I've never read a more infuriating cast of characters, but that doesn't mean it's not a good ending to the duology. I just really struggled to accept exactly how forgiving Hellevir is, even though it makes sense, since she's a healer. Just. UGH. Utterly infuriating. Interesting world building, just had a lot of stress reading these books, shew.

Read if you like:
- dark fantasy
- morally gray characters
- death

In this conclusion to the Raven’s Trade duology, we find ourselves right back where we left off with Hellevir still following her self exile from Sullivain’s kingdom, determined to protect those that she loves and avoid using her gift at all costs. However, her deal with Death and her inextricable pull to Sullivain cannot be ignored.

After finishing the first book, I was left unsure with how I felt about the series. This book redeemed the storyline. The beginning is slow, but I found myself unable to stop reading as the plot unfolded and Hellevir is tasked with finding more of Death’s hidden treasures. The story of The Antlered King is fascinating.

This book is devastating and emotional. Hellevir must make a lot of tough choices, but never wavers in her beliefs. Sullivain continues to be a complex character and I found myself pleasantly surprised by her ending and character arc.

This would be a good series to read in the fall if you’re looking for something darker and dealing with death in both a literal and imaginative sense.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, minus the love interest. So I was really happy when the book began four years later with Hellevir nowhere near Sullivain. The story was dark and atmospheric, but alas, Sullivain demanded Hellevir return, and Hellevir freaking listened. I was literally 50% in when I decided to read some other 3 star reviews (because they'd be people who liked some aspects but not others) to see if the romance was an issue - and it seems people who felt the same way about Sullivain as me were equally frustrated throughout. Therefore, since it didn't seem the relationship was going to end, that I decided to end my relationship with Hellevir. I am really disappointed that the author feels the need to keep such a strong connection between Hellevir and Sullivain because other than them, the book is great. Sullivain is just selfish and entitled and has no positive qualities, yet Hellevir refuses to let her go.

If the relationship didn't bother you in the first book, you'll enjoy it more than me. If it bothered you, then I don't see a reason to continue.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Beautiful, breathtaking enticing and wonderful in glad to have read this and miss the way reading this for the first time made me feel, thankyou for this chance and this world

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I wasn't gripped by the story. It was very dry for my taste. I did read the first few chapters, but found my mind drifting off quite a bit. Did not finish.

A satisfying sequel! Were there times I wanted to throw the book? Yes. Did I thoroughly enjoy reading this despite that? Absolutely. While I still don't understand the pull of Sullivan for Hellevir, I did find theirs to be an interesting relationship and a driving force behind their actions.

I also enjoyed the reveals about the truth behind who the Antlered King is and his journey of becoming Death.

A big thank you to Harper Voyager and Net Galley for the ARC!

I take back everything I ever said about The Gilded Crown, because The Antlered King is a masterclass in fantasy, and proof of EXCELLENT plotting in a duology. Excellent plotting, worldbuilding, prose, character arcs...just everything. This book upends everything I thought I knew about the tangled relationships between Hellevir, lover (?) Sullivain, and villain (?) Death/Antlered King at the end of Book 1, and it does it so with grace.

Picking up 4 years after the close of The Gilded Crown, Hellevir now ekes out a living going from town to town as an herbalist, forgetting her resurrectionist past and the beautiful but cruel princess from Rochidain she once loved. In her dreams, Hellevir sees Sullivain but wishes she wouldn't: she's tried to distance herself for her own protection. But Hellevir can't forget her past for long, not when word spreads of her abilities in the small town she's settled in, and the queen's righthand man Bion comes to find her. Now, Hellevir must reckon with her past and how it affects her entire kingdom's future, all while picking back up the mystery of exactly who Death is, and whether or not than man is dangerous.

There are so many things I love about this book, but for me, it's the absolute mastery of plot that Gordon has. I read a lot of fantasy, so I've gotten pretty good at seeing plot points coming from a mile off; in a well-crafted book, the seams don't show in this way and here, I genuinely could not predict anything that happened next. I also adore how Gordon's flexible prose shapes the reading experience: from the slow and languid beginning, which almost feels (dare I say?) cozy, to the frenetic scenes of war from later on, the way each sentence and paragraph is crafted contributes directly to the speed I was reading. And THAT's excellent craft, plain and simple. There is nothing wasted here, nothing superfluous; I can tell Gordon's an editor by trade, and, after reading a spate of books that desperately needed an editor on the line level, this was like a cool drink of water.

