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hq_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This book was pretty good, unfortunately I had a wild theory that would have been such a fun ending, however it wasn't meant to be.
The characters were fine, I wasn't crazily enamoured with any of them. I did care what happened to them, particularly Lore, but I wasn't overly invested in their feelings. Also, is it strange that I was Team Gabe??? I thought Gabe and Lore had a lot more chemistry than Lore and Bastian.
I felt the story was quite good - I'm intrigued to see where it goes. I found the scene in the catacombs with Bastian and Lore really creepy and I thought the author did a good job of building tension during the scarier moments. The religion built is also a really interesting and well thought out. However, writing-wise I felt there were a few issues. This is written in third person from Lore's POV... yet a lot of the time Lore was telling us what other characters were feeling or thinking which I found strange. 1) How does Lore know exactly what Gabe's expression means? 2) The author shouldn't have needed to explain characters expressions, tone of voice etc and should have let the reader come to that conclusion themselves. It was almost as if the author didn't trust the readers to understand or pick up on the chemistry and tension between the characters.
All in all, it's a good story and I definitely want to see where it goes but maybe because it was the first book in a series, I wasn't dying to pick it up... I also feel the author can do much more with the characters and the magic system, but I will definitely be reading the second book.
Spoiler thoughts:
The characters were fine, I wasn't crazily enamoured with any of them. I did care what happened to them, particularly Lore, but I wasn't overly invested in their feelings. Also, is it strange that I was Team Gabe??? I thought Gabe and Lore had a lot more chemistry than Lore and Bastian.
I felt the story was quite good - I'm intrigued to see where it goes. I found the scene in the catacombs with Bastian and Lore really creepy and I thought the author did a good job of building tension during the scarier moments. The religion built is also a really interesting and well thought out. However, writing-wise I felt there were a few issues. This is written in third person from Lore's POV... yet a lot of the time Lore was telling us what other characters were feeling or thinking which I found strange. 1) How does Lore know exactly what Gabe's expression means? 2) The author shouldn't have needed to explain characters expressions, tone of voice etc and should have let the reader come to that conclusion themselves. It was almost as if the author didn't trust the readers to understand or pick up on the chemistry and tension between the characters.
All in all, it's a good story and I definitely want to see where it goes but maybe because it was the first book in a series, I wasn't dying to pick it up... I also feel the author can do much more with the characters and the magic system, but I will definitely be reading the second book.
Spoiler thoughts:
- Is Bastian suddenly going to be slightly evil? Why did I feel that his entire character shifted the moment he became king?? I cannot tell if I'm mad about this or not, because the ending I wanted was for Bastian to be the bad guy all along - I thought that would have made for a more interesting story. I know me being conflicted about this contradicts what I wanted... the potential for Bastian to be bad was always there, but the moment they were caught after the catacombs, that theory was out the window for me. Therefore, him suddenly turning Anton into a rose bush and (in Lore's words, because she is all knowing apparently) becomes "a brutal king" seemed really out of character for me...
- Why do I get the feeling the emperor of the rival empire is going to be a love interest? Did he deliberately save Gabe?? I did the maths - he's only 30, haha, still potential here
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
sarrie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Pitch a story to me with ‘necromancy’ in the description and I’m going to sign up 9 times out of 10. Like a lot of people I love the idea of magic based around the dead - one of my favorite characters I’ve made for a D&D game was a necromancer! The Foxglove King has some of that in the truest sense. The story follows Lore who can channel the power of Mortem, death magic, and raise the dead. This is definitely not on the legal side of things in her world, and when she’s captured and given a bargain - work for the king or live in exile, she obviously takes the job.
