When she was thirteen, Lore escaped from a cult in the catacombs. Now, she is a spy working for the women who took her in when she was found outside the catacombs. Lore can wield Mortem, a form of death magic that people gain after getting close to dying. Only, Lore was born with her ability. The church has prohibited its use, allowing only members of the Presque Mort to channel it.

But during a job, things go south and Lore gets caught channeling Mortem by the Presque Mort. Lore expects death, but instead she’d taken to the King and given two options: spy on the prince or face death. Now, Lore finds herself thrust into the world of court intrigue and political machinations. And everyone around her seems to carry secrets just as dark as the one she is. So who can she trust, and who’s telling the truth?

The Foxglove King was an unexpected hit for me. I haven’t read anything by Hannah Whitten before, but I found this book intriguing from the beginning and it held my attention to the very end.

I think the worldbuilding was just enough for my taste. The focus was always on the plot and what came next, which meant for a fast paced book with lots on intrigue and turns. I still found that I was well informed about the world and I never felt particularly confused. Sure, one could argue that there’s space for more descriptions of the settings and so on, but I don’t mind focusing on other things.

The language is easy to read and perhaps somewhat simple at times, but I don’t mind that either when the plot hold the book on its own.

The characters are interesting and flawed and sometimes fun and sometimes maddening, but that makes them feel all the more real, and I like that. Sure, I do find them a bit cliché perhaps. The broody handsome and forbidden man. The cheeky prince who likes to flirt openly. And not to forget the non-ladylike lady who’s not like other girls and is sharp-tongued and can take care of herself. And then the almost love triangle and the two unnaturally handsome men that get jealous and passively fight over the girl’s attention.
All of that was unnecessary and took away some of the greatness of the book. I can buy that the characters are a bit cliché, but I really didn’t like what felt like a forced love triangle.

Then we come to the end, and I won’t spoil anything here other than to say that I was left disappointed. I felt like it was rushed and didn’t fit with the rest of the book and there were one too many turns by the end that it both felt predictable and far-fetched.

But all in all, I was entertained, and was compelled enough to stay up late into the night to finish the book. That in itself grants a few extra points from me. So, a solid 4/5 stars for me here.

I loved this book!

The world building is amazing. It gives French Revolution type vibes with the grand palace and struggling commoners. The magic system is flawless, and well explained. I never felt like I couldn't keep up, and it was magic I haven't read about before. I felt fully immersed into the world created.

I don't usually like love triangles, but this was done very well. I never knew which person I rooted for more. The level of spice is very low, hopefully that comes in the next instalment! The characters are well written, all have their flaws that make them believable and encourage the reader to want the best for them.

I think Lore was well written. There was times when she could have been made to be a "too-perfect" character who could do no wrong, but she has her issues and I was pleased with the heroine we were given as a reader. I think the end was almost predictable, but the author keeps the reader guessing until you're questioning how sure you are. There are lots of twists and turns and unexpected events.

Overall this book was interesting and kept me on the edge of my seat. I would recommend.

3 Stars??

Synopsis: Lore can feel Mortem, can channel it, can use it. But, this is something she must keep hidden. And she does… until things go wrong.

CW/TW: Death/Reanimation/Murder/Assassination references/others may be present.

Rep: Queernormative world, side queer characters, one Male MC is implied to be Bi/Pan.

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten … I was disappointed. It is not a bad book by any means, Whitten’s writing and storytelling is quite compelling. But, the story itself felt a bit unoriginal.

I love authors using tropes, I love enemies to lovers, I love forbidden magic, I love spies in the royal court. But, this book felt like it was trying to use these tropes without establishing the needed context.

Firstly, we had a love triangle – and if you know me I hate love triangles. I can usually ignore them though if I like the book but that was not the case here… The triangle fell flat, it wasn’t even really a triangle. It felt like Lore and Bastian were suppose to be enemies to lovers, but this didn’t work the two never felt like enemies and it didn’t feel like they fell in love either. Lore and Gabe was a little better, had more tension and angst, but again this felt thrown together. There was no development – it felt forced.

