Every once in a while, you open a book box and you’re stunned by the beauty of the book’s customisations. That was 100% the case with Fairyloot‘s edition of The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten. Simply amazing!
The Foxglove King
The Foxglove King is the story of Lore, a young woman with the secret – and very much forbidden – power to raise the dead. Lore is an accomplished poison runner and spy, but when one of her missions goes wrong, she finds herself captured by the church. Her choice is simple: help them by infiltrating the royal court and keeping an eye on the heir to the throne, or die. This sends Lore into the decadent world of glittering balls and courtiers, with the two most unlikely companions imaginable: a taciturn and deeply religious young monk, and a mysterious crown prince, who might just be spying for the enemy.
A promising start to a new trilogy
As of the very start, this story seemed promising. Nevertheless, it took me a while to truly lose myself into it, but once I did, I was addicted. I propose we start a new national holiday, called “Bastian appreciation day”. Oh my, did I love the crown prince. He’s dangerous, dark, mysterious, sarcastic, and sexy: everything you could want in a fantasy main character and more. I really loved the chemistry between him and Lore, and the bond they have with Gabriel, as described beautifully in the following paragraph:
The sense of things falling into place around them, the sense of being moved into position by forces so much bigger than themselves, bigger even than kings and wars. She and Bastian and Gabe, comets that couldn’t help colliding.
That quotation chilled me to the bone, as it is a close echo of something I said more than ten years ago (minus the kings and wars, of course). Very, very creepy, yet stunningly beautiful. I hope the collision is less disastrous for them than it was for me.
Personally, I’m not yet sure what to think about Gabriel, though. I have the feeling he might still convince me in the next books. For now, however, I think he’s way too naïve to be an interesting character.
I really loved the storyline, the adventure, the setting, and most of all – you guessed it – the characters and the romantic tension between them. I did think some parts of the story could have been improved, as things seemed to go a bit too easy for Lore at some moments. I was initially also a bit bothered by how quickly the three main characters started working together (nobody would trust someone else that easily if you ask me), but that was explained later on and it made sense.
I have very high hopes for this series! Four out of five gemstones:
Age Category: For a broad audience
Representation: LGBTQ+ supporting characters
Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)
Warnings for parental abuse, off-page death of a child, and animal death .Do you want to discover more?
If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.
Amazon.nl: Hardcover Edition
Amazon.nl: Paperback Edition
Amazon.nl: eBook Edition
As already mentioned, Fairyloot recently included this book as part of their adult book subscription (my unboxing) and their edition is simply amazing: it has an exclusive cover, digitally sprayed edges (with a beautiful flower design on all three edges), illustrations of the main characters on the endpapers, and was digitally signed. Furthermore, the edition contained a bound-in author letter. Strangely enough, this book doesn’t seem to be very much sought after, so you should be able to find it relatively cheap on the second hand market (think € 25 – 40).
Similar to this
The title for the second part of The Nightshade Crown Trilogy will be The Hemlock Queen. In the meanwhile, I’m planning to read For the Wolf by the same author, which is a dark retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
The Foxglove King reminded me of several other fantasy books that I’ve read in the last couple of years. The most obvious one is without a doubt Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin. This trilogy is the tale of a witch and a witch-hunter who find themselves unlikely allies – and maybe even more. My review can be found here.
Next, Lore’s relationship with her adoptive mothers and the duality of the gods reminded me of Little Thieves by Margaret Owen. That’s about where the similarities end, though, as this is a hilariously funny and adventurous retelling of The Goose Girl. Check out my review here.
The necromancy, general atmosphere and some of the worldbuilding/mythology, also reminded me of another New Adult Fantasy series I read, which started of with The City of Dusk by Tara Sim (which was, by the way, also a Fairyloot adult book pick). My review of book one can be found here.
Last but not least, the poison runners and the city’s dependency on flowers reminded me of an ongoing series by one of my all-time favourite authors, namely Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer. This story is – very loosely – inspired by Robin Hood. Check out my review here.
Recap: The Foxglove King
In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book when it is published. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!