The Foxglove King

By: Hannah Whitten

Narrated by: Emily Ellet

Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

In this lush, romantic epic fantasy series from a New York Times bestselling author, 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.

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.

©2023 Hannah Whitten (P)2023 Orbit

Critic reviews

"Hannah Whitten is my favorite obsession, and her new series is all I can think about. I'm obsessed with The Foxglove King—a perfect concoction of intrigue, magic, thwarted love, and writing as delicate and deeply affecting as the petals of a poisonous plant."—Jodi Picoult, NYT bestselling author of WISH YOU WERE HERE

"Whitten debuts with a dark, dazzling reimagining of 'Little Red Riding Hood'...Whitten lovingly weaves in elements from other fairy tales, including 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Snow White,' while crafting a story that is all her own. With clever, immersive prose and a subtle touch of horror, this is sure to enchant."―Publishers Weekly

"Whitten weaves a captivating tale in this debut, in which even secondary characters come to feel like old friends. The novel seamlessly blends 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'Beauty and the Beast' into an un-put-down-able fairy tale that traces the boundaries of duty, love, and loss. A masterful debut from a must-read new voice in fantasy."―Kirkus

Enjoyable

This was a very exciting story. Hard to follow at times but overall can’t wait to see where this series goes!

top teir voice acring

the rhythm the reader uses is great . 10/10 story. I really liked how the story progressed. it was a bit predictable a few times but all in all great book

Great!

Wish narrator would do Lore’s voice a less snarky…. It sounded better towards the beginning of the book. Good job though! Interesting book and good read

Great story, audio needs work

I really enjoyed this book but there is a problem with the audio in chapter 5 that makes it impossible to understand and listen to. Thankfully I had the book available to read for that chapter and didn’t come across any additional audio problems.

The story over all was interesting and different. It definitely had gothic vibes and an interesting magic system that was different than any I had previously encountered. I’m excited to see what happens in the next installment!

Loved this

Though I started the book twice and listened to sections multiple times, I give this a 5 star. Good narration but story line and twist kept me interested.

Interesting World

3.5/5 ⭐
0.0/5 🌶️
4.0/5 🎧

This had a really slow start, but as we got closer to the end it got more exciting and more enjoyable. I am really intrigued by the world and magic within it, but I'm still a bit confused about it at the end. It may be just because I listened on audio and it was hard to follow at times... I'm hoping reading book two on my kindle will help.

Audio was good, but slow. I sped it up about 0.75x more than I usually listen. Emily Ellet had really great female voices, but her males could be hard to distinguish. Overall I did enjoy the listen though.

A good story line, but not a 5

The story line is good, characters are good, a few less metaphors and I would have bumped the storyline up. The performance was also good but not a 5 great. I enjoyed it and do not regret the time spent.

Not your typical story

This story wasn’t what I expected at all which was a pleasant surprise. There were so many twists and turns and not necessarily in the direction that you would have thought they would go. The comment about being used so often that a person didn’t even realize it because that was their normal state of affairs really summed up the characters good and bad.

Great Story- terrible narrator

This is not a review on the book! You should read it! A fun fresh and dark fantasy

However… the narrator ruined it. She somehow managed to make pretty good dialogue insufferable. It was almost as if the direction was “make every line as cheesy as possible”. All the more frustrating because the bits in between the dialogue of just narration were totally ok!! Why did she make to make the characters insufferable :(

Binge

I binged this in 2 days. I didn’t want to stop to sleep but I had to.
I love the story over all.
I can’t wait for the Hemlock Queen