Thematically, The Antlered King works so well, too. The critiques of religion are subtle and nuanced here, as are discussions about morality and trauma. Here, similar to The Gilded Crown, Gordon asks to what extent can our paths be changed, and whether our actions or our hearts determine who we really are. Here, we see the main trio wrestle with images of themselves, both the images they themselves hope to convey and the ones society puts on them. By the end, there are no easy resolutions, and I just know I'll be thinking about the questions posed here for years to come.

And the characters!! God, I have such a soft spot for Hellevir (it kinda hurts my heart when reviewers call her cold or morally gray), a woman who gives and gives even when there is nothing left of her, because the shame society puts on her for not giving will crush her more. As someone in a helping profession, I felt this down to my bones, and I loved seeing both Hellevir and Death wrestle with this. Her conversations with the Antlered King about hunger, shame, and guilt were some of my favorite parts of the book. They also made me cry. A lot. I loved the doomed relationship between Hellevir and Sullivain, too, because it's NOT healthy, and Hellevir knows it's not healthy, and this is in no way romanticized. I love when complicated relationships are actually able to exist; I do love me a good romantasy, but I feel like so many couples in literature get their HEA these days when, really, it'd be better if some of them didn't (spoiler: there is a very satisfying ending here, but it is not a HEA). And the Antlered King himself!! I loved him in The Gilded Crown, but I love him even more in his titular book.

Anyway, this book is perfect and amazing and everybody needs to read it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and Marianne Gordon for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review! This was, hands down, the best duology I've read this year -- possibly in my top 5 duologies of all time. I cannot wait to see what Gordon writes next!

I enjoyed this book more than the first. I really struggled with how toxic Hellevir and Sullivan’s relationship was in the first book. I felt like Gordon did an excellent job developing both characters in this second book. While I still don’t like Sullivan, I have empathy for her in a way I did not after the first book.

I really like the way this book looked at love and explored what it means to continue loving someone because you know that they are capable of good even when all their actions say otherwise. Is it possible to love and grieve for who someone could be rather than who they are?

Overall, this book is a bittersweet resolution to the Raven’s Trade duology.

I am a shell of a person. I am the saddest I’ve ever been. I feel like The Antlered King hollowed me out with a melon baller.

I desperately want to write a proper review for this beautifully crafted book - it’s been bouncing around in my head every single day since I finished it, but I have no idea where to even begin a review that doesn’t immediately devolve into unhinged, spoiler-filled ranting. This is a tragedy. This is a love story. This is a very thematically dense book - it’s about the cyclical nature of both interpersonal and geopolitical conflict, about the power of storytelling and folklore in shaping historical narratives. It’s about the inevitability of death. It’s about the clash of faiths, the things people are willing to do to hold onto power, and perhaps most importantly, about forgiveness and redemption.

The Raven’s Trade is a tremendously challenging duology - it demands so much patience in its pacing and so much compassion for characters who can be really, really hard to read about. Hellevir was, at times, a genuinely excruciating protagonist for me: she’s an open wound of a character, walking around with her heart bleeding all over the place, absolutely REFUSING to protect herself, to be smart, to toughen up. She is both doomed and saved by her own nature, as many of the characters are. Like most well crafted tragedies, this is a book that is devastating and yet leaves you with a tantalizing, aching, bittersweet sort of hope. It was always going to end this way; there was no other way it could go. But wasn’t it beautiful?

“It’s too late, don’t you see? It’s been too late since the beginning.”

This… is not the review I thought I would be giving this book. I read <I>The Gilded Crown</I> earlier this year and I loved it. I gave it five stars.

I will not be giving <I>The Antlered King</I> five stars.

So what went wrong? Might as well get straight to the issue. This book is some serious Giving Tree* shit. And that metaphor is only slightly metaphorical. Our protagonist, Hellevir, spends most of this book shedding body parts to keep everybody alive and wallowing in guilt when she can’t keep <I>literally</I> everybody alive. Other characters she’d do well to trust keep telling her this is idiocy and madness and self-harm, but nothing can sway her. Toward the very, very end, she learns that death is a necessary part of life - without it, life would be hellish. She notably does <I>not</I> learn that senselessly giving of herself is, again, self-harm rather than a moral aspiration.

