I received this arc from Net Galley to read and review.

I loved The Foxglove King and have been dying to read this sequel . . . I kept putting it off fearing it would suffer from book 2 syndrome. I finally worked up the nerve and binged it in 2 days! Where to begin - I’m a vibes girl and I feel like the first book has more of the gothic, dark, and beautiful vibe. Maybe it was the novelty of the type of magic or the political plot line.

While this book had fewer “vibes” than the first, it stepped up in the area of mythology and folklore. In the 2nd book, the gods and origin story are on full display. Two of the gods are given backgrounds, memories, personality, etc. They are no longer the 2 dimensional idols just out of reach of anyone but the clergy and royalty. They are more fleshed out and an active part of the story.

The romance storyline was very similar to the first book. Lots of yearning and tension, looks across the room and almost moments. At the start of the book, Lore still hasn’t made a decision and by the end, she has a decision but it may not be obtainable. Overall, I really like this one but for different reasons than the first book. I will definitely be reading the 3rd book. 4.5 stars rounded up

I loved the first book and this one did not disappoint. I thought this was a very well executed second book. I think the magic system/ history is this book is very unique. I have never read anything with a story line like this. I love all of the characters and I can not wait for the next book to see where the story goes!

The Hemlock Queen is a gripping, angsty follow-up to one of my favorite reads of 2023.

With the reveals at the end of The Foxglove King, the story is all set up to really get started in this installment. The beginning is a bit slow as the characters kind of wait and reflect on what happened in book one. But the story quickly picks up with lots of drama and tension.

The Hemlock Queen builds on the events of The Foxglove King perfectly. We dive deeper into the magic, the politics, and the character relationships. I love how the book shifts to focus a bit more on Bastian’s character and Bastian and Lore’s relationship. The increasing presence of magic in the kingdom adds a new level of tension and angst to the court. Hannah Whitten is absolutely taunting me with the scenes between certain characters in this book. I am highly anticipating what I hope will be incredible payoff.

One thing that has bugged me about both of the installments in this series is just how long it takes the characters to come to obvious conclusions. The heavy-handed hints aren't quite as bad in The Hemlock Queen,

The ending was explosive and wild leaving me on the edge of my seat for book three. I’m really curious to see if we get more POVs in the next book given the… chaotic nature of the ending.

Hannah Whitten excels at writing books that get me out of a reading slump. There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about the topics covered in this series. The book is focused on delivering a fun, entertaining experience.

This was my most anticipated read since I read an ARC of the first book and I am just here to say that Hannah Whitten is a goddess. This series DOES NOTTTTT suffer from middle book syndrome that’s for sure. Lore, Bastian, and Gabe- THE TENSION. Let me tell you, I am both so in love and so stressed 🥹❤️

I liked this one a little less than the first I think. This one was slower paced throughout (though the first started out pretty slow so it wasn't too much of a surprise that this one was as well) and never quite had me totally sunk into the story and hooked so while I was interested it did take me a while to read through this one. Wow what an expansion of the magic and world though in this one. Hannah Whitten really dug in deep there and I like what she is doing and I think the last book in this trilogy will be quite a conclusion.

The Hemlock Queen 3.75⭐️3🌶️

Second book
Fantasy Romance
Love triangle
God Magic
Religious history
Politics
Flashbacks
Treachery
🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ side character rep
Slow burn


The book starts off right after the end of the first book. I appreciate how quickly there is a sort of recap of the end of the last book. You can see the author put the effort in to be sure we remembered all the loose ties.

This book was a good second book. There wasn’t as much of a second book syndrome as I expected. It could have been…. More. And that is frustrating.

I felt like there was less angst and love triangle in this book. Maybe because everyone was straight up avoiding each other. And a true triangle seemed to come out of nowhere. So that struggle that was so prevalent in the first book was tamped down to a trickle and I’m a little disappointed by that. It just felt under developed.

The character arcs were all compelling and the struggle between god and mortal was very interesting. But we just lost some of the luster because of each internal struggle. This could also be because the characters stepped up reluctantly into positions of power… and things that seemed to be driving character traits seemed to change, even in moments when we were seeing them clearly. I’m loving the full arcs of the side characters… but I’m also terrified for them. I like that they are all flawed.

