Book Review of The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten

 

Name of Book: The nightshade god

Author: Hannah Whitten

ISBN: 9780356521572

Publisher: Orbit

Part of a Series: The Nightshade Crown (THE FOXGLOVE KING and THE HEMLOCK QUEEN are prequels) 

Type of book: Fantasy, MFM, throuple, royalty, gods, taking over, possessing, histories, legends, myths, secret fountain, stories, roles, loosely based on 17th century France (think King Louis XVI, the Sun King) relationships 

Year it was published: 2025

Summary:

The Nightshade Crown is in the hands of a ruthless god. Lore will stop at nothing to defeat him and save the troubled prince and tortured priest ensnared in his wicked plot, in this final installment of this lush, romantic, New York Times bestselling fantasy series from breakout star Hannah Whitten.

Lore has failed. She couldn’t save King Bastian from the rotten god speaking voices in his mind. She couldn’t save her allies from being scattered across the continent—their own lesser gods whispering to them in their dreams. She couldn’t save her beautiful, corrupt city from the dark power beneath the catacombs. And she couldn’t save herself.

Banished to the Burnt Isles, Lore must use every skill she earned on the streets of Dellaire to survive the prison colony and figure out a way to defeat the power that’s captured everything and everyone she holds dear. When a surprise ally joins her on the Burnt Isles she realizes the way forward may lie on the island itself. Somehow, her friends must help her collect the far-scattered pieces of the broken Fount—the source of all the god’s powers—and bring them back together on the Burnt Isles, returning all magic to its source and destroying, once and for all, the gods corrupting the land.

But as Lore gets closer to her goal, her magic grows stronger… and to a woman who’s always had to fight for survival, that kind of power may be hard to give up.

Characters:

The main characters would be Lore, Gabe and Bastian plus Alie. In this one it seemed as if Lore has really grown up because she wasn't just looking out for herself but she loved and cared enough about Bastian and Gabe to try to sacrifice herself for them. Gabe, I think he was wrestling a lot with duty and desires and it seemed as if he was growing up realizing that desires aren't bad. Bastian, who also was incredibly selfish the last two books (as well as extremely hedonistic) I think he also had grown up moments in realizing the importance of having true friends outside of fawning courtiers. Alie grew up in making decisions right for her rather than for the throne or someone else. There are secondary characters but unfortunately a lot of them I couldn't really remember and don't recall their roles in previous books. 

Theme:

Growth is difficult 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from what seems to be multiple characters' points of views (aside from the god Apollius,) but the main players are Gabe, Lore and Alie. I had an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) and my copy didn't have the summary from previous books (which would have benefited me greatly, especially if its not back to back) and that is one of the main reasons why I couldn't enjoy the book. I also found myself frustrated that I couldn't recall some of the secondary characters who have played a major role in this book. (And there was no character list for me to recall who is who.) One definitely needs to read the previous two books back to back and pay attention to the secondary characters. The story begins a little after the ending of THE HEMLOCK QUEEN and continues on. Most of the story seems to be battle and while I do get the reasons, I think I would have liked more scenes outside of the gods focus, perhaps more facets surrounding the characters outside of the gods roles. One thing I did like is that I got to see more of the gods as well as get to know their stories.  

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:

Have I fallen in love and enjoyed the prequels? Oh yes I have. I wish I could say the same thing about this book, but unfortunately, I cannot. While I could get away with reading the first two taking my time, I seriously suspect that in order to enjoy reading THE NIGHTSHADE GOD one has to make a marathon and has to read the books back to back. When I read THE NIGHTSHADE GOD I had trouble remembering some of the secondary characters that played major roles in the last book. I remembered the main characters very well; namely that there is Lore who is asked to play as a spy and has grasp on Mort magic and who has fallen in love with Gabe and Sebastian. I also remembered Gabe who is wrestling between his needs and religion he was raised in and of course I never forgot Sebastian who is being used by Apollius (one does wonder if name is based quite a bit on King Louis XVI the Sun King of 1600s) But secondary characters, I couldn't really remember them. Unfortunately, it was not my favorite read. The religion aspect, unfortunately I wasn't able to relate to it, perhaps because I hadn't grown up in a fundamental or extreme house and for me its more of a shock rather than understanding. (Not sure if I am making sense.) 

This was given for review

2 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.)