Once again, I like to read books 1 and 2 of a trilogy because I’ve been given arc access to book #2. Am I going to immediately start praying to the arc gods to grant me #3 sooner than later, yes. Am I glad I did this even though Im suffering a book void? Also yes.

I’m a big fan of the slow burn, complicated, but not complicated love triangle, and bad ass Lore saving the day. Beautifully written and built. This did not feel like a chore to read, but well paced and kept you going!

Once I got over my disappointment that this is the middle book in a trilogy rather than the second book in a duology, I enjoyed this sequel to the Foxglove King. I like the world that Whitten has built in this series, particularly the integration of the magic and religious belief systems. This starts soon after the events of the Foxglove King, and we spend most of our time, once again, with Lore. Lore was supposed to die in the last book, but didn't, and she's having a bit of a tough time dealing with that, which is only compounded by her relationship with Baxian, the prince who has now ascended the throne as the Sainted King. Known has his deathwitch, Lore is mistrusted and feared by many, but Baxian is quick to trot her out to show his subjects how they work together to channel both Spiritum (life magic) and Mortem (death magic) together. This book builds out the mythology a bit more, and I felt like I understood the gods at the center of the magic/religion much better, which turned out to be really important here. This was pretty fast paced after a bit of a slow start, with lots of political intrigue, betrayal, and magic, and a little bit of romance added in. The romantic plot is very much secondary here to all of the rest of it, so I wouldn't categorize this as a romance or even a romantasy, really - just a fantasy book with a romantic subplot. It ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, so now I'm very invested in finding out how Lore's story ends.

This one was slow going for me... I really enjoyed book 1 so I was excited to get my hands on book 2 but honestly, the story didn't grab me quite as much from the jump on this one. Once I got back into the story it moved along a bit better but it felt a bit long and dragged in portions of the story. I will be reading book 3 though so maybe this is just that middle book problem that many series books encounter.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this early!

This was excellent and love all of her descriptions and characters. Whitten wraps you up in the story and doesn't let you go. I reccommend to read her previous duology "For the Wolf". Excellent reads!

This book is definitely the second in a trilogy. So much happens and a lot of it is stressful. It might be a wild ride but it was really enjoyable. I would have rated it higher but there were some communicate points that annoyed me. Either way, super excited for book three!

The Hemlock Queen takes the deftly constructed world and tangled web of relationships established in The Foxglove King and pulls at the strings until they vibrate with tension. Lore, Bastian, and Gabe have all fallen uneasily into their roles within the kingdom. There are secrets and unanswered questions and obtrusive thoughts that lead them all to realize just how much things are not even close to being resolved between them and the Gods whose powers they channel.

The pace is slower than in the first book, but the simmering tension that lingers between Lore, Gabe, and Bastian is never far from the surface. They all wish for things to be different. They all wish for things that cannot come to pass if current events are allowed to unfold. Current events that involve learning more about Apolloius and Nyxara and the Gods that came before, that held the powers of Mortem and Spiritum that Lore and Bastian now control.

Full of political maneuvering - a chess match that no one realizes is happening until it is almost over - we see what happens when an unchecked thirst for power and possession takes the reins of the Sainted King. We see what happens when love is not enough to save those you care about. We see what happens when secrets finally come to light, and they are worse than you could imagine.

For a middle book in a trilogy, The Hemlock Queen comes alive in the quiet, internal moments when Lore discovers exactly what she is, what needs to be done, and how much finding answers is going to hurt. In the end, we are left as scattered to the winds as our characters, waiting anxiously for them to come back together and make themselves - and their world - whole. At the same time, you can’t help but feel resignation and despair at the thought that the road to an ending is going to be difficult to travel. I can’t wait to follow it.

Wow, just as incredible as the first one! It can be hard to write a sequel and have it live up to the first one, but this one did. Not only that but it’s a middle book but it didn’t feel like a filler. Everything felt necessary for the progression of the story and characters. We get to understand more about what’s going on in this universe and the history. There’s still a love triangle element and the spice goes up a tiny little notch in this book. I’m anxiously awaiting the next one!

Excellent world building. Fast paced with betrayal love triangle.

Beautiful sequel to the foxglove king!!

I wasn’t prepared for The Hemlock Queen. I wasn’t ready to be devastated and crushed by Whitten’s brilliant writing. I literally held my breath through a lot of this book - I was so worried and scared for Lore, Bastion and Gabe! I don’t want to give any spoilers, but what I can say is that Bastion is King and he keeps Lore close. I thought they’d get some peace, even if just for a short time, but I was so wrong. I wasn’t ready for this book to end and I don’t know how I’ll be able to wait for the third book. If it’s not completely clear, I absolutely love The Hemlock Queen!

