A review by adancewithbooks
The Hemlock Queen by Hannah Whitten

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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