Review by Booklist Review
Condemned to the Burnt Isles by the power-hungry god Apollius, who possesses her husband the Sainted King Bastian, Lore finds her anguished disavowal of the goddess Nyxara and mortem was half-successful: she has lost the ability to channel the power of death, though she still faintly hears Nyxara. Her banishment puts her closer to the Golden Mount, the island where the Fount granted Nyxara's small group of friends their god-like powers, and Lore embarks on a quest to restore the broken Fount and return its magic. She engages with her friends who are channeling the elemental gods only via dreams as they each seek missing pieces of the Fount and struggle through setbacks and betrayals. As they're drawn to the Fount, they must each confront their power and the role they'll play in this final battle between friends, and ultimately Lore must challenge the Fount's involvement in granting them powers. The unexpected twists will keep readers fully engaged until the end of this adventure, as Whitten neatly wraps up The Nightshade Crown trilogy that began with The Foxglove King, 2023.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The stunning conclusion to Whitten's Nightshade Crown trilogy (after The Hemlock Queen) begins with protagonists Lore, Gabe, and Bastian torn apart by the events of the previous book. Deathwitch Lore has been trapped on the Burnt Isles, a prison colony, by Bastian, king of Auverraine, who is now fully possessed by the life god Apollius. Lore and her friends, meanwhile, all play host to gods of their own, though none have been subsumed by them like Bastian has. Gabe, along with friends Malcolm, Michal, and Lore's mothers, has fled to safety in Caldien, away from Apollius's grasping hands. Meanwhile, Bastian, pushed down into a golden sea in his own mind, fights to take back control of his body. The friends' best chance for survival lies in restoring the Fount, the source of the gods' powers, and using it to return all magic to its source, banishing the gods. As Gabe and Malcolm race to find the pieces of the broken Fount before Apollius can stop them, Lore works to escape and make her way to the Golden Mount, where the ritual must be completed. Balancing a large cast of complex characters, gorgeous worldbuilding, juicy romance, and a page-turning plot, Whitten's epic conclusion does not disappoint. Agent: Whitney Ross, High Line Literary. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
King Bastian has been overtaken by Apollius, and Lore has been banished to the Burnt Isles as a traitor. Her allies have been scattered and are dealing with their own lesser gods in their heads. Even with the goddess Nyxara in her own mind, Lore will need all of the skills she learned on Dellaire's streets to escape and find a way to save her city and her people. The answer may lie right where Lore is, however, in the place where the gods first claimed their power. All she needs is to bring the broken pieces of the Fount back together. Then the Fount will take back its magic and finally rid the lands of the gods that are breaking Lore's world apart. Yet the closer she gets to succeeding, the more her power grows, and Lore discovers that power can be difficult to let go of, no matter the cost. VERDICT The final volume of "The Nightshade Crown" trilogy (after The Hemlock Queen) is another opulent and romantic dark fantasy. With its fast pace, delicious love triangle, and high stakes, readers will devour this book.--Kristi Chadwick
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Exiled to the Burnt Isles, Lore is the farthest from saving the world that she's ever been. Bastian, now Sainted King, has been completely overcome by the god in his head, Lore doesn't know what's happening with the magic she was born with or the magic she's gained, her friends are grappling with their own gods and scattered throughout the land. With ash thickening the air, Lore must fight just to survive, but she will never be satisfied with mere survival when she might still be able to save the world. So, with her friends and some allies (who may or may not be trustworthy) she begins to work toward a solution that could fix everything. But striving for salvation means anything might have to be sacrificed: Bastian or his disenchanted former Priest Exalted Gabe, her magic, or even her sense of self. As the Nightshade Crown trilogy draws to a close, its scope expands beyond Lore but ultimately remains focused on her journey. The increased presence of secondary characters, particularly Bastian's half sister Alienor, makes this finale truly feel like an extension of the previous installments rather than simply a rehashed version of similar plot points. As the world expands, so too does the representation, with characters of different sexualities and gender identities incorporated with little fanfare, as their presence does not require remark. Lore's moral journey is particularly compelling; alongside her self-sacrifice, she makes bad choices and, often enough, suffers the consequences. Infusing the wonder of myths and magic with the desperation of a fight for survival and earth-shattering doom, this conclusion lives up to the trilogy as a whole. Dark and intense, but not without bursts of light. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
