Reviews

The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

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mel_bougie's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

va1kyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

libertyreads789's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

When I said I needed something in my life to slow down my reading, I really didn't mean being overwhelmed with starting a class, having one of the worst migraines of my life, a car getting damaged beyond repair, and having to spend a day and a half purchasing a new car. But, really, I should know better at this point. It is 2024 after all. This is a book I would have read in 4 days or fewer if real life wasn't trying to tear me apart. And I feel like taking a week and a half to read it kind of took away from the experience. I would read 80 pages in a day and then put it down for a day and a half out of necessity. So, the reading felt so disjointed. I'm hoping when I reread the series before the next book comes out I'll have a better experience.

I really do absolutely adore a set of characters who are doomed by the narrative but continue pushing through because what else are they going to do? The thing I thought was happening pretty early on in the first book finally got confirmation in this one. It was the major plot of this one. I still really enjoy Lore, Gabe, and Bastian and it was weird in this one because it felt like they weren't as fully in the story as they were in book one. Which makes sense given the plot. I just missed them sometimes. I'm excited to see where the next (final?) book goes from here. The setting and the world still felt so real and I loved seeing all of my favorite places in this world again. In the next one, we're going to some new places so I'm excited to see it.

I struggled with some triggers that weren't there in the first book. It all makes sense for the plot and it isn't extreme at all, but it really did drag down my enthusiasm for the story as we were moving through it. I don't know if it's going to be a major thing in the next one so it does make me a little worried but I'm still planning on finishing the series.

Overall, it was a good middle book. I think a lot of authors struggle to avoid "middle book syndrome" where it feels too thin and like a bridge between set up and climax. I think if I had read this as quickly as I wanted to then it would have been slightly easier to follow and I probably would have enjoyed it at least a little more.

cakt1991's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed The Foxglove King and the themes it had to offer, and The Hemlock Queen offers more in a similar vein. While it does suffer in some areas from “middle book syndrome,” there was enough to keep my attention.

One aspect I had forgotten about between books was the amount of deep lore (haha!) conveyed through epigraphs, and sometimes even footnotes to add further context to those epigraphs. It’s not as heavy on that side of things as similar books that dive deeper into the fictional lore and literature of the world, but it was an aspect I enjoyed nonetheless.

The characters continue to be fairly intriguing, and their complex relationships with one another evolve in interesting ways, especially with them all in positions of power. I wasn’t sure how to feel about Bastian’s turn from charming to cold and controlling, feeling like a very familiar heel-turn for those of us who’ve read other romantasy *coughSJMcough*. But there’s still nuance there so that both he and Gabe are viable love interests, albeit with a lot of trauma and baggage. As for Lore, she remains compelling, as she too is trying to adjust to her new position as well.

Like the first book, the pacing is a bit all over the place. I was somewhat invested in the beginning, but I wasn’t truly grabbed until halfway through. I can’t put my finger on what I would want to streamline, although perhaps having more of a “hook” at the beginning would help.

While it’s not perfect, I enjoyed this book for the most part, and would recommend the series thus far to readers looking for “romantasy” series.

tmbechtel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

atlasrising41818's review against another edition

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4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this in exchange for a review!

It's been a while since I read the first book, so it took me a bit to get into this one. It felt like there was a lot of slow moments and story development happening, and while it was definitely necessary, it made it a bit harder for me to enjoy until closer to the end. The end...boy did it make me mad, but in the best way. I need book 3 right now!

kristyn_mckenna's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

minap16's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I liked this one better than the first one, the pacing was better and I think the story development was interesting. Again I kinda expected more romance especially after the lack of it in the first one. That is common with fantasy romance novels to have the first be lacking in comparison to the second so I guess I just expected more than there was. Don’t get me wrong it’s there it’s just not as developed as it could be. Overall I liked the book and I look forward to reading the next one.

erinleiigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

adancewithbooks's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.

The Hemlock Queen is the sequel to The Foxglove King, a book I enjoyed a lot last year. At the end of that first book Bastian has become king and, going against prophecy, Lore still lives. In this sequel we continue on with how they are faring afterwards. Because of course that was not the end.

We start shortly after the ending of the first book. Bastian is king, Lore is next to his side while Gabe is now head of the guards. But something seems to be off. Bastian seems to be off. And Lore is hearing a voice in her head. Everything in her shouts that they should stop channelling mortem. But Bastian keeps pushing. The gods, their gods, seemed to want to make a reappearance into real life.

After having read this book, I'm not sure how I feel about it. The book started of very slow and at 33% I was getting a little bored. The set-up of this book is incredibly slow and while I understand that when it comes to the base plot of showing the decay of Bastian, something more could have been happening here.

Partially this is because Lore is very hands off in this book. While in the first book she was very active and forward. She is passive and unsure of her place in court. People are gossiping that she is in Bastian's bed. She isn't but they share appartments. I can understand what she is coming from. Her life was never easy and her first time at court was hard. Now she is at court and has all the luxury and safety she can ask for. But it doesn't make for a great read when our main character isn't really responding to any of the signs around her. She is worried a lot of the time but nowhere does she take action or share her worries with others. Yet she feels affronted when her 'friends' didn't trust her or share any of their worries with her.

The plot idea in itself is fine but the execution leaves some to be desired. Its not a bad book either. I still read through the last 50% rather quickly. I was still invested up to a certain point. I'm still looking forward to the third book, and I hope that the execution of the story picks up again.

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