Book Review of The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

 Name of Book: The Hemlock Queen

Author: Hannah Whitten

ISBN: 9780316435291

Publisher: Orbit

Part of a Series: The Nightshade Crown (The FOXGLOVE KING Prequel; The Nightshade God sequel)

Type of book: dark romance, religion, love triangle, possession, gods and mortals, control, politics, secrets, past, tragedy, choices, 

Year it was published: 2024 

Summary:

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.

Characters:

The three main characters include Lore, Bastian and Gabe. Unlike in THE FOXGLOVE KING, Gabe doesn't play as big of a role as in THE HEMLOCK QUEEN. However, the reader does get to know Bastian, who had a small role in THE FOXGLOVE KING. Lore is a resourceful and intelligent young woman who has keen senses and who understands more than she can let on. She is also in denial about certain things about herself. Bastian, my apologies, is best described as a tragic character so far.  He is confident, loyal, and wants to keep his people from harm.. At the same time he is contradictory and is making quite a few people and gods unhappy. Gabe, at least in this book, continues to remain loyal to both Lore and Bastian and does the best he can to help Lore out, even at the cost of his own happiness. There are secondary characters but while some have prominence and important secrets, I do feel that the three main characters outshine others.  

Theme:

Does one know the self truly?

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from Lore's point of view. A lot of the questions that the reader develops during THE FOXGLOVE KING are answered throughout the book. I also hope the reader will enjoy hanging out with the Sainted King, Bastian Leander Arceneaux because he will be seen a whole lot. There will also be numerous royal duties which includes multiple visits and, of course, growth of relationship between Lore and Bastian. Seriously, that particular part is hard-hitting. I am hoping that a certain hint will come true in the conclusion. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

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 Tennessee with her husband and children in a house ruled by a temperamental cat.

Opinion:

Just like the previous book, I have greatly enjoyed traipsing through THE HEMLOCK QUEEN by Hannah Whitten, and from the moment I opened up its pages to the moment I was creaming "NOOO!" inside at the idea that I had to wait until 2025 to hopefully finish up the sequel, THE NIGHTSHADE GOD (if there are book gods, please let me read the conclusion earlier, please?) I definitely felt as if I was back in THE FOXGLOVE KING with all those smoldering glances as well as slow-burn romance between the characters. What I didn't like though, is at the beginning there is no summary or notes of what had taken place, because honestly, while I remembered a lot from THE FOXGLOVE KING, I couldn't remember everything that had happened. However, once I got past that, my enjoyment was highly ramped up especially when the stakes went up very high. I liked getting to know the mysterious king, and I couldn't help but see him as, well, someone from an Anne Rice novel (namely Louis) Having said that, please, pretty please send the last book of trilogy my way tomorrow   I meant soon. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5

(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)