The Foxglove King

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten is a mesmerizing fast paced fantasy with many twists and turns.We follow Lore, a poison runner for her two moms, which is quite illegal in this fantasy world where poison can lengthen your life, if taken correctly. Lore also has death magic, which is a bit mysterious and hazy at first, but we’ll find out more throughout the book. Because of her illegal magic (lots of illegality in this book lol) instead of getting thrown in prison, Lore is sent to the court to spy on the crown prince, who might have some ideas to betray his country to their enemy, accompanied by a young man of the church, but nothing is what it seems as they navigate the intrigues of court and get to know each other and the crown prince better.

I love court intrigue! Really this novel has everything I want on that part. Depth in the story, character depth, banter, plot twists and overall epicness. It was quite fast paced actually, which is normally not my favorite, but in this book I really liked it. This feels like a YA fantasy book in the best sense and has all the things I love in this genre. There are some clichés like the feisty heroine, modern language, a love triangle (more on that later), and a world that feels a bit generic. For me the worldbuilding was enough though, it has everything I want even if it is a little simple (I have to say I didn’t see the French court it was based on at all, it didn’t feel European/French). The religion that plays such a huge role was done well, I was invested in the theology.

But oh that love triangle! Granted, this is as well as a love triangle can be done in my opinion, but still I didn’t like that aspect and is the reason I give 4 stars instead of 5. We have a pining heroine, though it is a bit funny she realizes it herself and mutters that she should just get it out of her system and focus on the important part like staying alive. Lore does have a healthy, slightly egoistical world view (go Lore!) and will not put her love life above everything and the angst is minimal so I can stand this triangle. I think many will actually like it as it is done quite well. It helps that the boys are likeable, too. We have Gabriel, who is a celibate monk-soldier/duke with a dark past, he has always followed the church, but Lore gets under his skin and slowly he starts deconstructing his faith and world view a bit. And Bastian, the crown prince, is the bad boy and seems like he cares about nothing but having fun, but as you get to know him he loses the mask and you actually see he cares a lot. The three of them get thrown together trying to solve some mystery – with varying result to be honest lol. The banter is epic though and the trouble they get into hilarious. The language used is quite modern and feels American, which for me didn’t feel weird as more YA fantasy does this, it actually is a bit funny.

The end is a bit evil with a cliffhanger and I now want to read book 2.  

Overall, I really liked this book and I think many YA readers will. Especially if you like Serpent and Dove (but so much better! The heroine for once isn’t a bully), This Vicious Grace, The Prison Healer and This Poisoned Heart.

I received a free e-arc of through Netgalley but it hasn’t influenced my opinions.