Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

20 reviews

mandersdraws's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I found this book absolutely gripping. It immediately grabbed me because the protagonist is an underworld spy (and with a terrible secret, my weakness as a reader lol), but slowly but surely Whitten sprinkled in world building and character tidbits that got me absolutely hooked. Characters feeling the pull of ancient magic. Lore seeing underneath Bastien’s princely facade. Gabriel stuck between his guilt, his sense of justice, and his desires. A mystery that revolves around the remnants of old gods. 
Simply put, I love this shit!! I read it twice, once with an audiobook and then again with an ebook. It got me theorizing and highlighting the text like I’m trying to solve a cryptogram. I don’t even mind the love triangle (though I do hope it manages to subvert some of the cliches and tropes we expect with love triangles) 
Edit: I’ve also read the sequel, Hemlock Queen, and I can’t wait for more! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Blood, Cursing, and Gore

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Murder, Drug abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Terminal illness, War, and Body shaming

Manipulation is a big theme of this book.

kbowles24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Confinement, Child death, and Animal death

Minor: War, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

manaledi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book started slowly but had some interesting developments and I'm very curious to see where book two goes. A fairly hit you over the head with it religious imagery on themes like separation of church and state. I thought the poison element was interesting but wished mortem was laid out more clearly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, War, Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, and Grief

jaynovara's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Drug use, Child death, Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Vomit, Murder, Gore, Violence, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Child death, Grief, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, War, Religious bigotry, Classism, and Death of parent

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Toxic friendship

krystlethegreat's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Bastian is the best fantasy genre prince since Cardan (Folk of the Air series)! He carried much of this book on his back and had me laughing so often! 
I thoroughly enjoyed this book on audio - what a narrator! Each character had a distinct voice, from one narrator! A total thrill to listen to. 

My only complaint is: There is soooo much going on, that I didn't get to explore each thing as much as I wanted to. Magic, poison running, catacombs, citadel, monks, Gods, kingdom, world beyond the kingdom... We get the gist of why each is important to the story, but I hope the next book immerses us in each of the areas more. (I'm in full support of a longer book!)

Overall, I couldn't stay away from this book and can't wait until The Hemlock Queen!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, and Abandonment

Minor: Violence

camiclarkbooks's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I loved Hannah Whitten’s “For the Throne,” so I was very excited to read “Foxglove King.” Now that I’ve read it, I’m feeling kind of let down. 

It was long…too long, in my opinion. There was some repetition of story beats that felt unnecessary, like they had been added just to lengthen the book. By the 70% point, I was just trying to power through and couldn’t give an accurate summary. 

All I kept thinking through the book was, “this is ‘Serpent and Dove’ but in a palace and with a lot more dead people.” And I stand by that. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Abandonment, Blood, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Death

Minor: War, Murder, Cursing, Alcohol, and Death of parent

alilbitofeveryth1ng's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Death, Drug abuse, War, Abandonment, Animal death, Confinement, and Religious bigotry

lilfirebird's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The concept was cool. Atheistic pleasing. The angst was fine until it was too much. Ending made me mad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Animal death