Whitten, Hannah. The Hemlock Queen. New York: Orbit, 2024.
ISBN-13: 978-0316435291 | $30.00 USD | 480 pages | Fantasy Romance
Blurb
In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten’s lush romantic epic fantasy series, the glittering and dangerous world of the Sainted King’s royal court is upended when Prince Bastian seizes control and a mysterious dark force begins to take over.
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 royal court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kirythean Empire is beating down their door, and Lore’s old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian has changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he’s become reckless, domineering, and cold.
And something has 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.
In the series
Review
4 stars
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.
Author Bio
Hannah Whitten has been writing to amuse herself since she could hold a pen, and sometime in high school, figured out that what amused her might also amuse others. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, making music, or attempting to bake. She lives in an old farmhouse in Tennessee with her husband, children, two cats, a dog, and probably some ghosts.
Buy links
Parnassus Books (signed copies)
Barnes & Noble (signed copies)
Courtney Reads Romance 