Book Review: Heart's Mission (Hearts Below 0.5)
Heart’s Magic (Hearts Below 0.5) by Meredith Hart
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I obtained a free Advance Review Copy from the author.
Summary: Princess Elanerill has in stereotypical fashion decided that she doesn’t want to be treated as a pawn forced to be quiet, meek and marry for political advantage. She knows her land is dying and the only hope for it is to break the barrier separating her world from the portion of the land that fell into the underworld. But, rather than bringing down the barrier, she falls into the underworld. She is immediately taken prisoner by Oren, captain of the King’s guard, who happens to be in the outer fringes wasteland trying to recruit a sorcerer for the king’s cause. Oren must do his duty and bring the princess before his king.
Comments: This is a novella to entice us to read this series. And there is action, adventure, romance, people who should be enemies warming to each other, and adorable humor. I loved Oren’s awkwardness. But for a novella, it took me forever to read through this. It felt like skin and bones. The world didn’t feel fleshed out around them. It felt like a hasty sketch. A tavern, woods, even the castle felt very devoid of description and very generic that didn’t make it stand out from any other medieval fantasy book. I like to feel like I am in the world and see new sights and have adventures with the books I read. The setting just wasn’t there and the plot was just basically travel together through the woods *yawn*. Usually on epic journey books we’re treated to wonderous sights and experiences along the way. There was nothing in this. The most interesting thing they did along the way was to face a shadowy wolf-creature (definitely the highlight of the book). The characters felt like caricatures/stereotypes. The princess was the usual generic privileged, beautiful, overly sheltered who didn’t want to be used as a pawn. And Oren was the typical stoic, honorable guard captain. (Though I did love his initial interaction with Rowan). Even the twist of Oren’s station was something I predicted from the start, because he wouldn’t have been a suitable match for the princess without it. Once we got to the magic at the end, it was muddied and ambiguous, which doesn’t bode well for the magic in the other books.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella-length. I obtained a free Advance Review Copy from the author.
Summary: Princess Elanerill has in stereotypical fashion decided that she doesn’t want to be treated as a pawn forced to be quiet, meek and marry for political advantage. She knows her land is dying and the only hope for it is to break the barrier separating her world from the portion of the land that fell into the underworld. But, rather than bringing down the barrier, she falls into the underworld. She is immediately taken prisoner by Oren, captain of the King’s guard, who happens to be in the outer fringes wasteland trying to recruit a sorcerer for the king’s cause. Oren must do his duty and bring the princess before his king.
Comments: This is a novella to entice us to read this series. And there is action, adventure, romance, people who should be enemies warming to each other, and adorable humor. I loved Oren’s awkwardness. But for a novella, it took me forever to read through this. It felt like skin and bones. The world didn’t feel fleshed out around them. It felt like a hasty sketch. A tavern, woods, even the castle felt very devoid of description and very generic that didn’t make it stand out from any other medieval fantasy book. I like to feel like I am in the world and see new sights and have adventures with the books I read. The setting just wasn’t there and the plot was just basically travel together through the woods *yawn*. Usually on epic journey books we’re treated to wonderous sights and experiences along the way. There was nothing in this. The most interesting thing they did along the way was to face a shadowy wolf-creature (definitely the highlight of the book). The characters felt like caricatures/stereotypes. The princess was the usual generic privileged, beautiful, overly sheltered who didn’t want to be used as a pawn. And Oren was the typical stoic, honorable guard captain. (Though I did love his initial interaction with Rowan). Even the twist of Oren’s station was something I predicted from the start, because he wouldn’t have been a suitable match for the princess without it. Once we got to the magic at the end, it was muddied and ambiguous, which doesn’t bode well for the magic in the other books.
No comments have been added yet.
