Title: Bring Me Their Hearts (Bring Me Their Hearts #1)
Author: Sara Wolf
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: June 5th 2018
Publisher: Entangled Teen

* BLURB *

Zera is a Heartless—the immortal, unaging soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, 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.

BUY LINKS

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REVIEW

Disclaimer: I received my review copy of Bring Me Their Hearts as I am a part of the blog tour organized by YA Bound Book Tours and Engtangled Teen. This didn’t affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Okay! So, you’re telling me that I have to wait god knows how long for the next book??

There’s not even a title for sequel, or a number of book in the series, not even that “Unknown (Bring Me Their Hearts #2)” list on Goodreads?

To whom it may concern, you wound me dearly.

The monster in me devoured this book without holding back. It’s THAT one book that managed to satiate my hunger (pun intended) for one great high fantasy read for the first half of 2018.

When was the last time that I’vefelt this alive over a book again? Ah! Yes, that lovely yet painful  feeling when you get too invested over a book. THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED TO ME! AND I LOVE IT!

Do you like zombies? How about zombies in medieval era? 

Okay, not quite the White Walkers, but Bring Me Their Hearts tells the story of a Heartless teenager named Zera. Heartless are immortals and unaging soldiers bounded by witches. They are dead people whose hearts were taken by witches and kept in jars sealed with some sort of magic so they can bind and command them. Heartless can be killed an infinite times but they can’t die (does that makes sense?). Unless the witch they’re bounded with dies or gets killed, or when the witch shatters the Heartless’ jar of heart.

On cue Christina Perri…

Zera is one of Nightsinger’s (the witches have rather good names if you ask me) three Heartless. The Heartless can’t remember anything prior to the death that turned them into one. They can, however, remember the way they died. One night, Zera and her family, a merchant couple, found themselves in the hands of bandits, where the three of them got killed. That’s when Nightsinger found Zera and turned her into one of her Heartless – supposedly an act of saving.

Information about another incoming war between witches and humans was brought to the knowledge of the witches . One that the witches have been preventing since the Sunless War which killed thousands of witches and humans alike.

In order to fully prevent the impending war, the witches sent Zera to the city of Vetris where witches,Heartless, and magic are strongly forbidden. They sent her to act as one of the Crown Prince’s Spring Brides and get the prince’s heart to make him a captive – some sort of a bargaining chip.

Remarkably engaging.

While yes, it did have some of the same feels as every other YA high fantasy novels, and a plot that can be a bit predictable to some extent. But the way Wolf relayed the story through Zera as the MC is what made it interesting and engaging for me.

It’s that book that you just can’t stop reading because you’re too absorbed by the flow of the story. It didn’t feel long. In fact, it felt so light even with the slightly darker premise. I was always on edge because of Zera’s mission. It felt like I was the one doing the undercover. That’s how much  I was able to connect with Wolf’s writing.

A world with darkness and glamour.

You can feel both the danger and charm in the world that Wolf created. I easily fell in love with the magical forest where the witches reside, as well as the court which is filled with nothing but pretty things.

I also love how Wolf added the element of advancement in a very Medieval way through the polymaths  or the scientists and mathematicians of Vetris.

Favorable characters!

It’s confirmed! Zera is now one of my favorite heroines. A clever, funny, sarcastic, and strong heroine? Why, yes! Her remarks are always a win for me.

“You clearly missed the point of my riveting analogy,” I say. “Which I will forgive. Subtlety isn’t for everyone. And neither is losing gracefully.”

 

Other characters are just as witty and funny including Prince Lucien, his bodyguard Malachite, and Fione. Malachite’s witty retorts never fail to bring me joy.

Even Lady Y’shennria which I thought I’ll never like was able to get into my good side.

The characters were already developed and well-groomed from the beginning in my opinion, especially Zera. So, I personally thought that it’ll be challenging to develop them into something more. Wolf was just lifting their veils of fake persona throughout the story, and she managed just to keep their characters steady until the end.

Development? If anything, that’s evidently the romance between a Heartless and a Crown Prince.

What do you expect when there’s a prince in the picture? Of course, most likely a romantic love affair. Not that I’m complaining. I’m actually very delighted. Are you part of the hate to love relationship trope? Well, rejoice!

Zera and Prince Lucien never hid their annoyance with each other since their first meeting. The stone cold prince was challenged by the dauntless Heartless. It was a relationship that slowly developed from cold to warm.  It’s also a relationship that Malachite loves to make fun of (more like making fun of the cold prince, but still…).

Final verdict

I immediately jumped into writing my review after finishing Bring Me Their Hearts. I didn’t sleep until I finished my review because I want to keep the rush of emotions after reading.

The ending was a bloody cliffhanger. And again, no information of the sequel whatsoever on Goodreads, anywhere. If that won’t make you go mad, then I don’t know what is.

Overall, if you’re looking for a good YA high fantasy, with a kick-ass and witty heroine, a cold brooding prince, a funny sidekick, and intricate world-building, this one is for you.

PS, How a Heartless – a person without a heart – managed to fall in love? That’s for you to discover.

OVERALL RATING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Sara Wolf is a twenty-something author who adores baking, screaming at her cats, and screaming at herself while she types hilarious things. When she was a kid, she was too busy eating dirt to write her first terrible book. Twenty years later, she picked up a keyboard and started mashing her fists on it and created the monster known as Lovely Vicious. She lives in San Diego with two cats, a crippling-yet-refreshing sense of self-doubt, and not enough fruit tarts ever.

Author Links

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