, so I understand why he’s an asshole. I still despise him and his treatment of Lore. His order is supposed to be her enemy, supposed to hate and imprison her, so imagine how addicting it is for Lore when instead, he doles out little morsels of compassion and understanding and approval and even desire. She starts shifting her behavior to please him, and it was so hard to read when Bastian was RIGHT THERE.

Did Bastian ever judge Lore? Belittle her? Baby her? Want her to change in any way to better suit him? No. Instead, he wanted her to be herself. And he is so intelligent and mischievous and charming that it makes Gabriel look like a slightly damp dish towel in comparison.

The only other gripe I had was a bit of grandstanding from the bad guy at the end, in which he reveals all the plans and all the secrets. It felt a bit heavy-handed and like something that could have been saved for the next installment for the MCs to find out in a more organic way.

All that said, I will 100% be reading the next book because even with the aggravation of a love triangle, this world was so immersive and so cool, and the plot was so great that I HAVE to find out what happens next.

If you don’t hate love triangles, you’ll probably fucking love The Foxglove King. And hell, there’s a good chance you’ll love it even if you do hate them. The world-building and character depth makes it well worth reading.

I was absolutely entrantsed with this. The characters and the story pulled me in for one wild ride. I loved every minute of it. This book is a must read.
I just reviewed The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I read this thanks to an ARC from the publisher.
I'd read other books from this author so when it came available from Netgalley, I was thrilled. Writers develop book-to-book so I knew this would be better than the initial series, which begins with For The Wolf.

The protagonist, Lore, lives with her adoptive mothers after they rescue her from life on the streets. She's got a past - hinted at throughout - and a magical inheritance that pops up in inconvenient, and illegal, ways. Her main talent is she can reanimate the dead and her mothers use that talent in various ways to help out their own poison-running business. Then one day, Lore is thrown into the path of royalty when she's arrested for reanimating a dead horse and given a choice: she can work for the king's brother to spy on the king's son, or she'll be put in prison. (Or banished or killed I can't remember, but it's something very unpleasant.)

So Lore becomes a spy and is given a minder of the Presque Mort, a religious order that is against Lore's Mortem magic - or at least, against anyone but themselves channeling it. (I definitely got vibes from the excellent Grave Mercy series by Robin Lafever.) The minder is a disgraced duke (dd) and there's an on-again, off-again attraction between the dd and Lore. Then there's the prince, who is aware his dad is trying to frame him as a Mortem lover and become immortal in the process. The prince, Lore and DD form an uneasy alliance as they try to ferret out what's going on- and who's going to die - but the part I liked the most was that the prince is NOT a good guy here. Neither is Lore, as she develops her magic and fulfills the prophecy of her birth. The king is worse, mind you, but the prince has the potential to outdo his old man, with Lore's help.

The challenge of writing an evil protagonist is just that - they're evil. It's hard to root for them when they're doing bad things bc most readers can't relate/tolerate and will stop reading. I wish the author luck in this delicate dance!

Hannah Whitten never fails to impress me her story telling and world building is next level and her characters are dark and easy to fall for. In this book she did such a great job of writing a dark fantasy that captures the heart

Really enjoyed the story! While I was able to foreshadow a few things, wasn't disappointed by the outcome when they came to fruition. First book of a series so naturally a lot o set for subsequent books!

The Foxglove King is a dark, epic romantasy that has an interesting magic system and world building. I appreciate how original this story is and Hannah Whitten was able to weave an interesting plot while also including a love triangle. I gave it 3 stars solely because I think the book is decent, however, it just wasn't for me. I also agree that this felt much more like YA as opposed to adult fantasy.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc!

Overall, a really solid start to a series. The magic system was very unique feeling and the overall idea of death magic felt very refreshing. I did think there were some pacing issues, and maybe could have been cut about 50 pages short, but overall a great read. Excited to see where this series continues to go!

Thank you netgalley.

This was a great book to read, death magic and politics and secrets...well well, just take my money when the physical book comes out! Recommended for anyone who wants necromancers, court intrigue, mystery and secrets.

The Foxglove King started out slow for me, because I was a little bit confused by the world building and magic system in the beginning. It didn’t take long for things to start clicking, though, and as soon as they did, I was enveloped into this fantasy world that Hannah Whitten has created. The magic system is unlike any other that I’ve read before. I found it really interesting, and I loved how Hannah introduced and described it.

