Published: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Orbit Books
Series: The Nightshade Crown #3
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Page: 480 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 4.25 Stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The Nightshade Crown is in the hands of a ruthless god. Lore will stop at nothing to defeat him and save the troubled prince and tortured priest ensnared in his wicked plot, in this final installment of this lush, romantic, New York Times bestselling fantasy series from breakout star Hannah Whitten.
Lore has failed. She couldn’t save King Bastian from the rotten god speaking voices in his mind. She couldn’t save her allies from being scattered across the continent—their own lesser gods whispering to them in their dreams. She couldn’t save her beautiful, corrupt city from the dark power beneath the catacombs. And she couldn’t save herself.
Banished to the Burnt Isles, Lore must use every skill she earned on the streets of Dellaire to survive the prison colony and figure out a way to defeat the power that’s captured everything and everyone she holds dear. When a surprise ally joins her on the Burnt Isles she realizes the way forward may lie on the island itself. Somehow, her friends must help her collect the far-scattered pieces of the broken Fount—the source of all the god’s powers—and bring them back together on the Burnt Isles, returning all magic to its source and destroying, once and for all, the gods corrupting the land.
But as Lore gets closer to her goal, her magic grows stronger… and to a woman who’s always had to fight for survival, that kind of power may be hard to give up.
The Nightshade God is the final book in The Nightshade Crown trilogy, which follows Lore, a former poison runner who discovers she is the avatar of the goddess Nyxara as she ascends in power only to fall from grace. This installment begins with her imprisoned on the Burnt Isles, sentenced to work in the mines for her betrayal of King Bastian, who is possessed by the god Apollius. As with the previous books, The Nightshade God also follows Gabe, Alie, and Bastian, giving the reader a look into events in multiple locations.
Lore of course is on an ash covered prison island for the first part of the book and her time is largely consumed with staying alive and trying to find a way to escape to find the Fount. Gabe is with a larger group including Malcolm and Lore’s parents in the nation of Caldien, where they hope to find sanctuary and plot against Apollius. His POV chapters remain some of my favorites because he is a holy hot mess at all times. Gabe is throwing a fight and getting his ass kicked for money at the beginning of The Nightshade God and he’s always so self-flagellating that I feel a bit bad for him (and everyone he’s around). Alie remains in Dellaire, having found herself unwillingly engaged to the Emperor Jax, who she finds surprisingly tolerable which is its own problem. I love her sneaking about trying to undermine Apollius where she is able and honing her own magical abilities. Bastian gets few chapters of his own thanks to Apollius’ mental imprisonment but when he breaks free I admire his tenacity.
Though our characters are separated by many miles, they are all working toward one goal – the repair of the Fount and the destruction of Apollius. Gabe, Alie, and Malcolm (who doesn’t get his own POV) each struggle with the gods inside their heads and their growing influence but they must use their powers to survive. Each group must also track down a piece of the Fount and bring it to the Burnt Isles. Fortunately they are inextricably linked through a dream world and the disparate groups are able to communicate and coordinate, even if it is somewhat sporadic.
The grand finale of this trilogy was overall quite satisfying and plenty impressive. While the displays of magic were undoubtedly memorable, my favorite part was the very end and the epilogue which I’m still thinking about over a week later as I type this. It was bittersweet, which worked well as I don’t think Lore, Gabe, and Bastian could have had a truly happy ending with everything they had been through. Somehow that would have cheapened their struggles and felt conveniently forced. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this series perhaps even more so than I did Whitten’s Wilderwood duology and I look forward to seeing what writing project she’ll undertake next.
Powder & Page 
Leave a comment