Book Review
Title: Bring me their Hearts
Author: Sara Wolf
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Fairy Tale
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to Bring me their Hearts was, we are introduced to Zera as she infiltrates the court of Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane with a mission to kill him. As Zera is a heartless she is considered a monster and therefore hides this fact, but immediately she sparks the interest of the Prince. From this opening chapter, I can tell this is going to be a very intriguing novel. We learn in a time skip that Nightsinger is a witch and has three heartless under her control. Being a heartless means that they are magically bound to Nightsinger until she returns their hearts or destroys them. Nightsinger has three heartless Crav, Zera and Peligli who was the only one changed of her own choice which is interesting. Another interesting point is that none of Nightsinger’s heartless seems to outright hate her although Zera does have some issues with Nightsinger.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we learn how Zera became a heartless and her life as one. She was sent into the King’s court to steal the Prince heart in order to prevent another war that wiped out most of the witches before and if she succeeds she will get her heart back as will the other heart but if she fails Nightsinger will destroy her heart, so only one chapter in and I am completely hooked on this story. I really liked Zera’s relationships with the other heartless and her relationship with Nightsinger and how she is different from other witches. We follow Zera as she learns the way of the city and the court she is going to be entering into and she finds that evil lies everywhere not just inside her, but for the start she is planning, finding people she can rely on in the court when no one will be able to help her if she fails. This is a monstrous challenge as she only has two weeks to win and steal the Prince’s heart.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Zera begins her training to become a lady and while she finds it hard finding her hunger and dealing with the consequences of eating human food, she does find a friend of sorts in Reginall, a former heartless who had his heart returned after the first war. He is also the only one besides the lady of the house that knows she is a heartless and sympathizes for her. Zera soon learns that the thief called Whisper she meets in the city is actually the Prince and begins to blackmail him for his time and “affections” as she should but she is taking a huge risk by doing this. However, Lucien is willing to play her game in order to keep his secrets secret, but I am curious to see how Zera’s secrets will play into this situation given the fact her hunger chooses the worst times to appear and risk giving her away.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Zera is getting closer to the Prince but it seems the very court they are living in, is plotting to start another war against the witches, sparking panic and fear wherever they can. However, Zera opens Lucien’s eyes to it and he soon learns that doubting Zera can have horrible consequences and I can honestly see a romance blossoming between the pair despite the task that Zera has been given. The question is if a romance does bloom between Zera and Lucien will she be strong enough to take his heart in return for her own or will she find another way. As she delves deeper and deeper into life at court and Lucien’s affections, Zera learns that this place might be more lethal than the witch’s forest, especially since she learns that Lucien may want to take her on a hunt for witches. I really enjoyed how human the characters are, how Lucien and his father have given up on finding the heartless that killed his sister, even going as far as letting the kingdom suffer in order to achieve it.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, Zera’s time is slowly running out but as she gets closer to Lucien she begins questioning what she is, what she is doing and her own morality. The biggest question she has is one life worth another or in this case is one life worth three and while she tries to convince herself it is I don’t believe her heart is in it (cheesy pun intended!) However, Zera’s feelings for Lucien is growing and when she enters a friendly duel where she is cut by his blade, it seems like her secret is about to be revealed. Despite her mission and everything surrounding it, Zera has found some real friend within the court and maybe even love.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Zera is really struggling as she weighs her opinions, in her own words “what is worse, to be a monster or to create monsters” but this is all overshadowed by the sliver of hope that Lucien’s heart represents for her. With days left to complete her task, Zera finds herself being blindsided by helping Fione and Lucien bring down the corrupt parts of the court and get justice for his sister who he believes was murdered by a man in the court rather than by a heartless.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, everything comes together in a wild and explosive set of scenes that I just wasn’t expecting. I really liked how a lot of the key plot points were kept open for the sequel, but the author manages to balance the right amount of closure with a huge amount of suspense and intrigue for the next installment. Highly recommended and will be reading more.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from NetGalley
Comments