A review by catsbooks_uk
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

5.0

This book is absolutely beautiful.

Initially, I found it a little hard to get into - but the opening chapters by no means reflect the whole book. The steady setup quickly moves into a stunning fantasy novel, with sympathetic, well-drawn characters, a city that we still need to know more about, understandable politics and a brilliant magic system.

Our protagonist is absolutely a Strong Female, but she's fallible without becoming a parody, human with everything that entails. The world changes around her at the drop of (usually someone else's) hat, and assumptions are not to be trusted based on first sight. In particular, the romance angle wasn't a core aspect of the book, which I was very appreciate of. Let's have a good story that doesn't hinge on a love triangle, please and thankyou.

Also it gets dark in places. Very dark. Oh yes.

I finished this in two days, and that was only because I had real-life chores to do. Very eagerly awaiting the sequel, and I'll certainly be rereading this in the meantime - a rarity, as I've always got a lot on my TBR review pile!

Clever, engrossing and magical. A definite 10/10.

I was kindly sent a copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinions are my own.