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A Tale of the Broken Heart
In the land of Kairos and its many realms, clockwork beasts and automatons live amongst the common, the fantastical, and the evil. Kristane, her brother, and the other adolescents that make up a rogue of thieves have their lives turned upside down by a long-forgotten fairytale, and the hidden truth that lies within it.
An enigmatic figure named, Rellion, cajoles them, and others, to confront and cure the sins of an ancient past. With each beat of the heart and every tick of the clock, the shadowy Forgotten Ones search out the broken heart to give life to the one who wishes to claim a throne…by faith, by curse, by bone.
An enigmatic figure named, Rellion, cajoles them, and others, to confront and cure the sins of an ancient past. With each beat of the heart and every tick of the clock, the shadowy Forgotten Ones search out the broken heart to give life to the one who wishes to claim a throne…by faith, by curse, by bone.
397 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2024
About the author
Rose Plieseis
1 book7 followersWhat is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as... Well never mind that one, it kind of ended badly. Yet Cyrano, Silence Dogood, Samuel Clemens, and to be conspiratorial, even the old bard Bill Shakespeare, may have or not have used a pen name. A "Nom de Plume" if you will. As such, Rose Plieseis is a collaboration of two longtime friends who came together to tell a story.
Hayley Rose is an international award-winning and best-selling author of children's books. Dedicated to bringing fun, educational, and interactive books to kids, she makes her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is a goat yoga enthusiast.
Russell Plieseis started writing stories and poems at a young age, garnering recognition and awards for his imagination and compelling poetic license. He makes his home in Tempe, Arizona with his son and is a nearly full-time dog sitter.
Hayley Rose is an international award-winning and best-selling author of children's books. Dedicated to bringing fun, educational, and interactive books to kids, she makes her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is a goat yoga enthusiast.
Russell Plieseis started writing stories and poems at a young age, garnering recognition and awards for his imagination and compelling poetic license. He makes his home in Tempe, Arizona with his son and is a nearly full-time dog sitter.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 31, 2024
Thank you Edelweiss for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.
First of all, let me mention what a beautiful cover this is! I fell in love with it right away!
The beginning of this book felt chaotic since we get right in the middle of the story and there are only a few things mentioned about the world building and the characters that we follow. It was hard for me to picture the world building, later on we get more information about the world building and the characters.
The pacing was good and there was enough action to keep my attention to the book.
The writing style was also good enough but felt a bit chaotic and not strong enough. Since this is a debut, I can understand why and I think this author will get a more strong and less chaotic writing style when she gets used to writing books. It didn't bother me to keep me from reading.
The idea of this world building is new and I like how Rose Plieseis chose to create a whole new world for her book. I think it is great to create an unique world building, especially as a debut author. I can't wait to see more books of her and recommend her book to everyone who loves to read a fantasy book with an unique world building.
First of all, let me mention what a beautiful cover this is! I fell in love with it right away!
The beginning of this book felt chaotic since we get right in the middle of the story and there are only a few things mentioned about the world building and the characters that we follow. It was hard for me to picture the world building, later on we get more information about the world building and the characters.
The pacing was good and there was enough action to keep my attention to the book.
The writing style was also good enough but felt a bit chaotic and not strong enough. Since this is a debut, I can understand why and I think this author will get a more strong and less chaotic writing style when she gets used to writing books. It didn't bother me to keep me from reading.
The idea of this world building is new and I like how Rose Plieseis chose to create a whole new world for her book. I think it is great to create an unique world building, especially as a debut author. I can't wait to see more books of her and recommend her book to everyone who loves to read a fantasy book with an unique world building.
March 29, 2024
I absolutely loved this book I couldn’t put it down!
June 20, 2024
"Razor-sharp writing and an unforgettable cast propel this delectable steampunk adventure." ~ Kirkus Reviews
April 30, 2026
First of all, let me just say the cover is beautiful!
I rated this 3 stars because Goodreads doesn't do half stars. In reality, I think this book is closer to 3.5.
I'll start with what I liked:
I loved the world: the combination of steam punk and whimsy was a delight!
The chapter titles were also such a fun treat (King Frobly Wobly, Shouldn't You Sterilize That?). They had me chuckling and looking forward to what would take place in the chapter!
The story arc and the plot points throughout were all great and I really enjoyed how it all came together.
I think a lot of what brought the rating down for me can and likely will be worked out as the author gets more experience so I look forward to seeing what else Rose Plieseis has in store!
On to what didn't work for me:
The writing was way too long-winded so it was really hard to lose yourself in the story. A good editing run-through could really help here to chop sentences down. So many sentences were so long, I found myself having to reread a lot just to digest what was happening.
And I've read a lot of books, so I'm confident this isn't a reading comprehnsion issue. Here's an example:
"Breaching the summit of the rock, he scanned the terraced remains of Kaer Kairos, each plateau building to the pinnacled and magnificent castle that was silhouetted against the setting sun each evening that he so often viewed from the windows of his Attic."