And then, there’s her relationship with Sullivain. The way Hellevir never gives up on Sullivain is supposed to read as tragically romantic. Even the voices of reason in Hellevir’s life give up and encourage it by the end. Problem is, Sullivain is irredeemable. She is selfish, sadistic, entitled, and constantly expects a medal for—I hesitate to say ‘basic decency,’ because she doesn’t even reach that very low bar—a medal for feeling bad for being a turd? She repeatedly threatens—and goes through with—destroying things and people Hellevir loves, whenever Hellevir manages to break away from her. She claims she wants to be better, but she places the onus of her salvation on Hellevir and puts in no effort herself. And here’s the thing about redemption arcs: I won’t say they’re not possible. But all the work needs to come from the person who did wrong. The people they harmed do not owe them forgiveness. They don’t even owe them the time of day. They <I>certainly</I> don’t owe them redemption itself.

Unfortunately, the ending of this book gives a ringing authorial endorsement to just such a wrongheaded ‘redemption.’ Hellevir gives her life to resurrect Sullivain. For, uh, the fifth time, I think, at this point? And this time, because Hellevir died for her and shit, it apparently sticks and when we see Sullivain in the epilogue, she’s supposed to be a good person now. Yeah. No. Epilogue!Sullivain does seem like a pretty decent person, in fact. I just don’t believe in her.

One might be tempted to say ‘this is a tragedy, not an endorsement.’ After all, our heroine dies and many intelligent, likable characters caution her about her self-destructive ways beforehand. But tragedy is rooted in failure. Antigone is dead by the end of the titular play, and so is Creon. Both stick to their ideals, no compromise is reached, and nobody wins. Hamlet might finally avenge his father, killing his uncle, but they manage to take almost the entire rest of the cast with them. Fortinbras wins, I guess?** Whereas Hellevir’s resurrection of Sullivain is successful. Not just metaphysically, in that she raises her at all and Death lets her, but in that it actually redeems her. Just give enough of yourself, that’s the ticket! If you haven’t succeeded yet, you must not have martyred yourself enough.

And sure, I like my messy/toxic lesbians as much as the next person. But there’s a difference between the fun kind of messy and what we have on the page in <I>The Antlered King</I>. You could have enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-???, where both sides have a point (<I>The Jasmine Throne</I>, by Tasha Suri.) You could have two disasters who absolutely deserve each other (<I>Gideon the Ninth</I>, by Tamsyn Muir.) Hell, you could even have ‘this is going to end so, so badly, but the person on the losing end of the power imbalance is kinking on it, and who am I to kinkshame?’ (<I>But Not Too Bold</I>, by Hache Pueyo.) What <I>The Antlered King</I> has instead is a realistically portrayed abusive relationship that is then spruced up and presented as salvageable. I do not like this. Not one bit.

Add to that the fact that Hellevir spends SO MUCH of this book waffling and changing her mind, it managed to damage how much I liked her. I loved her in <I>The Gilded Crown</I> and here, her actions found me uttering ‘oh, for fuck’s sake,’ more often than not.

There were a few—pardon the word that’s fast losing all meaning—redeeming features to this book, however. The prose was still lovely. I enjoyed learning more about the world’s mythos and I still enjoyed Hellevir’s dynamic with Death. I still liked many of the secondary characters, like Milandre and Farvor, and really wish Hellevir managed to listen to them more. While I disliked the Sullivain-related parts of the ending, I actually really liked Hellevir becoming the next embodiment of Death. <I>That</I> felt bittersweet but incredibly fitting. And to give credit where credit is due, even the two leads, as much as I wanted to shake or strangle them respectively, were three dimensional. Which means that the chain of events which lead from beginning to end was emotionally plausible. It just left me feeling gross.

With that in mind, the craft Gordon’s got in her tool bag earns this book three stars instead of two. But I’m still unhappy with it.

*Many people far more erudite than I have ranted and essayed on why <I>The Giving Tree</I> is <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAnjfYYTXnA>toxic as hell</a>. The video linked, which I actually found with a cursory google today, is just one example.