The plot, initially, was quite intriguing. Lore has to infiltrate the Sainted Kings Court, spy on the prince, and figure out why people in villages on the edge of the Kingdom are dying. This is an interesting and twisty plot where Lore can’t take anything at face value. However, again, there wasn’t enough build up. I never felt like Bastian was the “villain” and so when and twists or turns happened I wasn’t particularly surprised.

The magic, was however, quite intriguing and very well developed. I liked the idea of the Mortem magic coming from Nyx, leaking from her, I liked the idea of the Night Sisters, the Idea of Apollious and the Chosen. But again, this just wasn’t built up enough, it felt lacking. The Night Sister aspect felt underwhelming particularly. There were also some elements of the plot that didn’t really make sense to me… I don’t want to spoil the book but it felt like some issues could easily have been avoided.

The ending did surprise me a little, but due to the previous lack of build up in the world, plot and characters I was again underwhelmed.

As I said, the characters felt underdeveloped, but Lore had/has a lot of potential. She is an interesting character who, if given the time and space, could be very compelling.

Overall, it is an enjoyable read that feels like a very easy and standard fantasy to get into. It just wasn’t for me.

☆☆

I was excited for the book, it sounded intriguing and when I started it, it seemed like it would continue to be intriguing but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. But before I start with why I didn’t enjoy the book I’ll start with the positives:
I enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and how they were a piece of the world, they were interesting and added a layer to the book.
Lore’s powers. They were interesting and interesting to read about, the way she could control Mortem and channel it.
The end of the story between Gabriel and the High Priest dude or whatever his name was, whilst it sucked for Gabe it was definitely interesting (and even a little unexpected (although not too unexpected considering the dudes plan)).

Now onto the negatives.

First I found the characters to be flat, especially the love interests, like they were just so 2D - not to say I didn’t enjoy some elements of the characters but they just weren’t very captivating characters though they did have potential (especially Gabriel who was flatter than a crepe).
I also didn’t care for Lore, whilst wasn’t as flat as the other characters I still didn’t care much for her, she was the main character and that was that really.

I also felt that not a lot was happening in the book, like sure there was a small thing or two that would happen to help move the story along but I was 70% in when I realised ‘oh shit I’m 70%’ and that nothing major had actually happened. Even the next 20% of the book nothing kept happening and when stuff did happen in the last 10% of the book even that was underwhelming. Like so much of the book could’ve been skipped and it wouldn’t have changed anything at all. I also felt that the stakes of the book weren’t that great (or even emphasised enough for me to care) which helped lead to the underwhelming-ness that was the end of the book.

Throughout the book we read about this invisible bond Lore had between both Gabriel and Bastian and I had a few issues with it:
The bond between Lore and her love interests was hardly explored beyond the “it felt like she knew them” and was hardly actually talked about between the characters.
At times Lore could just “tell” when things weren’t true because of their bond or because of the same thing the bond was which ended up feeling cheap and lazy because the bond lacked any real depth.
The bond lacked depth, even after the semi-explanation of it, it still felt majorly lacking, like an easy way out for the author to explain things without giving it much second thought.
The characters aren’t direct descendants of the Gods and Goddesses or even them reincarnated yet they feel like they know each other because of the bond in the same way they know that things will repeat themself and they’ve been on this path before which was just kind of confusing considering they’re not them in any way more just “touched” by them.
The bond was between Lore + Bastian and Lore + Gabriel so why wasn’t it between Bastian and Gabriel too if they’re all tied together? Why are they lacking the bond?

Whilst I’m on the subject of Gabriel I had a major question about him: WHO WAS HE MEANT TO BE? Lore clearly was meant to be / represent Nyxara and Bastian Apollius so who was Gabriel? He had the bond with Lore yet there was no explanation, like how was he meant to tie in with the ex-lovers Nyxara and Apollius and how does he tie in with Lore and Bastian and their bond (considering he too has a bond with Lore)?