I wish there had been a little more magic interaction. It’s described so interestingly in the first book, and we only see that level of detail twice in this book. I wanted so much more of the rich visualization of the magic I’ve come to love in Hannah Whitten’s writing.

The world-building was decently done. I found the magical foundation to be interesting.


Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was an amazing sequel. I was happy to be back with the characters. This gave me the perfect gothic vibe and I loved it. This is perfect book to read in Autumn. This book had definitely delivered in atmosphere and tension and angst. The stakes where elevated. The lore and the world building was expanded and perfect.

Having absolutely loved Foxglove King I couldn't wait to read the follow up, Hemlock Queen, to see where Lore went next. Unfortunately, the first half of the second book had some major pacing issues. Usually I love character driven story lines but the love triangle between Gabe, Bastian, and Lore had me wondering why I loved the first book so much. At some points the conflict between these 3 felt somewhat repetitive and I remember thinking, didn't we resolve this already?!

Thankfully, the second half of the book picked up the plot and drew me back in, otherwise this would have been a midcore fantasy romance. Hannah Whitten is an incredible writer and despite some of the flaws with pacing, the prose is still beautifully done. I loved the parallels between the gods and Lore and her friends although at some points it felt a bit too on the nose, and the ending was very compelling. While this won't make it into my favorite books of 2024 list, I'm still excited to see the conclusion of Lore's story and plan to read the final installment in the Nightshade Crown trilogy.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am pleased to announce this book doesn't suffer from the sophomore slump. Whitten's second entry in The Nightshade Trilogy is just as gripping as the first. We continue to delve into court politics, there is a love triangle brewing (is this going to turn into a Why Choose??), and we continue to see trouble brewing between the religious and the royalty.

The ending of this book is a huge cliff and I cannot wait to see how Whitten wraps this trilogy up.

I had to go and look up some of the broader strokes of what happened last book, but this is a fun, solid follow up and middle book. Ms. Whitten gets to lean a bit more towards horror than she's leaned before, and I hope that she gets the go to fully lean into it next book. There's a lot more focus on possession and religious fervor, and the narcissism of men who are convinced they're owed the world. Interested to see where the trilogy winds up.

Thank you to netgalley for this arc.

I so badly wanted to love this book. After reading book one I really enjoyed the characters and the twist at the end. The world building was a little confusing, but overall so cool and I love the whole idea of necromancy in this book. After reading both books, I feel as though there was too much going on but not enough that makes me interested as a reader. To me one of the best plots of the book was Apollious slowly taking over Bastian's entire mind and body, to me that was really cool and I wanted more of that. Apollious is a good villain and I do find him enjoying to read about, especially the whole concept of the old gods being within a lot of the main characters. Don't get me wrong, this book has a lot of really cool and unique things going on it but ultimately not enough to really capture my entire interest. I will read book three as I have committed this much time to the series that I want to see it played out.
The book was good but I was waiting for it to be great. Whitten is an incredibly talented writer but for some reason this book didn't do it for me.

was an entertaining read but I didn't end up loving it as much as book one - The Foxglove King from last year. It picks up just a few weeks after the events of book one where the protagonist Lore and her friends had finally managed to defeat the previous king. Bastian is the new king now and Lore as his deathwitch is now a permanent fixture in his court. Gabe has also taken over the role of the Priest Exalted but Lore is still hurt because of his actions in the previous book. The nobles aren't too happy with the current state of things either and the Kyrithean Empire is stirring at their border, so all of them have a lot of things to deal with. And as this wasn't enough, the voice in Lore's head has become a bit more vocal and insistent and Bastian also starts behaving unusually.

This one retained most of the gothic feels from the previous book and we also get a lot more background info - from the origin of their powers to the story behind the gods. At the same time, the first 40% was a little difficult for me to get through because I felt like the characters were being pulled along by the plot instead of acting independently the way they did before. They've had to deal with the aftermath of the previous events but Lore wasn't so passive before. But, the second half was really good as the action ramped up and I was completely pulled in. And the direction this love triangle is heading towards seems promising(a bit unique compared to other fantasy books) but I have to admit that the attraction between the characters felt like all-talk-no-show 🤨 I definitely needed more than what was there here. And Lore kept repeatedly thinking about Gabe when she was with Bastian or about Bastian when she was with Gabe - and that was a bit tiring as I didn't really feel the 'love' that she had for them. Another weird thing would be the hints of attraction between Gabe and Bastian - which were completely absent in book one as they were quite literally at each other's throats then? It popped out of nowhere and I felt like the author could have shown us the attraction between them in their interactions instead of just talking about it or hinting at it.
The ending was quite surprising and I found the overall plot very interesting so I'm definitely going to be reading the next book too!

