The Hemlock Queen

The Hemlock Queen was a wild ride. I wasn't sure how this book was going to go after finishing the first one – there were a few different roads Whitten could have taken – but DANG. She picked the most entertaining one, for sure. I really don't want to spoil the ‘reveal' that we get in this book, so you get a pretty darn vague review, sorry friends.

If you pick this up and spend the first half of the book totally annoyed with Bastian let me tell you there is a perfectly good explanation for why you feel that way. And once you figure it out, WOOF. You feel bad for feeling the way you did. My poor Sun prince.

The romance is still present here, but it's fraught. Shaky and nebulous and leaves you feeling maybe a little on the dirty side. (Not in a good way.) The triangle is still here, but it starts to feel less like a triangle, and more like a possible polycule WHICH WOULD BE SO REFRESHING AND INTERESTING if Whitten decides to go this route eventually. Lore loves both Bastian and Gabe, and I truly don't see a reason why she has to pick between the two - especially when they both care for each other, too.

Lore makes some interesting decisions in this book, ones that I hope she'll get to see pan out. At the end of the book, I am flat out terrified for her, but knowing her as a character I am sure that she'll figure out how to save herself.

WHAT AN INTERESTING PREMISE THIS SERIES HAS. I am fully on board with this, and I can't wait to see where Whitten goes, and what the end game is here. Four and a half stars. I cannot wait to read the next entry into this series.