The Nightshade God

April 1, 2025

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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Starred review from May 12, 2025
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.

May 14, 2025
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.

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