Yet another thing that fell flat in this book for me was the love triangle, I found I didn’t care that much for either of the relationships although I did find Lore and Bastian less dull than Gabriel and Lore.
Also wow what a disappointment the Gabriel-Lore side of the love triangle was, despite Gabriel being a monk and having Holy vows he didn’t want to break you’d think there would’ve been more angst and tension between but nope, nada.
I also felt that the love triangle could’ve been more interesting if it were more a throuple thing or at least explored the bond between all three at once like I felt there was definitely potential and something to be explored there (though I don’t see it happening).

On the plot front I feel it was a mess, Lore was recruited into the palace by the King to spy on Bastian (which ended up making 0 sense) and yet even at the apex of his plans he didn’t check in with her or anything which should’ve raised suspicion from Lore.
Also despite being an important character to the plot we hardly saw any of the King which was an interesting choice to say the least.
I also felt like despite Lore was meant to infiltrate court she hardly had any presence in the court and hardly ever mingled with the people of the court bar whatever Gabriel’s ex’s name was (I want to say Ali something?) and her friends and even that was lacklustre.

Reading wise I ended up skimming quite a fair bit of the book, there was just so much unnecessary stuff and considering I wasn’t that invested in the book anyway I didn’t see the point of wasting my time reading whatever random gowns Lore wore or the description of the ball room or whatever else random stuff was there. Overall I felt the book could’ve cut out some stuff and been shorter than it actually was.

Apparently this book is Adult but it felt more YA, the only difference being the characters ages and even the characters felt more like the typical 17y/os you read about in YA than adult characters. And I know people say you shouldn’t say that books “feel like YA” (why people say this I’ll never know) but it really did.

If you thought I’d have run out by negatives on this book by this point you’d be wrong, I still have a few more points to talk about.
Lore is meant to be a child of the Night Sisters or whatever they were called but that was hardly touched on despite being important. Also if they wanted her dead why didn’t they just find her and kill her as a kid? If the king and the order of Monks could why couldn’t they?
Towards the end ‘Avatars’ were mentioned but there was no elaboration as to what that meant and how it meant Nyxara would gain a hold on Lore, obviously this is stuff that’ll more than likely be talked about in the second book but I don’t get the point of bringing it up in 1 to not even elaborate on it a little.
If Lore living means the apocalypse why did no one else care beside the High Priest dude and why didn’t he share his vision and have a close inner circle to help him complete his mission? People who he’d share his vision from Appolius with?
The book just felt full of plot holes and easy ways out (explanation wise) (which was another reason as to why the stakes didn’t feel that high).

Wow that’s it, negatives over, what a long list it was.

I don’t know if I’ll pick up book 2 when it releases, the story has potential and I’d love to see the characters further bought to life, and I’d be interested to see where the story goes but I suppose it depends on how I feel when book 2 releases.

One of the only other good things this book was good for, for me, was that it let me know to skip a book box where The Foxglove King was the monthly book choice and saved me £20.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Lore is a poison runner with a secret. She has power over mortem (death itself). After a mishap while running a job she is given a choice. Work for the King and find out why entire villages have being dying over night, or end up being sent to the Burnt Isles to die. Lore is thrust into an unfamiliar world of the court where no one can be trusted, even the dashing Prince who she has to get close to, learning social expectations as she goes. Politics, religion, romance and mystery are all things Lore must navigate to find the truth that will be more dangerous than all of it.

I loved this book! The magic system of life and death was well thought out and I noticed a hint of something else more elemental towards the end (excited to find out if I’m right in the next book). The characters felt so real, they’re choices and actions made so much sense and often it was heartbreaking. There is a slow burn romance and a hint of a love triangle that honestly at the end felt more like a beautiful true friendship.

There are morally grey characters, love triangles, flirty banter, ‘touch her and you die’, betrayal, found family and lgbtq+ representation with Lore’s mothers.