Pretty much the whole book was like that.
The second thing is also an editing/writing style issue, in my opinion. The dialogue was bunched in with paragraphs of description which isn't typically how books are written. Typically a character's dialogue is on its own paragraph break with, potentially, a description of how they said it or what they were doing as they said it. But, crucially, it is brief. And then there is another paragraph break for the return response or action in between. This is a super easy formatting fix and would help the book a lot!
The last major thing that I didn't love was Kristane. As a main character, she had a shocking lack of any personality whatsoever. And yet everyone kept looking to her for leadership and even she was a bit confused. I understand why she was necessary to be the MC given the plot, but beyond her sentimental attachment to the necklace, there really wasn't any other personality present. Her dialogue was wondering about the plan for surviving to the next day and simply being witness to what was going on around her. She wasn't particularly clever, funny, strong, ambitious, mean, nice, anything! Which was super interesting because the author does know how to ingest personality; every other character had personality shooting out of their ears. Even Pyra, who is a secondary character, had more personality. Honestly, even Dr. Ridley had more personality!! (Side bar: I really loved Dr. Ridley and wished we got to see more of him!). Xander's only personality was his love for his sister pretty much but I can excuse that because he wasn't the true MC.
And my last comment: the ending felt super rushed. Not sure if there is going to be a second book or not and maybe that is why?
Overall, I would give this author another try, assuming some of the editing issues are worked out. There's a lot of potential here and the actual plot was very good!
I rated this 3 stars because Goodreads doesn't do half stars. In reality, I think this book is closer to 3.5.
I'll start with what I liked:
I loved the world: the combination of steam punk and whimsy was a delight!
The chapter titles were also such a fun treat (King Frobly Wobly, Shouldn't You Sterilize That?). They had me chuckling and looking forward to what would take place in the chapter!
The story arc and the plot points throughout were all great and I really enjoyed how it all came together.
I think a lot of what brought the rating down for me can and likely will be worked out as the author gets more experience so I look forward to seeing what else Rose Plieseis has in store!
On to what didn't work for me:
The writing was way too long-winded so it was really hard to lose yourself in the story. A good editing run-through could really help here to chop sentences down. So many sentences were so long, I found myself having to reread a lot just to digest what was happening.
And I've read a lot of books, so I'm confident this isn't a reading comprehnsion issue. Here's an example:
"Breaching the summit of the rock, he scanned the terraced remains of Kaer Kairos, each plateau building to the pinnacled and magnificent castle that was silhouetted against the setting sun each evening that he so often viewed from the windows of his Attic."
Pretty much the whole book was like that.
The second thing is also an editing/writing style issue, in my opinion. The dialogue was bunched in with paragraphs of description which isn't typically how books are written. Typically a character's dialogue is on its own paragraph break with, potentially, a description of how they said it or what they were doing as they said it. But, crucially, it is brief. And then there is another paragraph break for the return response or action in between. This is a super easy formatting fix and would help the book a lot!
The last major thing that I didn't love was Kristane. As a main character, she had a shocking lack of any personality whatsoever. And yet everyone kept looking to her for leadership and even she was a bit confused. I understand why she was necessary to be the MC given the plot, but beyond her sentimental attachment to the necklace, there really wasn't any other personality present. Her dialogue was wondering about the plan for surviving to the next day and simply being witness to what was going on around her. She wasn't particularly clever, funny, strong, ambitious, mean, nice, anything! Which was super interesting because the author does know how to ingest personality; every other character had personality shooting out of their ears. Even Pyra, who is a secondary character, had more personality. Honestly, even Dr. Ridley had more personality!! (Side bar: I really loved Dr. Ridley and wished we got to see more of him!). Xander's only personality was his love for his sister pretty much but I can excuse that because he wasn't the true MC.
And my last comment: the ending felt super rushed. Not sure if there is going to be a second book or not and maybe that is why?
Overall, I would give this author another try, assuming some of the editing issues are worked out. There's a lot of potential here and the actual plot was very good!
January 16, 2024
The Tale of the Broken Heart - 5 stars
Author Rose Plieseis has exceeded my expectations with this YA Fantasy. The world-building is unique and the characters are captivating.
Rellion, the leader of a group of young thieves called the Rogue, is at once domineering and arrogant yet sympathetic to the plight of his young charge Kristane and her twin brother Xander. Layered in mystery and secrets, Rellion keeps the reader guessing about his true motivation.
Kristane, who the Rogue initially looks to for direction, belies her young age with the appearance of great confidence and strength only to realize her complete vulnerability at the hands of the Forgotten Ones. They are a group of awakened automatons who need what Kristane has and will stop at nothing to get it.
The interweaving of a world of automatons, some more than mere machines, with the world of humans, creates gripping scenarios. Who can be trusted?
I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the series and can't wait for the story to continue when all secrets may be revealed.
Note: I received an advanced copy of this book.
Author Rose Plieseis has exceeded my expectations with this YA Fantasy. The world-building is unique and the characters are captivating.