From there we get our usual Fantasy Romance setup. A magic girl, and two guys. The prince she’s supposed to be investigating for treason and the stoic guard who is assigned to follow her every step. On the whole this follows every beat you’d expect for a Fantasy Romance and I enjoyed that. Unfortunately, my first big complaint ties into this. While it followed familiar beats, it let itself get caught and really drag in the middle. The story was a bit overwritten and when Lore and her associates became trapped in the castle so were we the readers, so there is a huge slog of dry reading from 50 to 85%. We spend so so much time in the heads and conversations of the characters that it felt like we were trapped in the same three rooms and one garden for a huge chunk of time. Editing was desperately needed here, 50 to 100 pages could have been trimmed.
Past that our characters are interesting, though nothing mind blowing. My favorite character was Lore. She was not the standard ‘bad ass girl’ we typically get, but had some soft edges and quiet attributes I enjoyed. She was selfish but not brash, and held secrets (possibly for far too long) that seemed very important to have, as opposed to melodramatics. Bastian, our Sun Prince was the best built of the two male love interests, the other a dull shadow to him. My other big complaint about the story is in the villain of the piece. - SPOILERS HERE He did not need to be scarred in the face in the way he was. It’s 2023, can we not turn every person with a facial scar or disfigurement into a villain. I despised this portion of the book and I’m glad that he’s out of the picture at the end - END SPOILERS.
The ending was a hair bit on the predictable side with it’s reveals if not explosive and jaw dropping in it’s action, leaving me wanting the second book. I’m hesitant to recommend this one, without the warning that the middle is dense and the villain a terrible stereotype. However if you’re okay with that and you love Fantasy Romance I’d say give this one a read.
3 out of 5 Stone Roses
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Drug abuse, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Body shaming and Chronic illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and War
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten follows a deathwitch in a world of death magic to the heart of political and religious intrigue. This book has some of your classis YA tropes, including the love triangle between the tough, emotionally scarred orphan main character who has chosen-one abilities, the brooding and mysterious guy who believes in the world's system (or most of it) and has to work with her, and the charming and powerul prince. Throw in some class issues, death magic, corrupt religion and politics, the threat of a war, and a mystery to solve, and that's this book.
I have mixed feelings, and some of that stems from the fact that this is the first in a series. But also that the middle of this book, with most of the investgating, is rather drawn out, where the end happens in a violent (and I do mean violent) rush. I was left with a bit of worldbuilding whiplash, trying to parse exactly what different characters are thinking. Also there was a lot of the final reveals that felt obvious, although there was also one part I didn't guess.
There are also some plot threads dropped just for the sake of it being a first book in a series, so hopefully some of them get picked up in the next book.
Beyond some of the unfortunate side effects from a YA love triangle, I really liked Lore. She's tough, determined, and actually has a strong sense of right and wrong for a poison runner. I also liked Gabe and Bastian for most of the book. The mystery itself was interesting, but I think the solution was a bit weak.
Rating: 3.5/5
*I receieved an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
I have mixed feelings, and some of that stems from the fact that this is the first in a series. But also that the middle of this book, with most of the investgating, is rather drawn out, where the end happens in a violent (and I do mean violent) rush. I was left with a bit of worldbuilding whiplash, trying to parse exactly what different characters are thinking. Also there was a lot of the final reveals that felt obvious, although there was also one part I didn't guess.
There are also some plot threads dropped just for the sake of it being a first book in a series, so hopefully some of them get picked up in the next book.
Beyond some of the unfortunate side effects from a YA love triangle, I really liked Lore. She's tough, determined, and actually has a strong sense of right and wrong for a poison runner. I also liked Gabe and Bastian for most of the book. The mystery itself was interesting, but I think the solution was a bit weak.
Rating: 3.5/5
*I receieved an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Classism, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Religious bigotry, and Drug use
Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Animal death
Minor: War, Terminal illness, and Stalking
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Genocide, Abandonment, Addiction, Animal death, Classism, and Violence
Minor: Child death and Chronic illness
loveinpanels's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Murder
luckylulureads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
Minor: Drug abuse, Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Animal death, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, War, Blood, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Vomit
sophs_mood_reading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This book should have been a winner for me. It had the medieval royalty theme, magical powers, a love triangle, strong female lead, some YA romance and some mysterious twists and “who’s the bad guy” plot themes.