**But what about Romeo and Juliet, you ask? Their deaths reconciled their families, right? My argument would be they weren’t trying to reconcile their families. Just be in love, not die, and not be separated. Also, the prince makes the families kiss and make up, because he’s sick of all the senseless violence. R&J themselves are no less doomed for it. Hellevir is actively trying to redeem Sullivain. And she succeeds.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

The Antlered King is a book I found so polarizing in terms of my enjoyment of the story. There book had such build up that felt a little meandering and slow but I had hope that it was going to stick the landing - then it did and then it didn't and repeat that a few times. Hellevir was such an interesting character - her connection with death and particular the Antlered King were some of my favorite aspects of the story. She believed so strongly in second chances - in making a deal to allow someone the chance to keep living at her own expense. Except Sullivain was exhausting - how many times could Hellevir forgive her - I can see the difficulty because you cannot help when you are in love but then she would do something terrible again with the chance Hellevir gave her. I also am not a fan of childhood trauma allows a character to be a bad person - like Sullivain died how many times in book one that would allow her a chance to reflect on that.
Much of the book was also taken up by Hellevir going on this whole different side quest - which to be fair I enjoyed more than her time back in the city and the civil war.

2.75/5 stars

The first book in this duology was fantastic. I loved it so much and was excited to request the sequel! Although this one was good, it didn’t hit the same was as the first.
This one takes place four years after the first, Hellevier continues to run away and refuses to use her resurrect people. Sullivain ruins that though she thighs our poor main character in a loop.
What I do appreciate is the ending. I was angry at first but then I thought about it and it was a good ending for both these characters. Very satisfying. But to get to the ending was a drag. I want to say 40% of this was truly unnecessary. Hellevier goes back and forth constantly about what she wants to do and it had nothing to with the original plot of looking for the treasures. Her whole life revolves around Sullivain in such a toxic way. That’s the definition of their relationship: toxic.
I could see why it was done, this was a good story in seeing how loving someone can make you blind to their faults or wanting to help them change and fix things. But this being fantasy with another plot that I was more interested in, I didn’t love it.
Overall I still enjoy this duology. I still think about it constantly and will recommend it for a long time. The writing is great, the resolution is worth reading, and the characters are extremely complex.
Please read this!

I enjoyed the first entry into this series, but to me, it really found its footing in The Antlered King.

This is dark, atmospheric, almost painful in watching Hellevir's various (awful) decisions. I felt such a sense of dread as the story went on, but then got to the ending and felt like it fit perfectly and went so well with the rest of the story. I appreciated seeing more of Sullivain in this book, even if she got about 10x more chances than she possibly deserved. I was glad to see the direction that the relationship with Death took.

I loved the exploration of grief, forgiveness, the sapphic yearning, and the utter tragedy. Great for fans of political intrigue and torment.

ugh, I am so bummed I didn't love this one! I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and was very excited to pick up this installment. I couldn't wait to see Hellevir's growth as a character and what she would do once out of Sullivain's shadow (who was my least favorite part of the first book). Well, unfortunately after the first 50-100 pages Hellevir resorted back to following Sullivain's bullshit, and made some real just dumb/awful decisions in this one. It was like instead of expanding on all the things I liked in the first book (world building, religion/lore, side characters, personal growth) the author leaned into toxic crush/insta-love on the toxic princess, making Hellevir more of a crutch for others than the main character of her own book. Really bummed about this one.

Marianne Gordon concludes the Raven's Trade duology with The Antlered King, which is both painful and gorgeous. A masterful blend of dark fantasy, political intrigue, and strong emotional tension, this book centers on Hellevir's relentless struggle to protect those she loves, even at her own cost.

Hellevir and Sullivain's relationship is full of love, betrayal, and the ever-present weight of fate. I’m drawn in immediately and was eager to see what happens with them. Hellevir is forced to make hard decisions about life, love and power.

In addition to the relatable characters, the worldbuilding is strong and complex in this book. The emotional stakes are higher than ever, and I found myself engrossed with every page.

This isn’t a lighthearted romance and it won’t offer easy answers, but it will be every bit worth it to read. It gives and honest analysis of grief, selflessness, and the nature of second chances. Loved it and highly recommend!

How many pieces of yourself would you be willing to sacrifice for the ones you love?

