Good morning, squiders! Today I’ve got an interesting fantasy novel for you! The concept was so intriguing I asked for and got a copy to review, so scroll to the end to see what I thought!
Fantasy
Date Published: 12-08-2023
Without a heart, death and love are equally impossible.
James’s heart has been stolen. He knows because he got stabbed in the chest and didn’t even bleed. On the plus side, he isn’t dead! On the minus side, whoever has his heart can control him, and until he gets the heart back, he is incapable of feeling love for anyone but the thief. Whoever that may be.
He has to get the heart back, and quickly. But with an assassin in the mix, and a vengeful ex-lover, and a suspicious fiancée, and no idea who to trust or where to look, the task won’t be easy. Especially when, with a stolen heart, he can’t even really trust himself.
About the Author
Melody Wiklund is a writer of fantasy and occasionally romance. In her free time, she loves knitting and watching Chinese dramas. And she’s never summoned a spirit or an assassin… or at least so she claims.
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Review:
I don’t tend to accept books for review when I do the promos, but I found this concept so interesting. Not sure what it was exactly–the missing heart? The assassin? The cover? (The artwork looks very similar to a friend of mine’s style but apparently is not.)
Anyway, I was interested, and then I got the book in the mail a few weeks later and had completely forgotten I asked for it, and it took me a moment to remember why I had an unexpected book.
This was a quick, interesting read! It’s not terribly plot heavy, but instead spends time exploring each of the characters involved in the interesting matter of James’s missing heart. The world-building is subtle but complex, and the world feels real and believable. Some of the concepts throughout, such as Poor Jane and Cruel Therese, are the kind of interesting mythology that I really dig.
We get to the heart (pun intended) of the matter pretty quickly. When an assassin tries to kill James, they both discover his heart no longer resides in his body. Each chapter is told in a different viewpoint, including (but not limited to): James himself, his would-be assassin Natty, his fiancée, and his jilted lover. Each character is treated as important and we get a good sense of their lives and how they’ve arrived at this place. And each character is different and varied, and each of them adds to the layers of the story.
The plot itself I found a tad predictable, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (as a writer it tends to be very hard to surprise me, and I have just gotten use to that). But it flows well and kept me engaged and entertained all the way through.
So if you’re looking for a vaguely Victorian fantasy with a hint of mystery, interesting characters, and some neat curses, I’d say take a look at this one!
See you next week, squiders!