However, it was the longest 400 page book I’ve ever read.
The reason; the over done descriptions and much to long scenes. It was as if the author couldn’t trust the reader to “pick up what she was putting down” and literally had to write out every single detail of every scene until there was nothing left to the imagination.
This resulted in useless unimportant moments of the book going for multiple pages or chapters. Such as the first scene in the book so detailed about the relationship of her lovers sister and her and yet we never ever see her again! A simple, she hates me would have sufficed.
It’s so annoying because the plot of the book without all the padded out detail was great. However I feel we missed out on some really much needed plot details as we were to busy getting descriptions of every muscle movement in someone’s face and what that would then translate into meaning.
I got to the end an thought, damn it I want to know what happens next but I don’t know if I have the strength to read another book in the series.
So if they make a cliff’s notes. Please let me know!
However, it was the longest 400 page book I’ve ever read.
The reason; the over done descriptions and much to long scenes. It was as if the author couldn’t trust the reader to “pick up what she was putting down” and literally had to write out every single detail of every scene until there was nothing left to the imagination.
This resulted in useless unimportant moments of the book going for multiple pages or chapters. Such as the first scene in the book so detailed about the relationship of her lovers sister and her and yet we never ever see her again! A simple, she hates me would have sufficed.
It’s so annoying because the plot of the book without all the padded out detail was great. However I feel we missed out on some really much needed plot details as we were to busy getting descriptions of every muscle movement in someone’s face and what that would then translate into meaning.
I got to the end an thought, damn it I want to know what happens next but I don’t know if I have the strength to read another book in the series.
So if they make a cliff’s notes. Please let me know!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment
livwoods's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Thank you to Orbit and Net Galley for the e-arc!
I might come back to this review after I’ve had a chance to parse my thoughts, but I just flew through the last 11% of the book, and wow, the last 50ish pages and where the story left us bumped my rating way up!
I’ve read both For the Wolf and For the Throne, as well as the short story “One Lane Bridge”, and I think this is Hannah Whitten’s best book yet. Dellaire and the Mortem-cursed country of Auverraine is a fun, glittering, and bejeweled world of recreational poison use, dead gods, and courtly politics and espionage. The characters are fun and I enjoyed following Lore as a protagonist, but shout-out to Bastian—the seemingly irreverent, moderately dastardly Sun Prince—who was my favorite character to read. That’s not to count out Gabe, our Golden Retriever-esque monk who’s too loyal and upstanding for his own self-preservation, but right now, I’m firmly Team Bastian (but giving myself the choice to change my mind whenever Book 2 comes out). I’m a sucker for love triangles, too, and am waiting to see what shenanigans this trio gets up to in the books that follow.
I don’t read much high fantasy where intricate court politics and royal espionage are involved, but this level of intrigue, mystery, and machinations suited me fine, and the twists keep the pages turning.
The pantheon of gods was by far my favorite element, and I’m hoping we can dig more into the mythology of the world as we move further into the series. (And maybe get some backstory for what really happened beforeredacted!!
This definitely feels like a first book in a trilogy and therefore has some of the standard conventions of getting a series off the ground: slower-paced world building and character development to get you invested for when the puzzle starts coming together. And a lot of the earlier pages are spent setting up the world, the court, and the key players in the mystery. But by the end of the book, the chess board is set and the pieces are in place for whatever Book 2 has in store, and I can’t wait to see how the game plays out from here!
I might come back to this review after I’ve had a chance to parse my thoughts, but I just flew through the last 11% of the book, and wow, the last 50ish pages and where the story left us bumped my rating way up!
