The Hemlock Queen by. Hannah Whitten | Book Review

In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten’s lush, romantic epic fantasy series, a young woman who can raise the dead must navigate the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court. 

The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore—a necromancer and former smuggler—to his right hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the sainted court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kyrithean Empire is beating down their door, and Lore’s old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian’s changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he’s reckless, domineering and cold. 

And something’s been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that’s telling her there’s more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything. 

With Bastian’s coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince, and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping through the catacombs is unleashed.

Content Warning: violence

+ I did how everything get messier with the Gods and how they were inhabiting different people. It is the worse for Bastian who is being possessed by Apollius. So it changes him a lot because Apollius is sinister.

+ I do like the supporting cast and the political intrigue happening as Bastian tries to make allies with enemies, or so he says. There is a lot that is unveiled and explained where it comes to the Gods. The world-building is great and shows

~ But this story is too slow. I didn’t even realize it was only 400 pages because it felt like more and took me a few days to finish. I did like the beginning, there is a lull in the middle and then it finishes off strong. Getting to that strong ending though took awhile.

~ I don’t mind love triangles but I do not like this one. I hate that Lore is so indecisive between Bastian and Gabe. I think by the end she decides she loves both of them so what is this going to be? A throuple? I don’t think Bastian or Gabe want to share her. So this romance frustrates me a lot and I don’t feel connected to either of them.

My Final Thoughts:

This one was okay. I think it was just too slow in some parts and too much of Lore trying to figure out which boy she really loves and wants to be with which got tiring. I wanted romance in this but this isn’t it. I think the world-building is great and the politics but I’ll go into book three a little more reserved I think – we shall see what happens!

Find me here: Instagram (bookstagram📚) | Instagram (crafts🎨) | Twitter (X) | Etsy (shop)

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Foxglove King by. Hannah Whitten | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For the Throne by. Hannah F. Whitten | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

For the Wolf by. Hannah F. Whitten | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️