The direct parallels to our reality of the rich being above the law when it comes to ‘poisons’ even to the point that they are allowed to grow it when the poor and imprisoned for it and religion having too much power over politics we’re poignant and well done. I have a lot of appreciation for the intelligence of this book.

Really looking forward to the sequel. I want nothing more than to return to this world and hang out with Bastian and Lore for a bit longer.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was such a great read. The main trifecta of characters are the “celaena, Chaol and Dorian” we’ve been missing since ToG.
Can’t wait to read more.
Magic system is super interesting. Dive straight into the action but not left confused by lack of info or too much info! which is great for me.

I'm one of those readers that really enjoyed For the Wolf and also liked (well enough) For the Throne so I was really excited to see that Hannah Whitten was coming out with a new story.

Generally, I think this story has good bones. I love the idea of weaving death, poison lengthening lives, this weird cult group of monks that were death touched. All of it, good bones. To an extent, I think the characters let this down a bit.

Lore grated on me for a lot of reasons and some I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it was her persistent refusal to cry because she was a walking well of unshed tears? I don't know, but I found her personality a bit wishy-washy and it didn't gel with me.

Gabe, oh where to start with Gabe. He can be described in two ways: repressed and the desperate approval and obedience you'd find concerning in a puppy. But when those two conflict, he's at his most interesting so I'd like to see where he goes as a character.

Bastian! Bastian, is almost the surprise of the whole book. I was really indifferent to him basically until the last 10-15% of the book. And wow, that change in character then was the most interesting thing to have happened. I want to know what happens next with him and his dynamic with Lore.

Some side characters were very present, like Alie, but then ultimately nothing really substantial happened with them. She just kind of cropped up and you're like 'Oh hey, it's her', a bit like that reappearing street performer you see every few weekends.

We got a bit more background on these interesting cults, the catacombs and the Presque Mort, but I wanted more on the catacombs. Especially after a lot of 'Lore has a mental map of them', she can navigate them without issue, sometimes those in the catacomb were selected to seemingly be wiped as people. Maybe that's where book 2 will come in? Fingers crossed.

There was a lot of good ideas in this, so certainly not bad, but some areas that I hope will be fleshed out more in the book to come. Overall, Whitten has done up a good second series following her first duology. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes and how she keeps developing her worlds, stories and writing.

Lore, a young woman with secret powers to raise the dead, is plunged into the dangerous world of the Sainted King’s court. Captured by the Sainted King’s warrior monks when a poison run goes wrong, she expects death. But King August has a different plan. Entire villages have died overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening or face death.

Whitten’s The Foxglove King is an epic tale of politics, intrigue, necromancy and magic. Loved the character development, the world-building and the moments that bring the world crashing down for the protagonists. Lore, Gabe and Bastian pull us into their world and you never know quite know what to expect from them. I feel her writing has developed a lot since her For The Wolf/For The Throne duology and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.

As the first book in a trilogy, Whitten finished this book at a pivotal moment, leaving us wanting more. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for book two!

Expect to be fascinated by the political games at play in this story along with slow-burn romance, imminent threats of war all wrapped up in a darkly delicious gothic vibe. The Foxglove King is out now. Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc.

Thankyou NetGalley for this e arc in exchange for an honest review

I was unsure about this book starting off. I really liked the characters and how they interacted. I do feel the relationships became a little twisted towards the ends and I’m not convinced that bastian would have acted the way he did at the end. The story was good but a little predictable in parts

Overall it was an enjoyable story and a good set up for the series.

I really enjoyed this book. The tension between Lore, Gabe and Bastian had me on the edge of my seat.
I feel the story is well paced throughout and allows enough mystique without being slow and sluggish.
My only criticism would be the grammatical writing in the book. There are so many commas in this book. Nearly every sentence has a least one comma in which when read aloud does not read well.

This was so atmospheric!

It has everything I wanted, from royalty and cults to an intriguing magic system, war and powers that left me breathless. I liked the writing and the characters a lot. There is a lot of information, but it didn't feel too much. It took a while to understand and get used to the world and the systems, but that ultimately made this for a fun read. I can't believe the wait for the next book, because I really want to know what happens next! Overall, I loved this and Lore and Bastian and all the orders of royalty! So much fun!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-arc!