The Antlered King is the second half of The Raven’s Trade duology. The book begins four years after The Gilded Crown with Hellevir, our protagonist and resurrectionist, traveling from town to town through the Chron, making her way as an herbalist until she settles down to winter in a small town in the mountains where the business of the Crown eventually finds her once more and drags her back to the capital (thankfully, not in chains or as a prisoner).

Four years is a long time for some things; for other things it’s no time at all.

I adored the first book in this duology so much, but I think I love this book even more. I was so angry with the characters in the first book: at Hellevir for her naivety and Sullivain for being so toxic. This time around, I understand them both better and why they made the choices they made. It may not have made me like Sullivain any more than I did before, but it made me more compassionate toward her. The back half of this book made me sob like I don’t think I have in a long time, outside of mental breakdowns.

Gordon just continued to grow and enrich the world of the Chron between the first book and this one: the mythology, cities, magic, characters, and more only became more interesting and detailed, filling the book with dark fantasy and warfare in the place of the toxic romance and court intrigue from the first book.

Above, under, and around it all is Death, serving as Hellevir’s counsel, conscience, and disciplinarian. It is he that stands in line with us, watching and waiting to see what choices will lead to the end.

🩶 What to Expect 🩶

🍒 Hunger causes pain
💣 “What does Death have to be ashamed of?”
🍒 Random riddle solving with story bonuses
💣 I’m going back to the start
🍒 Wildest dreams being the sweetest torture
💣 This time things will surely be different, right?
🍒 War only benefits those in power
💣 Absence makes the heart forgetful
🍒 Religious persecution
💣 Siblings fight all the time
🍒 Treasonous plot hatching
💣 You can’t save everyone
🍒 Sometimes the best thing you can do is remove yourself from the game
💣 Grieving for what might have been
🍒 Just because you say something doesn’t mean people have to listen
💣 Don’t lose what makes you…you
🍒 A god of blood recompense and the embodiment of second chances
💣 Faith has to be earned

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Duology/Dark Fantasy/Kindle Unlimited/Sapphic Romance

📘: The Antlered King-The Raven's Trade Book #2

✍🏾 By: Marianne Gordon- I read The Gilded Crown and gave it 4 ✨

📃 Page Count: eBook 464

📅 Publication Date: 2-18-25 | Read: 2-18-25

🙏🏾 Thanks to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager| Harper Voyager, and Marianne Gordon for this ARC🫎! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Genre: Adult Fic, Dark Fantasy, Sci Fi

🌏 Setting: Claridain and Rochidain

Tropes:
politics/court intrigue
LGBTQIA+ rep
religious zealots

⚠️TW: a lot of death

POV: single, 3rd person

Summary Hellevir has been travelling for the past three years and rests in Claridain while her horse Dune is tended to. She meets a Peer in training Lykus, a pregnant troupe singer Eloe, and an Onaistian Peer Aedus. As a practicing herbalist Hellevir treats and heals until she is forced to choose between a baby and a Peer. Princess Sullivain summons her back to Rochidain to help her take over the crown.

🚺Heroine: Hellevir Andottir-26, a healer and necromancer

🚺Heroine: Princess Sullivain De Neid- last heir to the throne

Side cast:
The Queen- Sullivain's grandmother-went into madness
Farvor- Hellevir's older brother
Elsevir- Hellevir's raven
Calgir-Farvor's lover (deceased)
Death-has a part of Hellevir's soul from bargaining
Pa & Piper-Hellevir's parents

My Thoughts: The end of this duology was satisfying though the first 100 pages was slow, but things sped up when Hellevir and Sullivain reunited. Hellevir tried to save everyone with Sullivain being her biggest struggle. She has changed into a tired and bitter ruler who declared unnecessary civil war. This was a story of Hellevir's love and devotion never quite understanding you can only help those who want it.

😢😆🥰😭Range of emotions:
Emotion 4/5
Couple 2/5
️Rating 4/5

The Antlered King is book two in The Raven's Trade duology by Marianne Gordon.
I was so thrilled to finally get my hands on the second book!
An enthralling dark gothic fairytale that was truly an amazing read.
I was immediately drawn into the world and connected with the characters, falling into their story along with them. The writing was masterful and the story so carefully plotted.
The writing is so descriptive that it allows you to vividly picture what is happening.
From the moment I picked it up I was engrossed in this world.