The main character, Lore, was really relatable. We learn bits and pieces about her as the story goes on, but what we do know is that she’s been through a lot of trauma. I like that she’s a little bit selfish and chooses herself over others sometimes. Next, we have Gabe. He’s honestly an enigma to me. I don’t know whether I hate him or love him. Lastly, we have the Sun Prince, Bastian. I love him. He’s definitely my favorite character. He’s extremely misunderstood, but wants it that way.

The romance in this book is minimal, but just enough to keep you on your toes. I have no idea how any romantic relationships will play out or IF they even will.

If you like fantasy with a really complex magic system, political intrigue, and love triangles, then this is a must read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC to read and review.

(I will post my review to Goodreads and Instagram closer to the publication date.)

I have a hard time rating 1st books in a trilogy. I usually find them slightly boring. This moved along at a decent pace and the last 20-30% os where it shined and that cliffhanger! I am undecided if I will continue this series.

Lore is a poison runner for her adopted mother’s until she is betrayed, handed over to the crown for her unique ability to control Mortem, death magic, and tasked asked with spying on the young Prince Bastian. But life at court is not as it seems and Lore finds her loyalties tested.

After loving Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf duology, I was super excited to receive an early copy of the first in a new series. While the general idea of the book and the concept of the magic system are unique and interesting, I struggled to get through this one and I’m really disappointed for it. I found it all together entirely forgettable.

The book is very slow to start, heavy on building this world of Dellaire without actually accomplishing any sort of understanding of the world. The magic system is integral the plot but never gets the full explanation I wanted on how it works and despite being central to the main character and plot, it’s hardly used/seen throughout the novel.

The characters were okay at best. I love a strong FMC but Lore left me wanting more. Gabe was flat and unbearable. Bastian really carried the book and I almost wanted the book from her POV. Overall, pretty typical fantasy trio for a YA book (I refuse to see this as anything but YA). The romantic triangle, though, was woefully underdeveloped and unconvincing, definitely not the lush romance the blurb promised.

I’m usually a big fan of fantasy and death magic, but this just didn’t do it for me. Without my notes, I never would have been able to review, as half the plot was gone within an hour of finishing it. It’s a skip for me.

A fantasy romance with a good serving of Crown & Church politics - Hannah Whitten's delivered it again!

I'm a big fan of Whitten's Wilderwood duology so I had high expectations coming into this new series and did not walk away disappointed.

According to Whitten's IG, the Foxglove King follows a chaotic smuggler, a one-eyed monk and a disaster bi prince (Lore, Gabriel and Bastian), an interesting magic system and their quest to discover what power (and who) is killing off entire villages at a time when war with neighboring countries seems imminent.

The stakes were high throughout this whole story that was sometimes undermined by the simplicity of Whitten's writing (despite being adult fantasy, this read like YA) but I don't think the oversimplicity took away from the overall story.

It's also insinuated that there is a love triangle in this story and there technically is but the romance hasn't been developed to make the love triangle plausible. In this book, there is the reciprocated love interest who is tortured yet kind of bland and Bastian... I'm rooting for Bastian.

I'm very eager to continue on the series especially after that ending! The intrigue of Court politics, religious fanaticism and the on-the-nose magic system of life and death magic made this a very enjoyable read.

Special thanks to Orbit Books and Netgalley for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions!

This is one of my new favorite books. I LOVED the death magic (some necromancy), LOVED the world, LOVED the characters, and LOVED the overall magic system. The world building and character development was exceptional. I loved the overall dark and sinister atmosphere of this book. I was hooked from start to finish and haven’t stopped thinking about it since I picked it up. I liked this book better than the authors other works (!!) and cannot wait to read the next one.

Simply put; Our Heroine lives in a city built on top of a buried goddess tomb which leaks mortem (death essence) and she’s tied to it. She manages to get wrapped up with a monk & the prince and together these three try to survive life at the palace.

4 stars, it was a solid 3.5 stars until the last 10% which brought it up to 4 stars.

