The Nightshade God was a really satisfying conclusion to this trilogy. The stakes have never been higher for our main trio, and there was some really excellent growth with some of the side characters. Alie really impressed me and enjoyed her chapters a lot. The ending fit with the overall themes of the book, though I do wish the epilogue had been a tiny bit longer. But I know why it wasn't either. At times I struggled with how much our characters were separated, but I absolutely understand why. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the trilogy as a whole.

WHAT A TRILOGY! I really enjoyed all the characters!!! Even the worst ones! This story as a whole was just so, good! I thought the world building was excellent and easy to grasp. I really loved the background of the power and then the ones who became gods from the power went it was just so intriguing!! I am so satisfied with the ending as well this was a great read! So many provoking thoughts concerning organized religion as well and I thought the acknowledgements addressing that subject added so much to it! Seriously, I loved this trilogy so much and I can’t wait for everyone to read the conclusion!!!!!

That was such a beautiful ending to this trilogy I’ve loved so well. If you’re a fan of dark, high stakes fantasy, this is the one for you. Hannah Whitten’s storytelling is unmatched. The world-building and magic system are unique, but easily grasped. Every single character has so much realness and life to them. I’ve been recommending this series since I first read The Foxglove King back in 2023, and the continuation of the series was nothing short of magical. This is hands down one of my favorite fantasy series I’ve ever read. This book took me on an emotional roller coaster. I was actively sobbing at the end, but then that epilogue just gives you everything you could ever ask for. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the pain of the last couple chapters. Thank you so much to Orbit for the advanced copy.

I LOVE GABE I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOR!!!!!!! god i love bastien too but hes just ..... hostile-ly taken over by a mad god for a while so i didn't get his big parts to fall in love with like i did with gabe and im lore i love them both but unlike her where bastien is her sun and gabe her moon, gabe baby- gaby ? - you can be my sun. im glad they got a life together in the end (even if it was FIVE HUNDRED YEARS LATER hannah wtf) so i dont have to be taken away to the insane asylum screaming about them

It was very confusing, especially towards the end. I wish we got to see more of Gabe, Bastian, and Lore together, as it didn't seem very believable that they loved each other. It was also very convenient that everyone who helped them turned out to be a bad guy that just ended up dead. I did like how it concluded, with them waiting centuries for each other, and the writing was very beautiful.

What immediately caught my attention from the beginning of this series was the unique religion and the way it impacts the characters. Not only that, but I love the development of the relationships between the characters and how we see each of them grow. Now at the conclusion of the series, Nightshade God brings the characters, their relationships and their religion to the breaking point. We see Lore and her loved ones scattered across their world as they combat the Living God.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for the advance digital copy of the book. Highly recommend for fantasy readers who like dark, adventurous, emotional reads!

This was a gut-wrenching finale to an incredible high-stakes fantasy trilogy that made my heart race and even get a little teary.

The Nightshade God starts not long after the court has imploded. Bastian has fallen to the god in his head and thought lost forever, Lore has been sent as a prisoner to the ash-choked Burnt Isles, and Gabe has escaped to a neighboring nation to the north. Lore and Gabe are separated and unsure how to help their country, the world, and Bastian, if he can be saved at all.

I loved the breakneck fast pace of this book, as it made the stakes seem as incredibly real as they were high. Each of the characters are in a race against time to stop Apollonius from destroying the world while also preventing the gods in their heads from erasing them. All premise of court intrigue is gone as Alie tries to stay out of Apollonius’ line of sight while looking for any sign of Bastian, and as Gabe and Malcolm try to find any allies—but everyone feels lost on how to move forward so scattered and broken as they are. Once the gang realize there might be a way—finding the broken shards of the Fount and bringing them back together—it seems that the gods have another plan to subvert them.