Loved this latest novel by Hannah Whitten. It's full of romance, magic and a love triangle between a woman who can control the forces of death and darkness, a prince who has power over life and a priest caught in the middle and struggling with his lost heritage. This is a brilliant story about loss, families and the ties that bind set in a fantasy world of adventure, mystery and deadly politics. I can't wait for book 2!

I read this book a little while ago, but like a fine wine, i've had to let my thoughts sit and simmer and think on it. I really enjoyed reading this book! It left me with a lot of questions and i'm so excited for the next book!

Lore was a great character, and I really enjoyed finding out about her life story and background. when we first meet Lore, we are introduced to a relatively normal woman, who keeps pulling out more and more surprises. Some of them she hides from the world and therefore us, as the reader, and we discover a lot about her as she does as well. i enjoyed being surprised by new knowledge at the same time as Lore, as i felt this really helped us to understand her as a person and truly developed her character further, in her genuine reactions.

In my opinion, the largest theme in this book was religion and how it affects those around it. Whilst the book is definitely a necromancer fantasy, there is a deep-rooted religion, that revolves around the bleeding god, and fallen goddess. As with all religion, there are many questions that surround it, however we can be fairly confident in the views as we know these gods were alive and real, with the fallen goddess being buried under the town.

There are two male main characters, both of which are deeply affected by the religion. Gabriel, a part of a religious sect called the Presque Mort, has mad religious trauma and despite being very obviously used and abused by the head of the church, he stills clings to him and his love for the bleeding god. Bastian is the son of the king (aka the prince) and has been chosen by the bleeding god himself to rule. He has grown up in the shadow of this anointing and wants to get as far from the church as he can, whilst being unable to denounce the religion as he wishes to save his people from the cruelty of his father.

As can be expected, we do end up with a bit of a love triangle, with Bastian genuinely liking Lore, and Gabriel hating both her and himself as he falls because Lore is unholy. Theres quite a bit of drama that ensues from Gabe and Bastian. Because Gabe is a drama queen. The only part in this book i wasn't fond of was the relationship between Gabe and Bastian. They have a history and Gabe shows his petty side, constantly trying to fight and undermine Bastian the entire way through. He's just a nuisance.

Otherwise, this book was really enjoyable and a fun read! The world building was top-tier, and there was a quiet, clean, angsty romance. It definitely left me with a lot more questions than answers, but that is to be expected with the first book in a brand new series. I'm looking forward to the Hemlock Queen!

Thank you to the Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley for the E-Arc, in exchange for an honest review.

The Foxglove King review
by Giulia from Divoratricedilibri2.0 https://www.instagram.com/divoratricedilibri2.0/?hl=it
18 March