Middle book syndrome who? Hannah Whitten doesn't know her 👏🏼 But in all seriousness fantasy trilogies can be tricky to keep you hooked while leading up to the last book, but there is no issue with that in this one!

There are secrets, complex relationships, and intrigue throughout. Every single book I've read by Hannah Whitten, my favorite part is also the worlds she builds. It always has unique magic and deep histories, so this is no different. There's more world building that happens as the characters dive into the Gods and discover the truth of what happened.

Lore also didn't disappoint. She is morally grey but also just a softie under it all. She's such a strong FMC to follow. And I absolutely love her sarcasm. Gabe and Bastian? Don't even get me starteeeedd 🫡

My only downside is now I have to sit with my feelings after reading the ARC and wait for the third book 🥲

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is so good!
I read Foxglove King and Hemlock queen back to back and it was amazing but now I am dying for book 3.
Bastian, Lore, Gabe- how do we decide? I love them all so much.
The first half of the book I was yelling at the characters to communicate then the second half of the book I couldn't put it down.
It was just one thing after another. I was getting so anxious and frustrated and then the ending I was almost yelling at my kindle.
What a great series and I am not so very patiently waiting for book 3!! Which I need right now.

Wow. I really thought she had it. But again, wow, this books is full of plot twists.
I enjoyed how this is not your typical love triangle. It actually screams of Tessa, Jem and Will from shadow hunters. You love all of them as much as they love each other.
Bastian and Lore’s story has more deep meaning in this book. (I feel like in book one it was more deep with Gabe and Lore). But I still liked their love story, how it reflects from the gods possessing them but they’re still their own person and know who they are and not the gods in them.
Alie’s character was a light. I enjoyed how she was more involved and how important she is now. I’m super curious to see her and Jax in the next book.
I very much liked this plot it was complex but not too hard to understand. This series brings forth a lot of religion and politic themes that are quite reflective. How both can be similar if followed in a certain way. Love the history in it and the various parallels.
I’ll be anxiously waiting for the conclusion to this because it seems it’s about to get more problematic and hopefully more happy

The Hemlock Queen is an engaging and exciting read. I was thrilled to make my way back to Lore, Bastian and Gabe. The sequel to The Foxglove King, second in the Nightshade Crown trilogy, there were a few moments of frustration, but overall I think that may have been a symptom of it being a middle book.

The middle book in a trilogy is nearly always an awkward book. The first book often has a beginning, middle and end--a shorter subplot resolved in a quest to the larger conclusion, but one that can be taken on its own if need be. I'm speaking in generalities, of course. You could have the occasional cliffhanger at the end of the first book, but as this first book must draw the reader in to reading not one, not two, but three books, that ending should be, at the very least, satisfying.

The middle book may not get the same treatment. If a reader has picked it up, that reader is likely invested in the world already. The middle book tends to be a continuation of those smaller threads that still hung loose at the first book's end. Those threads get longer, they split apart into new threads, and weave into a larger overarching plot--usually a plot which derives its origin from the first book, but is more vast and with higher stakes. What an author cannot do, however, is resolve that larger plot in the middle book. There is, after all, a third book. So middle books often have a beginning, a middle, and a... pause. A beat. A... just wait. A true cliffhanger. Perhaps some subplots are broached and resolved in the middle book. Perhaps very few are resolved. The middle book is a journey, not a destination.

All this to say that The Hemlock Queen does an admirable job of being a middle book, but it is still a middle book. It's hard to be completely satisfied when I'm just journeying; learning new things but left with far more questions. To be honest, I wish there were more duologies, not because I don't love reading about some of my favorite characters, but because there's no middle book. The end isn't too far away.

We find Lore, Bastian and Gabe as we left them in The Foxglove King. Everything is just kind of... awkward between them (fitting, as this is the middle book). Trust doesn't come easy for any of them. There is a lot of secret-keeping, even when there shouldn't be. When trust perhaps should have been established, Lore is still very secretive. I can't say this didn't frustrate me. This wasn't quite the "miscommunication" trope; more the "lack of communication" trope. Luckily, her penchant for not telling people things she should probably tell people didn't muck things up too much (at least, that's not why things got mucked up for her). I simply found it a bit aggravating.

Big changes are in store for our trio after the night of the eclipse didn't go the way the bad guys planned. Because it turns out there are consequences for not completing a ritual involving a god, and they can be pretty nasty, earth-shattering consequences. I found the treatment of the changes that resulted from that night to be done quite well. The reader discovers them slowly--a puzzle to be pieced together not just by Lore, but by the reader as well. There were moments where our heroes got together, Scooby Gang-style, to figure out how they were possibly going to get out of the mess they were in. I do wish we had more of those scenes.