The second book in a series is always hit or miss, but Hannan Whitten nailed it with The Hemlock Queen. The book starts immediately after the conclusion of The Foxglove King (book one) with Bastian taking over as King from his father. As the story progresses, we learn more about the consequences of the Gods involvement in Lore and Bastian’s lives and the powers that come with it.
The romance between the three main characters- Bastian, Lore, and Gabe- continues to evolve, but with all love triangles, it’s complicated. I don’t typically like love triangles, but this one is different. All three characters have feelings for the other two, including the men, so it’s not just two men fighting over a girl. Whitten does an amazing job of conveying the messiness of these types of feelings and I found it really authentic and not gimmicky.
I really enjoy Lore as a protagonist- she just feels so human and real to me. Most heroines are ready to fight and die for the world, but Lore isn’t, and I find that honestly refreshing.
In The Hemlock Queen, Whitten expands on the world building elements, and I really enjoyed learning more about the Gods and Their history! I hope we get more of this in book three.
I can’t wait for book three!

This was a really good gothic romantasy novel with a well developed magic system and intricate world building. Whitten definitely avpoided the challenges some sequels face. Hemlock Queen is filled with betrayal, deception, and political ploys. It is a great sequel to Hemlock King. I don't want to give spoilers but will say that Lore is torn between decisions of the heart and forces working to take over the kingdom. This book goes even deeper into the magic system and the gods impacting this kingdom. There is a little more spuce but it isn't the sole focus of the story--think complex slow burn spice and relationship.

Ughhhhhhh this one was not for me! I think I was in a reading slump, so I can't tell for sure what the case was with this one.

While not as fast paced and interesting as the first book, the Hemlock Queen ends on a suspenseful note that makes the third installment a must-read. I cannot wait to see what happens next, especially now that all of the "friends" understand what they are (or becoming) and are separated.

What a book! I was so happy to have this as I finished The Foxglove King and I could not put this book down. I also did not want it end! What is going to happen in book 3?? The writing was well done and kept me engaged.

My hopes for this sequel were high and I was not disappointed. There is magic, there is intrigue, there is character development, but there is, unfortunately, also a devastating lack of Horse the horse. The gradual creeping dread and ominous, intangible villain remind me of my favorite parts of the Shades of Magic trilogy, a comparison that makes me excited for the final installment. It is hard to write a review without spoilers because (a) this book is a masterful display of plot twists, and (b) some of the plot twists rely on previous plot twists so I don't even know how I would describe the plot if I tried.

To end, two of my favorite, yet sometimes underrated, parts:
The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were an interesting element of the first book, but in this one, they felt like integral yet concise parts of the narrative.
I sometimes find it incredibly hard to picture what is happening in a scene, but this book describes light, texture, and material in such a way that the world feels so vivid.

So I had to take the time to read the first of Nightshade Crown Series before I could start The Hemlock Queen. Maybe I needed a palate cleanser of a different genre before I read the second in this series because I found the plot a bit plodding and therefore didn’t enjoy it as much as the first.
One of my favourite characters from the series is Gabriel but we didn't see him as much and therefore he was not involved as much in the plot or in Lore’s character development.

Although I was bored at times, I still enjoyed being immersed in the world building and I still love Lore as our heroine so I will more than likely continue to visit the Sainted King’s Court.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I couldn’t put this down and I couldn’t read this fast enough! Every time I thought I knew what was happening I was proven wrong.

In this book we see more of the gods and their attempt to take back control. Through the entire book I couldn’t decide if I like Gabe or Bastian more or if I even liked them at all at some points.

Overall I didn’t think I could like this one any better than the first but I liked it even more.

My only negative take away is that it did start off really slow! But once you get 100 pages or so in it really takes off.

4/5 stars and would highly recommend!