The Foxglove King left us with a world and story that seemed cracked open, with the potential for almost anything to emerge. This left The Hemlock Queen with some big choices to make, as it would shape where the series would end up going and what came out of that intense first book. I was quite surprised (but extremely pleased!) by the way the plot ended up moving, and I’m excited to see how this story concludes in book 3! 

The Foxglove King left us with plenty of questions, and luckily The Hemlock Queen started giving us some answers pretty quickly, though it is not entirely always clear where those answers are coming from and how much they can be trusted. In a way, this book starts working closely with themes of fate and pattern as both the history of the world is revealed and relationships between our main characters are further developed. It starts an interesting discussion on the role and effect of fate and pre-determination and looks at how freedom of choice does or does not exist in moments of cyclic repetition (and if this even matters in the end, as even if a moment or feeling is fated, it does still happen and it is still felt). I enjoyed how closely these parts of the story were interwoven together, and it made both the world-building/plot and the character relationships feel richer as a result.  

I also enjoyed how the magic system was shaped and altered by this shift in plot and struggle as well. The first book was more classically magical, with physical manifestations of magic on the page and an exploration of the effects of this magic in a physical sense. The Hemlock Queen ends up being much more of an internal story, and the shift to more mental magic and conflict within this more mental space fits that story better. We did already see glimpses of this back in The Foxglove King too, so the shift also felt like a natural one. 

Overall, I enjoyed this sequel immensely, and it cemented this series as a favorite, beyond something that I just had fun with to something that I can see sticking with me for longer! I am absolutely terrified of the final book, though, as there are just so many ways it can go.