As the plot and the suspense moved rapidly forward, I was once again reminded of how much I loved these complex characters and their relationships. Lore is still the girl who would do anything to survive, but is now learning how love factors into those old instincts. Gabe no longer struggles with his faith, but is constantly at odds with his power and his guilt, tending to lean back into his self-sacrificial nature. Bastian, when he surfaces, is more the knight in shining armor than he’s ever been—and while I still loved him as a character, I loved him because of his background and his role in the overarching story, rather than this heroic figure that felt a little two-dimensional in this book than I wanted. This might have been just because he spent have the book suffocated by a god in his head and didn’t have a lot of page time, or that his conflicted feelings about the crown and his love for Gabe and Lore have been resolved, but I wish he’d felt a bit more real here. And also because I’m a romantic at heart and love when fantasy books—and their authors—decide to go all-in on a love triangle that resolves into polyamory, I just wish their relationship could have been developed a bit more.

Despite these, I loved this book and this series will definitely go down as a favorite. Come for the death magic, gods walking among us, a queer norm society, and a complicated love triangle, and stay for the found family, the character growth, and a thrilling time.

Absolutely loved! This book had me hooked just from the cover and I am sooo glad I was given the chance to read it! I loved every moment of it and it was a wonderful way to conclude the series! Hannah Whitten's writing is top notch! Thank you to Netgalley for this e-arc!

I was so excited to read the conclusion to this series. I fell in love with Lore and Bastion all over again! I even started to love Gabe by the end of the book.

I loved the multi POV aspect, it kept the story interesting and fast paced. Previous minor characters really stood out to me. We were given so much more insight into The Gods and experienced a lot of adventure and world building.

So many twists and turns in this book. Towards the end I was begging for the knots in my stomach to be untied! I was on the edge of my seat just hoping everything would work out.

The best way to describe this series overall would be thought provoking. So much discussion about religion and our existence as a whole. It made me really sit and think about my upbringing and how stories change depending on who is telling the story.

I’m so excited to see what Hannah Whitten writes next! She’s definitely an auto buy author for me now.

The Nightshade God
by: Hannah Whitten

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️

The highly anticipated finale to the Nightshade Crown Trilogy was almost everything I wanted! Filled with even more world building, exploration of the complex relationships with religion, and throuple vibes (Lore, Gabe, and Bastian Forever), it was a satisfying ending to the trilogy.

It was four stars for me only because for me, the pacing was slow. This was not a bad thing, but there were moments where I wanted to “get on with it”, so to speak. I just wanted the gang back together, but that wasn’t really the point of the story. All in all, highly recommend the trilogy for anyone who hasn’t read it. It was excellent.

This book is a must read if you like:
🔪 Multi POV
☠️ “Touch Them and Die”
🔪 World Building!
☠️ Complex and Morally Grey MCs

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

4.5⭐️
Pub date: 7/15/25

WOW what a way to end this trilogy!! I loved this. After Hemlock Queen, this was exactly what I needed. This felt like nonstop action to me but also ended up being so romantic. That epilogue had me in tears😭

Thank you thank you thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy to read and review!!

I loved reading this book! I was really looking forward to this book, to seeing how the story was going to end, and it nailed it! The ending of book 2 had me itching to see how they were going to deal with the situation that they were in, how they were going to deal with Apollius and the other gods.

I'm pretty sure this is the only book in the series that alternated fairly evenly between perspectives, there might have been a one off, or a couple here and there, but we followed 4 of these characters who each have a different god and/or power in their head, and they're pretty scattered. Loved watching as they came together! Of course the trio, Lore, Bastian and Gabe, who I adore and I was cheering their threesome, but also Alie, which was really interesting, with all the different circumstances that they're all in.

A big part of this book was religious and what it is like when the reality doesn't line up with the ideals. The author's acknowledgements mentions Christianity, and how people use it, and how it's the opposite in this book-that the god that was the center of the religion was just assumed to be good because of the religion created around him, when it turns out that he's very, very flawed.

I cried during that epilogue. This kind of ending, there's a cost to it, and that hurt. I don't know how to put this without spoiling, but this is the 2nd time I've cried over a similar structure, though that was prequels of the main story, not the end, but the same feeling. But I'm satisfied with how it turned out, even though it hurt!

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

This series took a turn that was unique and totally unexpected. It was unlike any I’ve read so far. And completely not what I thought it would be. And was very good!
Gods but…not gods? Strings of life and death. Kings and monks and societal struggles. I cried in this one.

