3 stars

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

I love Hannah Whitten's books.

This one took me a while to get through. I wasn't as engaged as I was with the first book. It was still good, just not my favorite.

I'm not much into love triangles so I wasn't super invested in the Gabe/Lore/Bastian situation. Lore needs to settle on one guy because it's driving me crazy.

I am hoping the 3rd book is a little better than this one. Sometimes those middle books in a trilogy aren't as good as the first and last. Here's to hoping!

Thank you Orbit and Netgalley for this eARC!!

I'm so glad this book didn't suffer from Second Book Syndrome. This really exceeded my expectations as far as character growth and plot and I can't wait for book 3 (please give me the ARC, Orbit my beloved).

Final poly endgame flags count: 54 (about one per 8.5 pages) lol

This was such a great sequel!! I did find it a bit slow at times, but it was entertaining, and a I love the characters so much :) I can't wait to see what happens in book three!

I had tons of fun with "The Foxglove King," and the same excitement carried over to its sequel, "The Hemlock Queen." In a market saturated with romantasy, this story feels fresh and original, keeping me invested in the series.

The story picks up right where the first book left off, diving deeper into the magic, the gods, and their powers. For romantasy readers, the tension and angst in this book are off the charts, with one particular character making my heart ache. I'm devastated!

Hannah Whitten excels in character development. I care so deeply for everyone (at least the good guys) that it's almost unbearable. I’ve mentioned before that I usually hate love triangles, but Hannah has me rooting for a poly relationship between Lore, Bastian, and Gabe even more now. I love them all and just want to see these damaged characters find healing and a bit of happiness.

The pacing of this book was a bit slower than I'd prefer, but the worldbuilding and plot are full of manipulation, scheming, and twists that keep it interesting. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced there's a happily ever after in sight, but I'll have to wait and see.

I can't wait to see what Hannah has in store for the third book!

3✰ // i honestly have such mixed feelings about The Hemlock Queen. the story kept me flipping the page, eager to know where the story went next— for the most part. yet i never felt truly captivated by the plotline, or particularly attached to any of the characters. i did take a bit of a break from reading the book about halfway through and felt somewhat reinvigorated to finish off the second half once i’d taken some time. im also very conflicted over the story’s ending. i was expecting a bit more definitive closure at the end of this book and i dont feel that we received that. i wouldnt call it a cliffhanger but i certainly am not walking away feeling sated. henceforth, would i recommend this book? i think if you read The Foxglove King and are itching to keep following the storyline, then absolutely, read on. however, i would just advise against going into it anticipating to walk away with closure at the book's ending.

thank you so much to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded down. This picks up a few months after book 1, The Foxglove King, ends. The characters are dealing with the aftermath of their choices and betrayals and then things start to go wrong again. This book got off to a slower start than book 1 did. I really enjoyed book 1 so I continued reading but I would have DNFed around 30% in otherwise. Though I am glad that I stuck it out because I am really intrigued by this trilogy and want to see how it will conclude in book 3. Things did pick up after about 50% though, and the ending was really interesting as things start to fall into place.

I think I struggled because a lot of this book happens in the main characters head. There is not a ton of action and exciting plot. This book is mostly about figuring out the truth of their situations and setting themselves up for the conclusion. I think the banter was a shining element of book 1 and that was missing here. The relationship building was completely lost in book 2. I am hoping to see Lore and Alie grow closer again in book 3. We also get one chapter from Gabe's POV, so I am really intrigued on if we will get more in #3.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing an eARC of this book.

Second books in a series are always hit or miss for me and this time, Hannah Whitten did not disappoint. Whitten does an excellent job of juggling between making sure the reader remembers the events of the first book without being repetitive, while smoothly moving the plot forward. There is plenty of action, romance, and political intrigue that kept the pages turning for me. Although I felt the magic at times was a bit confusing with the combination of both mortem and spiritum, it wasn't enough to turn me away from the enfolding drama. I absolutely loved the twists with the gods themselves and cannot wait for the final book in the trilogy to pull everything together. I am still not sure who I want Lore to end up with in the end, but I am thoroughly enjoying her journey.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Whitten, and Orbit books for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second installment in Hannah Whittens newest romantic fantasy, it’s predecessor was The Foxglove King. The story is continued here with all of the crazy court politics and love triangles, dark magic, our main character Lore is able to wield death magic basically so we do have a bit of necromancy in the mix which is fun. The Foxglove King does end on a cliffhanger and this extended that plot line to it's fullest. Really enjoyed it!

Thank you so much to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the earc. All opinions are my own.

I actually requested the sequel before reading the first book and had a somewhat tough time with it. I love the world building, relationships, and a bit of darkness in the stories but the romance wasn’t there. The Hemlock Queen had a lot more of that element!

King August is dead. Gabe is now priest exalted and Prince Bastian is king. Lore is his intended bride. More religion building in the sequel where you very quickly find out that all the gods are coming back and inhabiting new vessels.

The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten is a fantasy romance and the second book in the Nightshade Crown series.

I borrowed the audiobook from my local library. Emily Ellet is the narrator and overall I think she does a good job. Occasionally she talks way quieter in one character voice than another in the same conversation, and it made it a little hard for me to parse sometimes.

I liked the first book in this series, The Foxglove King okay. I actually had a pretty similar reading experience with both books so far. The beginning is a lot of vibes and info dumps, but then I got pretty invested throughout the back half of the book. That being said, this one has a bit of middle book syndrome and in the first 30% I honestly thought about DNFing. I'm glad I didn't, though.

Thankfully, the casual queerness continues from the first book, which I love to see. Our main character, Lore, was raised by a lesbian couple, many characters appear to be sexually fluid, and one of the gods in the pantheon is nonbinary and is referenced with they/them pronouns.

