Bring Me Their Hearts (2018)
Author: Sara Wolf
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pages: 400 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Disclaimer: I was offered a free NetGalley copy from Entangled in return for a fair review.
Why I Chose It: When you’re presented with a smorgasbord of ARCs but only one of them involves fantasy, royalty, and the cutting out of hearts…I mean, what else am I going to choose?
The Premise:
Zera is a Heartless — the immortal, unaging soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.
Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum: if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy Zera’s heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.
Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him — every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him—until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.
So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all.
Winner takes the loser’s heart.
Literally.
Very mild spoilers
Discussion: I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. I went into this book thinking there was no way it would be a standalone, yet at the same time I hoped it would be because the book isn’t even out yet which means the wait for me is going to be even longer than everyone else’s.*** For a time, it seemed as though maybe it would be a singular title — even though the world Sara Wolf introduces us to is huge and amazing and I want to see more of it. Even though we have plenty of characters to learn more about and various peoples’ cultures to revel in. But then I reached the ending and though I don’t have any idea how the next few books are going to go, I will say that you’d better prepare yourself for a total cliffhanger. One that will leave you with a thousand yard stare and a resounding, “…..WHAT?” on your lips.
Having dropped that little bomb, let’s talk about the characters. Elizera — or Zera, as we know her throughout the story — is pretty great. She’s stronger than a lot of people would be in her situation, and though sometimes her cheeky quips and smart-ass comebacks got annoying, eventually I learned it wasn’t simply because she was cheeky, but it was more of a coping mechanism for her. You know the people that make jokes at times most people would consider inappropriate but they don’t know what else to do? That’s Zera. Though she did do a few other things early on that made me wonder just how the heck she didn’t blow her cover sooner (i.e. chasing after a thief in the middle of the day right after trying on gowns. Really, girl?). Likewise, her ability to think critically at times was a bit maddening. For example, the prince clearly does not agree with what is happening in his kingdom. Rather than relate this to the people controlling her, Zera still thinks the best option to avoid war is to do what they say. But I’m able to forgive her because A.) if she did think that way we wouldn’t have a story and B.) after being a Heartless for so long and being given a taste of freedom, she was 100% focused on getting the rest of it, and I can respect that.
Prince Lucien, whose heart Zera needs to cut out, initially gives the impression of overly indulged sneering royalty. However, it doesn’t take long to discover that yes, he is going to be the love interest and yes, he’s the thief Zera bumps into Aladdin style. Part of me was hoping it wouldn’t be quite that obvious, but then the story might have ended up with a weird love triangle and that’s just something it didn’t need. Zera had enough on her plate without muddying it up with two gentlemen vying for her affections when she just wants to eat people and get her heart out of a jar. I liked all the descriptions of Lucien. On one hand, yes, he’s a bit of the typical brooding dark-haired type, but Wolf does such a lovely job of describing his moods and expressions that he manages to transcend the usual tropes. The dynamic he and Zera have together works very well and watching it morph from one thing to another is quite satisfying. And now I’m also horribly curious as to how it’s going to change when the second book hits the shelves.
Then there’s Malachite, Lucien’s bodyguard. I’m just going to say Malachite needs his own book about him underground fighting valkerax and leave it at that.
When it comes to the world that Wolf has dropped us into, I look forward to seeing more of it. There’s so much going on, and I also attribute that to Wolf’s descriptions. I love them to pieces. She has a knack for really making you not just see a place but feel it. The sun rising over the countryside. The hustle and bustle of the city. The absolute grandeur of the palace. Yet it wasn’t overwhelming either. There was just the right balance of excellent description and word choice before hitting the point of “please stop detailing every single blade of grass.” You get what you need — vividly — and then your imagination gets to fill out the rest.
Speaking of description — Zera’s partial and then full transformation to Heartless kind of made me laugh. Not in derision, but because of all the wacky coincidences happening at the same time. I’d just finished whipping up a piece myself that involves a gentleman with a similar problem as Zera (and a lot of teeth. Luckily he doesn’t have to eat every day like she does). Then of course the Heartless namesake makes me think of the enemies in the game Kingdom Hearts. And before finishing the book I went and watched A Quiet Place, so when Zera’s final form made its appearnce, in my brain she didn’t look too terribly dissimilar from the creatures in that movie.
…Good lord why am I suddenly surrounded by violent, human-eating, massive-fanged creatures??
In Conclusion: I had a great time reading this. It was hard to put down and was a solid mix of court intrigue, shadowy thievery, and sweet action. This one is going up on the Staff Recommends shelf the second it gets to my bookstore. Zera is not one to be trifled with, and anyone in the market for a strong female protagonist will like her style. You may think you know where the plot is going, but once you hit the end, you’ll be at a loss just like I am. And that’s going to make the wait for the next book that much more painful, because just like Zera’s dark underlying Hunger, I Don’T wANt To WAiT; I WANT IT NOW.
***Bring Me Their Hearts is available today! Look for it at the retailer of your choice!
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