There are two quotes from the last part that really stuck with me.

“But this is the only world we have and we’re the only ones who can make it good. Who can prove it’s worth something.”

“That’s what makes life worth it though. You have to appreciate everything, because it ends.”

It isn’t often that I’ll say a book was perfect, but I don’t think there is a better way to describe The Nightshade God. In the course of this conclusion (which in many ways was just a new beginning), I experienced every pain and every passion. Daring, shocking, hopeful. Romance in its purest form. Writing that set my heart racing and stopped it altogether. This trilogy was a triumph.

After reading The Foxglove King and The Hemlock Queen earlier this year, I was really excited for this ARC and after reading, felt that this was a wonderful way to conclude the series. I adored the characters and I’m both sad to see their journey end but so happy their story had ended this way.

✔ This book felt like it had the best balance between the POVs. Though they were apart, Lore, Bastian, and Gabe’s stories felt like they had equal weight in bringing the plot to the conclusion. It was also really fascinating to hear from and about the other side characters in the story - Alie, Malcolm, Mari, Val, etc. They became much more fleshed out in this book.
✔ Religion and divinity have always been very important themes in this series but this book really hammered us with the implications. At times, I could have cried from the anguish some of the characters suffer.
✔ Speaking of emotions - very emotional overall. In a good way.
✔ The ending was perfect - absolutely perfect. Could not have possibly imagined a better ending.

✖ The middle chunk of the book did drag quite a bit compared to the first 2 books which made it much harder to get through this one. There were plot relevant reasons for it to drag but I was really looking forward to seeing how the plot would wrap up and a sizable chunk of the book felt like a barrier to overcome to get to the ending I was seeking out rather than a standalone enjoyment. The ending did validate it for me but it was a very different reading experience compared to the other two books of the series.

4/5 stars!

I laughed, I cried, and I cried some more when I got to the ending. This has been a wonderful read and I’ll be looking forward to any other books Hannah Whitten wants to throw my way.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5⭐️.

I’m not sure if I finished this, or if it finished me. okay yes it finished me. there’s something about crying over fictional characters that honestly just hits so hard. So so sad to see this series go but one that will live rent free in my head for a very long time. Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC. Out 7/15

What an ending.

This was probably one of the best fantasy trilogies I've ever read to date. There was something so incredibly pleasing about the way this series finished that had my heart feeling content and satiated. The amount of world building and story telling that Hannah does throughout this book is second to none. I cannot begin to express how amazing the finale of this series was. From start to finish it truly gripped me in a way no other book series has done this year.

If you've been following this story from the start, you will not be disappointed with how it ends. This was one of those fantasy series you'll never stop talking about.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

This was an epic conclusion to the series with a great message about making the world a better place through kindness and love. I loved the addition of the multiple POVs, and all the moving parts. The last 15% took me on rollercoaster of emotions which is one of the best parts about finishing a fantasy series. The gods and magic system of this book/series was really unique.

Now onto this book itself! This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The book had multiple POVs with Lore, Alie, Gabe, and Bastian. It was super fun getting to read Bastian and Alie’s POV. I’m not a huge fan of Gabe, I don’t feel like he ever did anything to earn Lore’s forgiveness after the first book, so his POV wasn’t my favorite, but it did give him the opportunity to grow on me a bit more. I would say my main complaint comes from how the book ended, but it wasn’t bad. I’m just an HEA lover, and while the ending was satisfying it’s not what I’d call an HEA for a few different reasons (I want this to be spoiler free so not including them here). Apollius was a good Villain, and I liked how everything with him and Nyxara played out. I think there were details that were not necessary to be included, and they didn’t get the page time to be fully explored since they weren’t necessary to the plot that I think would’ve been better off just being entirely omitted. That is my main reason for this being 4 stars! All in all though I really enjoyed this trilogy and cannot wait to read more by Hannah Whitten!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit books! The story of Lore, Gabe, and Bastian is one of my favorites. A position runner turned vessel for a Goddess who is trying to save the two loves of her life, and the world. The ending was perfect. 🖤 I’d read this entire series all over it.