We get more of Malcolm and Alie, especially in the second half of the book, which was quite welcome. Being the middle book and all, I was bound to not be entirely satisfied with the interactions between all the characters I grew to love in the first book. I do wish there was more interaction between Bastian and Gabe. We hear so much about their relationship; I wish we actually saw more of it.

Overall, however, I am excited about the setup for the third book. The stakes are far higher now for our characters. While yes, it is frustrating that I haven't been brought to any destination, I can at least see that there could potentially be a very satisfying one at the end of all this.

**Thank you to Orbit for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review**

The Hemlock Queen is the exciting sequel to The Foxglove King. The Hemlock Queen has everything that I loved about The Foxglove King in it and more. All of the characters are back and are further developed. I still absolutely love Bastian, and Lore continues to battle her attraction to both Bastian and Gabe. The Hemlock Queen picks up right where the first book left off, with King August dead, Bastian taking the crown, and Lore's confusion over Gabe's betrayal. With war brewing, Bastian needs his small group of advisors more than ever. However, there is a dark something(someone) slowly taking over Bastian's mind. Can Lore find a way to save Bastian, so that they can save their kingdom?

I love that we get a much deeper look into the lives and myths of the gods in this book. There is one chapter in particular in which the reader and Lore get a close look at Nyxara's memories. The ending is definitely another cliff hanger. I cannot wait for the third book! I also loved the additional spice in this book. There is one scene towards the end that had all the spice! I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a thrilling romantasy with complex characters and an intriguing world of gods and politics.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit, for an arc copy.

Wow wow wow. I need book 3 asap. I usually get nervous with the second book in a series but Hannah blew this one out of the water. I had so many questions after the first book, and I feel like this one did such a good time answering most of those questions.

Never have I wanted a love triangle to turn into everyone winding up together, but I absolutely adore Bastian, Lore, and Gabe. I need them all together like I need air to breathe.

While “The Foxglove King” wasn’t a perfect read for me, it did solidly set up the series in all of the ways that mattered. The world seemed interesting. The characters drew me in. The ending set up a bigger conflict to come. And, best of all, I wasn’t completely turned off by the love triangle being set up (truly a rare thing). On top of that, Whitten has yet to truly let me down with any of her books, even if I’ve liked some more than others. So it was with great eagerness that I finally got to this book when going through my TBR pile!

This was an incredibly interesting second book in this series. On one hand, I do think it’s the kind of sequel that asks its readers to put a lot of trust in the author and the over-arching plot of the trilogy as a whole. Its’ definitely a middle book, setting up a lot of moving pieces that will not see a conclusion in this story. As well, in the first third to even half of the book, several of the characters read very differently from how they appeared in the first book. Lore, our feisty survivor, spends much of the beginning of this story in a very passive, reactive role. So much so, that we see her willfully sticking her head in the sand about what is going on around her and becoming distrusted to reliably act by those close to her. But, as the story progresses, I really enjoyed the character reflection that this brought about. In the first book, we see a Lore who will fight to survive. But much of survival is also endurance and remaining out of the way in dangerous situations, and in this book we see a Lore who knows how to adapt quickly to whatever circumstances she finds herself in, prioritizing her day-to-day existence over radically challenging anything around her. This is a much less sexy side of survival, but I think there’s a case to be made that this trait is even more important than “fighting.”

I also enjoyed the nice parallels between Lore’s awakening to the reality of her own situation alongside the stirrings of the old gods themselves. We get so much great information and backstory for these gods and the story twisted and turned in many exciting ways. There were tons of reveals, but by the end, I still felt like I had barely scratched the surface of what is currently going on with the gods and what had happened between them in the past.

Returning to the “trusting the author” theme, Bastian, too, was a character who read very different at times in this book than he had in the first. Here, I feel like the explanation/understanding of what was going on was fairly easy to predict early on, thus assuaging any fears of fans. But I have still seen several disappointing Goodreads reviews where readers essentially DNF’d this early saying that Bastian had gotten the “Tamlin treatment” from ACOTAR. This book just goes to show how readers need to give stories a chance to develop before jumping to conclusions and potentially missing out on an excellent story.

As for the third member of our group, we see a lot less of Gabe in this book than in the first, which was my biggest disappointment. I did like the scenes we had with him, but he very much felt like a background character for much of the story. This makes sense as far as the story goes, especially with Lore’s own character arc of slowly accepting the truth about their situation, but it does leave him with a much-reduced plot from what we saw in the first.

As far as the romance goes, I feel like the author has to be setting up more of a throuple situation at this point than a true love triangle. If anything, I found Lore’s repetitive thoughts about “why can’t I have both” to be a bit too on the nose, especially given how often she reflected on this point. Now, I don’t love throuple stories personally, but I will say, this is by far the best variation on this type of romance that I’ve read. While it’s not my preference, Whitten has laid down excellent groundwork building up strong relationships between all three characters. There’s also the very real possibility that this will all end in tears. Who knows!