The love triangle is still a big triangle, here. It didn't fully land for me in the first book, but after this one I'm hopeful that my OT3 will eventually come to be. There are a lot of hints about it, so I'm crossing my fingers.

I particularly enjoy the magic system here: the duality between Mortem, death magic, and Spiritum, life magic. There's also elemental magic but for Reasons it's not as prevalent as the life and death magics. We learn a lot about how the current pantheon of gods came about in this installment.

The romance went nowhere, which is a major book sin for me, because everyone was too caught up in what was going on with Bastian. And because Bastian was possessed by the evil sun god king for 95% of this book, we didn't even get his comedic relief to balance out some of the more darker moments that took place in this book. Basically, my favorite character couldn't be himself and it made me mad even though it kind of made sense for the plot. I'm not even sure if I can call the romance shared between the three main leads a "slowburn" at this point, because the characters say how much they love each other, but they never really show it, Book one was so much better this one just wasnt for me, I had higher hopes.

The Hemlock Queen was a good follow-up to The Foxglove King and it started to answer some of the questions I had after the twists and turns of the book 1 ending. New twists and a further dive into the magic system of this world was also explored. I enjoyed the flashbacks and the connection to mythology this series is starting to have, which is not where I expected to go at the beginning of the series.

Lore still plays a prominent role and is portrayed as a strong female character and I like the realness of her emotions. Typically I am not a fan of the love triangle trope but find that I don't hate it in this book and more intrigued on where it will go. Bastian was a character I was hoping we got to know more but still feel a little disconnected to him, but loved getting to explore the alliances and friendships Lore forms with the other side characters. For me a negative is that I feel like I only know the characters at the surface level and want to know them deeper because they do seem so fascinating.

I would also say the pace of the book was not my favorite, I felt like The Foxglove King ended in such a rushed and chaotic way and then is this book it jumped around a lot. At times I was devouring chapters and couldn't put it down and then others I wasn't as interested. However, I am still very excited to read the next in the series and see how it all comes together because I do think Hannah has written a captivating and creative story.

I loved reading this book! I loved the first one, and I was excited to see where this one would go. And oh, the places that it went! I had to keep reading and watch as the story unfolded, it was so good and I was very much entertained!

I really enjoyed seeing these characters settle into the new roles that they assumed at the end of the previous book. I know Lore was particularly uncomfortable with it, since she didn't grow up in that world, plus with her powers being expanded upon.

What was going on with both Bastian and Lore, well, that was pretty scary, since they didn't know what was going on. But once we knew, well, yeah, that was pretty big! And it makes sense, too, that one bit of information. It all fits together so well!

Oh, but that ending was so fantastic and so evil! I need to know what's going to happen next, with all these characters in various unwelcome states-I have to see them get out of them! The wait for the 3rd book is just going to be evil.

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more!

The Hemlock Queen picks up right where we left off in The Foxglove King, so it is difficult to share too many details without spoiling anything.
Overview:
-Gothic fantasy
-Necromancy
-Life/Death magic
-Forbidden romance
-Love triangle
-gods & godesses
-Political conflict

This series has most definitely helped with the book hangover I had after reading The Shephard King duology by Rachel Gillig. It is the perfect adult gothic fantasy but with very minimal spice.

I felt this book experienced the "middle book syndrome" and dragged just a little bit in the beginning, but things really picked up about 1/3 way through and I did not want to put this book down! We really dive more into the history and world-building around the gods and what role they play.

I am not normally the biggest fan of love triangles; however, this book incorporates it so well and has me very excited to see how it plays out!
We can see that there is a lot more depth to the relationship between these three characters and why they are so drawn to one another.

This book ends on a dynamic cliffhanger, setting my expectations for the third book at an all-time high! I cannot wait to see where the next installment of this series will go!

I really loved the first book in this series. However I didn’t enjoy this one as much. But however that being said I do want to read the next one still to see where this works and characters takes me

4 stars Not as great as the first novel but not as bad as I heard from others that have reviewed it. I say it suffers from 2nd book syndrome, and by the way, I thought this was going to be a duology.

This book isn't necessarily bad, and I believe fans of the first installment will likely enjoy this one. However, it didn't quite resonate with me. The pacing felt inconsistent, and I struggled with the storyline's direction, particularly in the first half. The writing style remained strong, yet I found it difficult to connect with the narrative and my favorite characters from the previous book. (honestly I feel this way about most of this authors work).

The shift from the engaging political intrigue and sassy female leads of the first book to Lore's repetitive internal monologue about her love triangle was disappointing. The plot dragged, with nothing significant happening until the final quarter, where some intriguing backstory finally emerged. Unfortunately, Lore seemed more like a passive participant than an active driver of the plot. Despite these flaws, the ending was compelling enough to keep my interest, and I'm hopeful the third book will return to the action-packed narrative of the first. If you enjoyed the initial book and appreciate a love triangle, this one might be more suited to you - but, it definitely suffers from second book syndrome.

I was excited for this installment of the series and was even more excited when I was gifted and ARC. The first half of this book was slow and I was having trouble finding the same page turning feeling I had with the first book, however I did enjoy the additional characters added and the background we got on our main characters. The new storyline giving us the history of the god was exciting. By the end I wasn't sure if I wanted to read the 3rd book, and I am still unsure, but I did find the second half of the book was more fast paced.

I can not tell you how long I have waited for this book to come out and I'm so thankful that I was able to get an ARC of this book. I read The Foxglove King as an ARC as well and have been PATIENTLY, okay maybe not so patiently. But patiently enough that it was worth every single second of it.

Special thanks to netgalley for the copy of this book. I loved book 1 of this series and this follow up didn't disappoint. This book was one I just couldn't put down I couldn't recommend it more!!