First of all, I wanted to thank Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group Publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is by the For the Wolf and For the Throne author.
Anyway, it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 and I really wanted to read it, so much so that I was overjoyed when I saw that I received the ARC!
The Foxglove King is a new epic fantasy that was presented as: big religious trauma feels, lost gods, court intrigue, romantic angst, necromancy. And I must say that most of the premises have been kept, because the book talks about our main protagonist Lore, who manages to escape from the catacombs and hide, because she doesn't want her power to be revealed, but this obviously happens and our protagonist will find herself thrown between court plots, Mortem, the power of death itself, and much more.
The plot I must say that even if it is not totally original for what is its subject, or the fact of necromancy, the resurrection of the dead and so on, I still liked it. Its development runs like clockwork and there are also many interesting, new narrative twists that are perfectly in line with another element that I really liked: the setting. This last point in my opinion was done beautifully, as it captures every aspect of the narrative. What do I mean? Creating an environment is creating a worldbuilding, a world that has its own characteristics and even if you are not reading your mind creates a vision or in any case an aesthetic. And here for me it was very like that. I noticed it in the places described, in the Gothic currants, even a little French pre-revolution, also given the proximity of the plot to saints, the poor and the power of death. It is something that is totally evident in the description of the court, of what it does, the places as well as the ways of speaking and what is happening all around. I think it's one of the aspects of the book that I liked the most, perhaps the most successful.
The characters aren't bad either, since we follow the story with our protagonist Lore, but there are also the other two musketeers, as I call them, Gabriel and Bastian, who all together form this nice trio. As I just said, the characters are there too, they're okay, and with their characters they create a roundabout for this trio that works very well.
Despite all these points, the plot that flows very well, the characters that are very likeable, the setting that I particularly adored, for me, personally, something was missing. The book is beautiful, I have to say, it's interesting, but I didn't, let's say, become fond of the story, which, for me, is one of the fundamental things within my gradient of appreciation of a book. I didn't get that something that I wanted to happen instead, and, therefore, despite the book flowing very well, I didn't feel emotionally involved.
To say the least, I really liked the ending too. There's a nice twist, which might seem trivial if I look at the whole story, but I really liked it, because at that moment of reading I really wasn't expecting it!
Still, it was a very interesting and enjoyable read.
At present, especially after that ending, I don't know if I'll continue reading. A little bit of curiosity remained with me but I have to think about it very carefully!

Thank you to orbit for providing me with a proof copy of the foxglove king!

my favourite thing of this book was bastian, i just love a conflicted prince. he reminded me of a mix between cardan from the cruel prince and a teeny bit of cyrus from this woven kingdom. lore was an interesting main character too, and watching her struggle with her magic and trying to find a way out of the predicament she was in really endeared me as the reader. i do feel like she wasn’t given quite enough time to develop throughout the book, especially at the end. i think the book as a whole would’ve been stronger for having her be a bit more decisive with the ethics she lives by; it felt like she *said* she was reluctant to trust and focused on herself, when her actions spoke differently. gabe was the most interesting person in the book for me however. the conflict between the church and morality, and how difficult it is to learn that those two things aren’t the same thing, will be a very relatable experience for lots of readers. he could be frustrating at times in my opinion, because i just wanted him to see what was going on, but realistically i think his portrayal set his arc up for the following book. there were a few supporting characters such as alie who i really enjoyed reading about. for being set at court, the cast isn’t extensive and i would actually say could’ve been improved by having a character who brought some brevity to the story.

i really enjoyed the setting and the wider world that this book takes place in. the mention of the nearby docks makes me hopeful for some kind of pirate related plot in future books, and the castle sounded opulent yet crumbling simultaneously which is my very favourite kind of grand house to read about. the gardens and the small corridors and the thick stone walls all reminded me of a warren, and that added a kind of mystique to the plot. the plot device of poisons was super intriguing to me, but i didn’t feel like i had gotten quite enough of that by the end. i liked learning about the business side of the poising running business, but by the end it felt a little cheap and half hearted.

i think the tone of the story was tricky to get on board with. from the very beginning, there is a sense of foreboding and tension, and that doesn’t let up at all. i would’ve appreciated some lighter scenes, like the characters just being people, having some kind of fun and making light of the terrible circumstances.

as with every hannah whitten book, the writing was fantastic. it was lush and decadent and almost silky, like the literature version of hot chocolate. at times i kept reading purely to soak up the way the author described some innocuous thing, like stone or a tunnel or a fighting ring. the writing style is lovely enough without being heavy handed which made it very easy to read and get into for a few chapters without needed to use every brain cell just to understand a sentence.

in terms of hannah whitten’s prdvious works, i’ve enjoyed each book less than the last, and i worry that the further she works, the less i will enjoy it. to be honest though, between her writing, settings and characters, i think i’ll still pick up the sequel when it comes.

overall, this was a very thought provoking book. it kept me engaged for the duration while being exciting and twisty in certain parts. the atmosphere was fantastic and in total, i did like this book which is why i’m giving it between 3.5 and 4 stars (probably 3.75, to be specific). i’m delighted i was lucky enough to read this early, and i will be continuing on in the series.

