The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten
Series : The Nightshade Kingdom #2
Genre : Fantasy
Publisher : Orbit Books
Publication Date : April 9th, 2024
Genre : Fantasy
Publisher : Orbit Books
Publication Date : April 9th, 2024
In the second installment of New York Times bestselling
author Hannah Whitten's lush, romantic epic fantasy
series, a young woman who can raise the dead must navigate
the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King's
royal court.
The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized
the throne and raised Lore—a necromancer and former
smuggler—to his right hand side. Together they plan to cut
out the rot from the heart of the sainted court and help the
people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the
changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kyrithean Empire
is beating down their door, and Lore's old allies are
pulling away. Even Prince Bastian's changed. No longer the
hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves,
instead he's reckless, domineering and cold.
And something's been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark
and haunting, that's telling her there's more to the story
than she knows and more to her power than she can even
imagine. A truth buried deep that could change
everything.
With Bastian's coronation fast approaching and enemies
whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect
herself, her prince, and her country before they all come
crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping
through the catacombs is unleashed.
This 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.(view spoiler)
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!
You can also find my review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
You can also find my reviews of the author's other books here
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Hannah Whitten has been writing to amuse herself since she could hold a
pen, and sometime in high school, figured out that what amused her might
also amuse others. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, making music, or
attempting to bake. She lives in an old farmhouse in Tennessee with her
husband, children, two cats, a dog, and probably some ghosts.
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