Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten, which is the follow-up to last year’s fantastic The Foxglove King. I had high expectations for this book. Read on to find out if it met them!

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.

***Thank you to Orbit Books for providing a copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

The Hemlock Queen was a fascinating continuation of the story started in The Foxglove King. This sequel added significant depth to the world-building and took the characters through the wringer. The writing was just as compulsively readable as the first book, and, while slow at times, the plot always felt like it was ratcheting up to something intense. The last 100 pages had me in a chokehold, and I could not put the book down even though it was long past my bedtime.

There is so much I want to say about The Hemlock Queen, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers. So, I’ll keep things vague. There was plenty of court intrigue, as well as some great action at times. The stability of the kingdom was balanced on a knife’s edge, and the world felt a bit bigger than in the first book due to the dread of impending multi-national conflict. The magical abilities of the characters grew to a whole other level that often left me in awe. My favorite thing about the world-building, though, was the information about the gods and their history. It added so much context to the world and the ongoing struggle of the characters.

The Hemlock Queen added a bit more depth to the characters, as well. I especially felt like I got to know Lore even better, and her struggle to adapt to her new role in the court was compelling to read. Gabe took a bit of a back seat compared to his large role in The Foxglove King. He was still trying to figure out his thoughts on his religious beliefs and kept his distance from Lore due to their strained relationship. Bastian took on a huge role in this book, and his arc BROKE MY HEART. I’m not going to say anything else because of spoilers, but I was not okay.

I still find it odd that these books are classified as fantasy romance because I didn’t find either The Hemlock Queen or The Foxglove King to be super romantic. The relationships between the main characters are key, and there are romantic feelings between them, of course. However, I didn’t find that to be the main focus in either book. These books were also one of the rare times that I’ve liked a love triangle, mostly because they actually all have feelings for each other. I really want the three of them to end up together in the end, which was sort of teased in this book, and I’ll be very bummed if they don’t get a happily ever after.

The themes in The Hemlock Queen shifted a bit from the first book. It still explored religiosity and expanded the discussion on how religious authority can corrupt divine messages by deciding what gets filtered through to the public. However, it also illustrated the difference between love and possession. It was such a powerful tale of a woman breaking free from the control of an abusive relationship. The journey highlighted how destructive the fear of loss can be and the way it can consume a person and all of their relationships.

Overall, The Hemlock Queen was a solid follow-up to The Foxglove King. It added so much to the world and characters while incrementally building the tension to an explosive finale. I will definitely be picking up the next book because I need to know how it all ends. Therefore, I give The Hemlock Queen a rating of 4.25 out of 5 stars.

Have you read The Hemlock Queen? What did you think? Let me know down in the comments! 🙂