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abex's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0
scijessreads's review against another edition
5.0
The Hemlock Queen takes the deftly constructed world and tangled web of relationships established in The Foxglove King and pulls at the strings until they vibrate with tension. Lore, Bastian, and Gabe have all fallen uneasily into their roles within the kingdom. There are secrets and unanswered questions and obtrusive thoughts that lead them all to realize just how much things are not even close to being resolved between them and the Gods whose powers they channel.
The pace is slower than in the first book, but the simmering tension that lingers between Lore, Gabe, and Bastian is never far from the surface. They all wish for things to be different. They all wish for things that cannot come to pass if current events are allowed to unfold. Current events that involve learning more about Apollius and Nyxara and the Gods that came before, that held the powers of Mortem and Spiritum that Lore and Bastian now control.
Full of political maneuvering - a chess match that no one realizes is happening until it is almost over - we see what happens when an unchecked thirst for power and possession takes the reins of the Sainted King. We see what happens when love is not enough to save those you care about. We see what happens when secrets finally come to light, and they are worse than you could imagine.
For a middle book in a trilogy, The Hemlock Queen comes alive in the quiet, internal moments when Lore discovers exactly what she is, what needs to be done, and how much finding answers is going to hurt. In the end, we are left as scattered to the winds as our characters, waiting anxiously for them to come back together and make themselves - and their world - whole. At the same time, you can’t help but feel resignation and despair at the thought that the road to an ending is going to be difficult to travel. I can’t wait to follow it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
The pace is slower than in the first book, but the simmering tension that lingers between Lore, Gabe, and Bastian is never far from the surface. They all wish for things to be different. They all wish for things that cannot come to pass if current events are allowed to unfold. Current events that involve learning more about Apollius and Nyxara and the Gods that came before, that held the powers of Mortem and Spiritum that Lore and Bastian now control.
Full of political maneuvering - a chess match that no one realizes is happening until it is almost over - we see what happens when an unchecked thirst for power and possession takes the reins of the Sainted King. We see what happens when love is not enough to save those you care about. We see what happens when secrets finally come to light, and they are worse than you could imagine.
For a middle book in a trilogy, The Hemlock Queen comes alive in the quiet, internal moments when Lore discovers exactly what she is, what needs to be done, and how much finding answers is going to hurt. In the end, we are left as scattered to the winds as our characters, waiting anxiously for them to come back together and make themselves - and their world - whole. At the same time, you can’t help but feel resignation and despair at the thought that the road to an ending is going to be difficult to travel. I can’t wait to follow it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
thebookcloector's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jessh1030's review against another edition
3.0
I’m happy to report that I enjoyed this much more than the first, but it trudged along in parts and could have been fifty pages shorter.
mrsxtremist's review against another edition
4.0
This was a 3.75
First off, I thought this was a duology and boy was I shocked when I learned it was not. This was another amazing buddy read and MAN I was glad to have people to discuss my thoughts with.
This story continues shortly after the end of book one and continues to follow Lore, Gabe, Bastian as they deal with the fallout of what August attempted.
This book was different than Book 1. I had a much harder time being invested with the guys. As you get further into the story many of my “wtf is going on” moments began to make more sense.
This book focuses a LOT on world/story building for the continuation of the series. It was good but it wasn’t as big of a “page turner” for me. It really leaves it in a great place for book 3 and the cliffhanger makes me hate having to wait to find out what happens!
Troupes: love triangle, gods/goddesses,
Spice. 1/5
Plot 3.5/5
Pace 4/5
Character Personality 4/5
Character Growth 4/5
Writing Style 5/5
World Building 5/5
Spoilers below
Okay… I kept saying to the ladies like what is wrong with Bastian. He is so different from the first book. Then it was like waiiiittttt a minute - is he possessed?!?! Called it and wow! My poor Bastian. I love him and I so hope they can save him.
First off, I thought this was a duology and boy was I shocked when I learned it was not. This was another amazing buddy read and MAN I was glad to have people to discuss my thoughts with.
This story continues shortly after the end of book one and continues to follow Lore, Gabe, Bastian as they deal with the fallout of what August attempted.
This book was different than Book 1. I had a much harder time being invested with the guys. As you get further into the story many of my “wtf is going on” moments began to make more sense.
This book focuses a LOT on world/story building for the continuation of the series. It was good but it wasn’t as big of a “page turner” for me. It really leaves it in a great place for book 3 and the cliffhanger makes me hate having to wait to find out what happens!
Troupes: love triangle, gods/goddesses,
Spice. 1/5
Plot 3.5/5
Pace 4/5
Character Personality 4/5
Character Growth 4/5
Writing Style 5/5
World Building 5/5
Spoilers below
Spoiler
Okay… I kept saying to the ladies like what is wrong with Bastian. He is so different from the first book. Then it was like waiiiittttt a minute - is he possessed?!?! Called it and wow! My poor Bastian. I love him and I so hope they can save him.
hsaven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
brebee2010's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
cherbles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alykbooks's review against another edition
4.0
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
WOW! What a sequel to a series that started off a bit slow.
The first book had me really hoping this second book would pick up the pace and it did!
The beginning of this book is a little slow and it started to get repetitive to the point where I really thought I wasn’t going to like it but the last 10 chapters had me in a chokehold.
The one (minor) complaint that I have about this book, and the series, is the romance. I don’t care about the spice level or anything like that but I wanted the romance to have a bit more umph. I didn’t feel like the connection was really made in the first book to warrant some of the actions in the second book. There just wasn’t the emotional connection threaded that needed to be for the actions that occur in the second book to hurt as much as it should’ve. Despite this, I think by the end of the book you see the love and pain that the characters go through.
The plot is unique throughout both books and characters actually think through conflict and have to come up with unique solutions to their problems. This is something that is SO valuable that often isn’t shown in other books. A lot of times characters will just do things without reason but the author clearly explains why characters make the decisions they do and those decisions drive the plot.
The only reason this isn’t 5 stars for me is because I think there’s room to improve when it comes to plot progression and not having repetitive incidents throughout the book but the 3rd book in this series will be amazing!!
WOW! What a sequel to a series that started off a bit slow.
The first book had me really hoping this second book would pick up the pace and it did!
The beginning of this book is a little slow and it started to get repetitive to the point where I really thought I wasn’t going to like it but the last 10 chapters had me in a chokehold.
The one (minor) complaint that I have about this book, and the series, is the romance. I don’t care about the spice level or anything like that but I wanted the romance to have a bit more umph. I didn’t feel like the connection was really made in the first book to warrant some of the actions in the second book. There just wasn’t the emotional connection threaded that needed to be for the actions that occur in the second book to hurt as much as it should’ve. Despite this, I think by the end of the book you see the love and pain that the characters go through.
The plot is unique throughout both books and characters actually think through conflict and have to come up with unique solutions to their problems. This is something that is SO valuable that often isn’t shown in other books. A lot of times characters will just do things without reason but the author clearly explains why characters make the decisions they do and those decisions drive the plot.
The only reason this isn’t 5 stars for me is because I think there’s room to improve when it comes to plot progression and not having repetitive incidents throughout the book but the 3rd book in this series will be amazing!!
shmadsie's review against another edition
3.0
There were some interesting bits in here but it was so bogged down by repetition and minutely explaining things that were already obvious but weren't explicitly spelled out earlier, so it ended up feeling like a looooot of filler at the end of the day. What ended up sticking out weren't the interesting bits, instead it was what a slog this was.