Likes:
- Magic System
- Court Intrigue
- Nods to Mythology
- Catacombs
- Love Triangle

Dislikes:
- Slow to start (LOTS of world building; which is normal for the first book in a series)
- The explanation or lack there of poison and Mortem, I was confused for the first 25% of the book.

Even though it dragged in the beginning, it ended with a bang and now I will not so patiently wait for the next book.


**Thanks NetGallery for the eARC!

The Foxglove King follows the story of Lore, a poison runner and wielder of death magic, as she is forced by the Sun King to spy on the Sun Prince. The ensuing story is filled with deceit, magic, and political chaos.

I was a huge fan of the Wilderwood duology, and I’m disappointed to admit that this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. There were definitely pieces I liked, but the overall plot fell a little flat for me.

I highly enjoyed the magic system, the use of poison to extend one’s life was a unique touch, and I also really enjoyed the wielding of the death magic, Mortem. The worldbuilding aspects woven in with the death magic and the religious system were fun to learn about too. As for characters, I’m 1000% in love with Bastian, he’s the bisexual king (prince i guess) we’ve always needed, and his mannerisms make me absolutely melt. He’s complex and mysterious but also caring, and I would keep reading this series solely to see more of him.

As for the things I didn’t like, the plot was probably at the top. I think this suffers a little bit from being the first book in a trilogy, so there’s a lot of scenes that seem to occur only to info dump, and others where it just felt too slow. I’d expect books 2 and 3 to be a little bit better in their pacing. Next, I wasn’t super connected to Lore, and even less so to Gabe. The lack of connection alone is disappointing, but I think it was the implied love triangle that really did me in. I think love triangles only work in very specific situations, and when I’m already not super invested in 2 out of the 3 characters it’s a hard pass for me.

While this book didn’t totally work for me, I’d still recommend it to fantasy fans who are interested in death magic, poison, and messy characters. It will definitely hit the spot for some reader, that reader just wasn’t me. I am intrigued to see how this series progresses, and I hope that some of my issues with this first book will be ironed out as the story progresses.

Review on goodreads to come 2 weeks before publication date.

From the very start of The Foxglove King, I picked up major Serpent and Dove vibes. Only I ended up loving The Foxglove King WAY better. This is probably one of the best -- if not THE best -- book that I've read this year.

Hannah Whitten's dark, gothic world is crafted around mortem, magic that comes from death. It's a gritty, angst-filled story about Lore, a necromancer, who gets discovered and manipulated into spying on the prince for the king. As Lore gets closer to the prince, things clearly aren't what they seem. Not only does Lore need to gain intel to keep her from imprisonment or death, she also needs to navigate a court of deceptive royals and figure out why villages of people are really dying.

The storyline, world building, and characters are all strong and intriguing. I'm definitely recommending this story to anyone who loves dark, new adult fantasies with religious and political intrigue.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit books for an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a dark, fantasy book that is definitely worth the read. I liked that the magic system in this book was very unique. I have not read another fantasy world quite like this before. I liked the relatively quick pace of the plot and that the action flowed smoothly. However, I did find the surprise twists at the end to be very obvious.

As to the character, I enjoyed the main character's strength. It was nice to see a main character be a little selfish in the end and not be willing to sacrifice all for the fate of the world. I also loved Bastian. he added some much needed humor and chemistry. I absolutely despised Gabe so it was very hard to read about Lore pining for him. Gabe was judgmental just an overall jerk. I did not see redeeming qualities.

I am really looking forward to book 2!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! I just finished reading this book and I dearly hope that a sequel will be written in the future. The world building was well done, with new takes on magic and elemental power bestowed by gods into humans. There were several plot twists and I never really knew whose side anyone was on, which heightened the mystery of it all. The ending was rather abrupt, with less explanation than I would have liked. However, the epilogue leads me to believe there will be a sequel that may answer some questions - and likely spawn new ones. I would love to know how the main characters interact in the future after that ending! I will definitely check out anything else by this author!

I needed a good fantasy this month, and this did the trick.

This is a high fantasy with lots of intricate world building, and necromancy magic. It took me a second to get the hang of it, but once you get into it the world is just so big and cool you can't stop reading.

I loved the cast of characters, especially Bastian. I love when there is a whip smart character who is always one step ahead of the game. It's just so fun to watch!

The plot was always moving forward, so there was never a dull moment in the story.

Overall a fantastic read