I’ve read both For the Wolf and For the Throne, as well as the short story “One Lane Bridge”, and I think this is Hannah Whitten’s best book yet. Dellaire and the Mortem-cursed country of Auverraine is a fun, glittering, and bejeweled world of recreational poison use, dead gods, and courtly politics and espionage. The characters are fun and I enjoyed following Lore as a protagonist, but shout-out to Bastian—the seemingly irreverent, moderately dastardly Sun Prince—who was my favorite character to read. That’s not to count out Gabe, our Golden Retriever-esque monk who’s too loyal and upstanding for his own self-preservation, but right now, I’m firmly Team Bastian (but giving myself the choice to change my mind whenever Book 2 comes out). I’m a sucker for love triangles, too, and am waiting to see what shenanigans this trio gets up to in the books that follow.
I don’t read much high fantasy where intricate court politics and royal espionage are involved, but this level of intrigue, mystery, and machinations suited me fine, and the twists keep the pages turning.
The pantheon of gods was by far my favorite element, and I’m hoping we can dig more into the mythology of the world as we move further into the series. (And maybe get some backstory for what really happened before
This definitely feels like a first book in a trilogy and therefore has some of the standard conventions of getting a series off the ground: slower-paced world building and character development to get you invested for when the puzzle starts coming together. And a lot of the earlier pages are spent setting up the world, the court, and the key players in the mystery. But by the end of the book, the chess board is set and the pieces are in place for whatever Book 2 has in store, and I can’t wait to see how the game plays out from here!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Animal death, Death of parent, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: War
readbyemilee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
This book was everything I wanted and more. Atmospheric, immersive, and sexy… Hannah Whitten is officially one of my new favorite authors. The Wilderwood duology is so so so good. The Foxglove King is even better.
Full transparency, I really had no idea what was going on for the first 50 pages or so. Not super uncommon when I read adult fantasy, but I can stick with a book if the characters are compelling and it at least feels like things will start making sense. The Foxglove King has some whodunnit aspects, and I loved finding things out as Lore and friends discovered them. The ending is a little predictable, but it’s okay because the journey to the end was thoughtful and engaging.
The themes of religion and parallels to modern Christianity are very interesting. As an ex-fundie, I’m always eager to read anything that explores institutional religion. I found myself empathizing with both Lore and Gabe, but Gabe especially. His character arc is one of the most complicated I have read in a long time, and I think he will be on my mind a lot until the next book.
I would have liked to see Lore be more independent. The “girl is yanked from the streets and forced to live in a castle, where she assimilates into high society with no problem and has friends immediately” plot is getting redundant… but I’m still gonna eat it up every time.
This ends on a cliffhanger BUT as a reader who generally despises cliffhangers, it’s not bad. The story has a good conclusion and sets us up for what to expect next. This is the kind of cliffhanger that you can feel coming—when the pages left are getting thinner and there’s still a whole mess of things that need to happen.
Thank you Orbit for the ARC!
Full transparency, I really had no idea what was going on for the first 50 pages or so. Not super uncommon when I read adult fantasy, but I can stick with a book if the characters are compelling and it at least feels like things will start making sense. The Foxglove King has some whodunnit aspects, and I loved finding things out as Lore and friends discovered them. The ending is a little predictable, but it’s okay because the journey to the end was thoughtful and engaging.
The themes of religion and parallels to modern Christianity are very interesting. As an ex-fundie, I’m always eager to read anything that explores institutional religion. I found myself empathizing with both Lore and Gabe, but Gabe especially. His character arc is one of the most complicated I have read in a long time, and I think he will be on my mind a lot until the next book.
I would have liked to see Lore be more independent. The “girl is yanked from the streets and forced to live in a castle, where she assimilates into high society with no problem and has friends immediately” plot is getting redundant… but I’m still gonna eat it up every time.
This ends on a cliffhanger BUT as a reader who generally despises cliffhangers, it’s not bad. The story has a good conclusion and sets us up for what to expect next. This is the kind of cliffhanger that you can feel coming—when the pages left are getting thinner and there’s still a whole mess of things that need to happen.
Thank you Orbit for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Drug use, Religious bigotry, and Genocide
Minor: Death of parent, Violence, Sexism, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Murder
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