Overall, I thought this was an incredibly successful sequel. The story is slow to start and asks the readers to trust that the characters will work through their challenges, but once it gets going, boy does it move! There is a ton of world-building included in this one, and I also enjoyed the greater scope of the political situation, with other countries now nipping at the heels of a seemingly weakened new King. The story also ends on a fairly massive cliffhanger, so readers beware as far as that goes! But, if you enjoyed the first book this series, definitely check this one out!

Rating 8: A sense of dread slowly simmers to build to a climatic crescendo that will leave readers aching for the next book in the series!

(Link will go live on The Library Ladies blog on April 12)

This book wrecked me.

Ok doing my best for a spoiler free review, but this book doesn’t hit any sort of sophomore slump at all. Things pick up right where they left off in the first book and all of our protagonists are trying to settle into their new roles.

Turns out though, that there are more secrets and issues than our crew has admitted and there’s no time for peace and quiet after taking down the king and the high priest.

I loved diving into more relationships in this book. I loved the additional time with Alie and Malcolm. Malcolm especially has some hilarious lines. And while last book was all about Gabe, I appreciated this one being about Bastian. I also haven’t seen many books that have done a love triangle as well as this one. I still don’t know that if Lore ended up with one of the men, who would she choose? (Honestly I’m on team don’t choose! Have them both! Especially with the way part of the epilogue was written……)

The additional backstory and lore (ha) of the world was also really well done. Getting more information on the gods was fascinating. I love love loved how well done the religious deconstruction was in this novel. The conflict of being super religious and finding out that blind faith has lead you down a dark path is a hard topic to write about and it’s done beautifully well with Gabe and Malcolm. The seeds for their stories were so well set in the first book and I loved seeing them evolve.

I loved all the twists and this book kept me guessing the entire time and the end! I’m so sad and terrified for all of them. I just want them to be happy but based on what happens in this book, are we going to get a happy ending?! Please tell me we are!

I’m so ready for the third book already, and I’m devastated that it’s going to be at least another year until it comes out. In the meantime, I’m going to be screaming for everyone I know to read this series so I can talk about it.

Oh man, what a joy this series is. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, so anxious to see what was going to happen. It took me a minute to remember enough of what happened in the first book to not just be totally lost. But I got there eventually and then read the last 55% in one sitting.

I really enjoy Lore as a main character. I love Bastian. I am still iffy on Gabe, he has definitely not redeemed himself in my eyes yet. And I honestly still don't know for sure who Lore is going to end up with. Feels like it could go either way.

I was so enthralled when we started getting more background about the gods in this world. The story was very interesting. I cannot wait for the third book, I just wish it was sooner because I know I will remember very little of this one when it does come out.

Wow! That book blew me away. I will admit, I was a bit lost in the beginning trying to remember what happened in the previous book, but Whitten wrote in a way that not only reminded me, but gave me plenty of context to not make me feel lost for long. The character development that Lore went through in book one continued in this book. One big way that she developed was in regard to the sacrifices she was willing to make. I remember in the first book she made the very human decision to be selfish and not sacrifice herself because she was not done wanting to live. I found that refreshing and relatable. In this book there were multiple times she was given grief over it, when in reality, the people who were giving her a hard time were the selfish ones. In this book she did attempt to sacrifice herself, though she thought she found a loophole. Obviously it did not work out too well which left us on a cliffhanger and a set up for book 3.

Often times the second book in a trilogy falls flat and feel more like a filler. Not this book. It was non stop action from page one with the reader constantly trying to put together all of the pieces in the puzzle. While Lore thinks she knows what is going on, she is not certain and wants to be wrong, which leaves the reader on the edge of their seats while she comes to terms with their newest obstacle.

Bastian is still my baby boy and I just want him to be happy. He goes through so much in this book and is truly fighting with all he has. His love for Lore really shines through and all I want for him is a happily ever after. He is going to have an uphill battle in book 3 and I am already preparing to cry. Gabe needs to just get his head out of his a** and just be with Lore. This book is after is betrayal, so him, Lore and Bastian and still trying to navigate through it. Lore is still feeling like she is being pulled in two different directions, but now we have a bit more of an understanding on why. I need Lore, Gabe and Bastian to just give into their mutual feelings and all be together like the gods were. The flashback gave me hope that we will have a throuple.

Overall, this was a really strong second book. Things are feeling pretty hopeless right now so it will be interesting to see how they get out of their current predicament. Can't wait for book 3 and hoping we get our HEA without too much heartbreak along with way.

Thank you Orbit Book and Hannah Whitten for a digital e-arc of this book is exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited to have the opportunity to review this book. I absolutely loved the first book in the series. And this one did not disappoint. The plot and the romance continued very well and I enjoyed reading it so much.