A review by redstringraven
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

dark inspiring mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.25

this read was a pleasant surprise! i had a really good time with this one, especially in the second half of the book. the start felt a little... i guess the best word might be "clumsy"? it felt like a lot of information and names were being thrown at me all at once, and it was difficult to keep track of everything. but as the book went on, it got easier. the incident that kind of kicks off the plot also felt a wee bit forced; thankfully, this wasn't too distracting. i really enjoyed the prose, the descriptions of the magic, the magic itself, and am curious enough to go back and skim through the first half again to better understand the history and world-building. i'm also very curious to know how this is all going to end, so. guess i'll be seeking out the sequel!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW

what i liked:
  • out of the four books i've read for a bookclub this year this is the first one that wasn't in 1st person, and i appreciate it so much for that. so thank you.
  • the magic and its connection to the history absolutely has my attention! again, i'm invested enough to want to go back and give the beginning of the book a second read now that the information's rooted itself in my head a bit more. the descriptions of the dead were awesome, and i really enjoy the connection of the sun and moon, life and death--the duality of things. 
  • it took me a while, but i slowly went from being a bit indifferent to lore to enjoying her as a main character! i was also pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed bastian. the last couple books, i haven't liked the "type" of character he is, so catching myself smirking or snorting after he said or did something was a nice change of pace. i feel like out of the main three, he had the strongest connection with lore, and i really hope
    that it's a genuine connection and not just something 'born' out of how they're connected magically
    . i also adored alie as a side-character, and i was relieved to learn
    she was just as shocked in the last hour of the audiobook as anyone else
    .
  • also GAY MOMS. 💜🖤
  • just the general world and... aesthetic of it all? right out the gate, i was really hoping to like this book because it hits a lot of points and ideas that i tend to love. was a little nervous at the start--again, the first bundle of chapters felt a little clumsy to me, personally--but found myself growing more curious and intrigued as things went on. i want to learn more, possibly deep-dive a wiki page if it exists. 

what didn't quite jive:
  • those first few chapters; they weren't horrible or impossible to understand, but it still felt like a lot of information, a lot of names and terms, and a bit of a forced inciting incident. the use of the term "poison" for drugs also took a bit of getting used to; i hear "taking poison" and my brain goes "oh no!" only to remember they're basically doing cocaine... which is still an "oh no!" but a different sort, if that makes sense. like, i know drugs are basically a poison but... --you understand. after those, however, i found that i didn't have a lot of notes to take, and just enjoyed listening and going along for the ride. 
  • i don't HATE gabe as a character, but out of the main three i had the hardest time connecting with him (and this was before
    it's revealed that he betrayed bastian and lore; this revelation didn't make me like him any more or any less
    ). overall, he's fine. the reason he's in this section is primarily because i don't really find his relationship with lore--in the romantic sense--believable. lore found it easy to talk to him almost instantly, and i'll admit that kind of soured me (the whole "romantic interest is the one (1) person i can freely talk to" thing), but even in everything that followed that i still just... didn't entirely get them as a potential couple. which brings me to my next thing:
  • polycule them. i hate love triangles so much, man; polycule them. 
  • in all seriousness, i feel like gabe had more potential chemistry with bastian OR i'm interested in seeing if he winds up reuniting romantically with alie. but i just don't really get what he's got going on with lore. it made certain aspects of their interactions feel a bit forced and unnatural. ...i feel like lore actually had more chemistry going on with alie than with gabe, but i won't get my hopes up for a sapphic endgame. 

that's all that comes to mind immediately! if i think of other things, i'll come back and edit. but yeah! honestly kind of excited about getting my hands on the next book. hopefully, the series keeps up!
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