Author : Hannah F. Whitten
Book : The Foxglove King
/YA,Fantasy/
Publication date : March 7, 2023
Blurb:
When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.
Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.
Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne'er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.
But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.
In this lush, romantic new epic fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten, a young woman’s secret power to raise the dead plunges her into the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court.
My thoughts:
A pinch of delicious dark vibe, a bit of romance all wrapped up with a bit of mystery to keep you guessing.
The story follows our main female character, Lore, and her life as a poison runner so she could make ends meet. But when one of the deliveries goes absolutely and utterly wrong, she uncovers her biggest secret that can get her killed. When captured she expects that faith, but instead she ends in the most unexpected place she could end—as a guest at the court of the Sainted King himself, tangled in politic schemes and mysteries.
Alone in a place that you can't trust anyone and no one is what they appear to be, she ends up tangling things up even more when she tries to solve the riddles that are her guard Gabriel—a former duke with a dark past turned monk and the future heir Bastian giving the impression of a shallow and arrogant yet behind that mask she sees someone entirely different.
The magic system in the book is intriguing and as I said, I love how the dark vibe is exquisitely woven inside it—as Mortem is a magic born from death and is something illicit except for the so-called Presque Mort (mix between warriors and monks working for the Sainted King).
I loved Lore as a character because although she is tough and street type of smart and can't express her feelings to save her life😂 she is also caring, brave, loving and a seeker for justice in her own unique way.
Gabriel, on the other hand, is more comfortable sticking to the rules and what he knows, seeking and needing a solid thing to hold on to after the turmoil in his past. To be honest, exactly for that reason, his character had the least growth of the three of them—desperately holding on to beliefs and people that he made his solid ground. But I think after the events in the book that gives a solid foundation for his character and in the second book to find himself anew.
And I'm not sure how the author pulled it off, but how in the world she made him hotter BECAUSE of his eye patch and gave him his unique vibe that I loved.
Aaand we get to my favorite character, Bastian—the son of king August himself.
He has so many layers, and you learn a new thing or see a new side of his true self at every turn in the story. I swear every time his character comes into the scene he sucks up all the attention with unmatched gravitas, and it's safe to say his character got the most growth that made the book even bigger page turner that it is!
Wonderful I can't put it down kind of read and after that ending I definitely will pick up The Hemlock Queen when it comes out.
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