I gave 3 out of 5 stars. Nothing made sense initially. Not the 2 villages filled with dead people, not the channelling of death magician a way that has never been heard of, not the challenge of religious text that is conflicting from translation to translation and certainly not Gabe’s blind devotion to a man that might have caged him most of his life. And the end of the story doesn’t make sense either. I am so confused. I loved Lore as a character, she could recognise that things in her life were not as it should be but she made the most of it, and not in a way that meant she had rose coloured glasses on but in a mature and sensible way. There is definitely another book, as this is the first book in the Nightshade crown trilogy. There is so much to explore and explain in the coming book and I can’t wait to make sense of it all.

This one just wasn't for me. The writing was good but everything felt a little superficial to me. I'd still recommend checking it out if the synopsis interests you though.

The Foxglove King sounded intriguing and almost drew me back into loving fantasy fiction again. In theory it has all the makings of an epic fantasy series. Unfortunately, in my opinion, it's not executed as well as it could have been.

The reader is dropped into the authors new world and I found this quite disorientating with very little world building to create a foundation for the novel. The plot felt muddled with several sub plots that really slowed the story down and I found myself losing interest.

The magical system was good and did keep my interest until the end, but I would have appreciated more solid world building and less of the love triangle nonsense. At times this book felt more like a YA than a serious fantasy novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Orbit for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: death, necromancy, gore, violence, animal death

I loved getting to read "The Foxglove King" as it combined things I love: spies, necromancy, a world built on religious imagery and an excellent lead character. Lore, who can channel the death magic ("Mortem") leaking from the body of a dead goddess in a way never seen before, works as a drug runner and spy. However, when one of her runs goes badly and she is caught by the Presque Mort (the religious order she should belong to), Lore is given a terrible choice: find out if the Crown Prince, Bastian, has betrayed their country or be executed. His father, the King, believes he is behind the massacres of villages and she has to prove it.

Forced to work alongside a hunter named Gabe, who is dedicated to serving the Light god and hates what she is, Lore realises that her connection to the Mortem is much deeper- and that somehow, both Bastian and Gabe, are part of it. Hannah Whitten writes a fascinating story, I loved the worldbuilding and magical systems, though I did feel like some of the urgency was lost when Lore kept attending parties and teas in the middle of her search for the truth about Bastian and the kingdom; likewise some of the female characters felt a little flat at times. Necromancy is so enjoyable when it's done well, and here is a perfect example of it. I even enjoyed the love triangle between the three of them, though I definitely had a preferred favourite for Lore to end up with. I'm glad I got to read this, I love the atmosphere, and I'll definitely pick up the sequel.

So. I enjoyed this more than I did For the Wolf, which is definitely an improvement, but I feel this was like every other basic YA fantasy.

There's a lot of Crown vs Church going on. The story is basically court politics mixed with gods and magic and those gods potentially coming back and people in power using other people to get what they want. It's about the Crown doing whatever they want because they have the power to do so and think everyone else is beneath them, and the Church doing whatever they want because "they do it in the name of the gods" so it's all fine and justified.

I liked our main characters, they are well fleshed out and I can understand their motivations. I really liked Lore, not sure how I feel about Gabe and absolutely adored Bastian, who is a Nikolai Lantsov kind of character. The whole thing is very reminiscent of Shadow and Bone, actually, with the whole "life and death" magic and the religious side of it. I just hope the Lore-Gabe-Bastian thing doesn't end up in a love triangle (it also kinda reminds me of the Alina-Mal-Nikolai situation right now)

Overall, I think the premise was good, I enjoyed it enough that I found it very easy to read and don't think it dragged at all. I was a little confused at first but it only lasted for the first couple of chapters and then it was all very predictable. Like I said, it's very basic YA and I knew pretty much everything that was going to happen after reading the first 20-30% of the book. However, it was done well and I am intrigued to see what happens next and will definitely pick up the sequel. 3.5 stars.