The Sundays in Bed With… meme, hosted by Midnight Book Girl, dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
(I love how sometimes the title of the books makes these meme sound extra suggestitve. :-P)
The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten
I started this book on Friday and am about 25% through with it currently. So far I’m enjoying it. I admit that at the beginning it took me some time to become more or less familiar with the terms used in the story’s culture. But I think now I know the gist of it, or, rather, what is most relevant to the events unfolding as I read them. If you liked Whitten’s Wilderwood duology, then I think you’ll also appreciate THE FOXGLOVE KING. The writing style is similar, but, at only a quarter of the way through, it is darker. I suppose that’s a given since this book is about death. What I’m enjoying the most, though, is the religious overtones that are analogous to Christianity. And not necessarily in a complimentary way. It reminds me of A DOWRY OF BLOOD, but way less metaphorical (so far).
About the Book
Author: Hannah Whitten
Series: The Nightshade Crown, #1
Age Category: New Adult/Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Publish Date: March 7, 2023
Print Length: 480
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.