Rellion, the leader of a group of young thieves called the Rogue, is at once domineering and arrogant yet sympathetic to the plight of his young charge Kristane and her twin brother Xander. Layered in mystery and secrets, Rellion keeps the reader guessing about his true motivation.
Kristane, who the Rogue initially looks to for direction, belies her young age with the appearance of great confidence and strength only to realize her complete vulnerability at the hands of the Forgotten Ones. They are a group of awakened automatons who need what Kristane has and will stop at nothing to get it.
The interweaving of a world of automatons, some more than mere machines, with the world of humans, creates gripping scenarios. Who can be trusted?
I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the series and can't wait for the story to continue when all secrets may be revealed.
Note: I received an advanced copy of this book.
January 31, 2024
Take one part "Oliver Twist," one part Jim Butcher's "The Cinder Spires" series, and a dash of the "Chronicles of Narnia," and you have an exciting and heartfelt new YA Fantasy novel, "A Tale of the Broken Heart" by Rose Plieseis. A sister-brother duo with a shrouded past, along with a wide cast of supporting characters, will take you on a journey encountering vicious pirates and equally vicious monks, a Fagin-like mentor cloaked with honor, a mechanical warhorse worthy of Arthurian legend -- and much more. Can a heart that's broken ever truly be mended? Read, and find out.
—C.K. Donnelly, author of the multi-award-winning fantasy series, “The Kinderra Saga”
—C.K. Donnelly, author of the multi-award-winning fantasy series, “The Kinderra Saga”
June 20, 2024
I've followed Hayley Rose's journey for many years and own many of her wonderful picture books.
Hayley co-authored "A Tale of the Broken Heart" with Russell Plieseis, and I was anxious to read their debut YA novel. I went to their book launch to purchase my own copy and am so glad I did.
The story is a mixture of unique characters and automatons living in a fantasy world filled with mystery, secrets, and humor. I was fascinated with the world building and enjoyed bonding with the well-defined characters, Rellion, Xander, and Kristane.
I'm looking forward to book number two.
Hayley co-authored "A Tale of the Broken Heart" with Russell Plieseis, and I was anxious to read their debut YA novel. I went to their book launch to purchase my own copy and am so glad I did.
The story is a mixture of unique characters and automatons living in a fantasy world filled with mystery, secrets, and humor. I was fascinated with the world building and enjoyed bonding with the well-defined characters, Rellion, Xander, and Kristane.
I'm looking forward to book number two.
June 23, 2024
A fun read that takes you into a world that’s completely new and different from your typical fantasy/sci-fi novels! Loved the adventure and character development- you really feel like you get to know the characters and can appreciate the relationships they have/develop with one another
June 22, 2024
Mystery, a fun adventure, and a little humor! I highly endorse this book for young adults and everyone!
Story lover
Story lover
December 24, 2024
Wonderful middle grade steampunk series debut!
Like a magical portal, A Tale of the Broken Heart sucks you into an incredible world filled with gritty, fantastical, and breath-taking detail.
This tale is both heart wrenching and heart pounding. Every chapter is full of nonstop adventure and unexpected twists and turns as Kristane and Xander take on a quest to unwind a forgotten fairy tale.
I thoroughly enjoyed the family and found family elements of this story. Although Kristane, Xander, and others in their ragtag crew are intriguing in their own rights, it is the multi-faceted Rellion, with his unpredictable and questionable behaviors, who quickly became my favorite.
Snippets of humor, engaging “rough and tumble” vernacular, and a diverse cast of scrappy characters, magical creatures, and mechanical creations had me devouring A Tale of the Broken Heart.
While there are dark moments in this story, there are also moments of heartfelt companionship, perseverance, and snickering bathroom humor. Such a delightful and, at one-point, swashbuckling ride.
The chapter names are treasures in themselves. Two of my favorites are “I Was Hoping Not to Get Stabbed” and “Absolutely Not as Planned.”
The omniscient POV and incredible imagery create a movie-like quality sure to delight fans of epic steampunk fantasy. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment!
Like a magical portal, A Tale of the Broken Heart sucks you into an incredible world filled with gritty, fantastical, and breath-taking detail.
This tale is both heart wrenching and heart pounding. Every chapter is full of nonstop adventure and unexpected twists and turns as Kristane and Xander take on a quest to unwind a forgotten fairy tale.
I thoroughly enjoyed the family and found family elements of this story. Although Kristane, Xander, and others in their ragtag crew are intriguing in their own rights, it is the multi-faceted Rellion, with his unpredictable and questionable behaviors, who quickly became my favorite.
Snippets of humor, engaging “rough and tumble” vernacular, and a diverse cast of scrappy characters, magical creatures, and mechanical creations had me devouring A Tale of the Broken Heart.
While there are dark moments in this story, there are also moments of heartfelt companionship, perseverance, and snickering bathroom humor. Such a delightful and, at one-point, swashbuckling ride.
The chapter names are treasures in themselves. Two of my favorites are “I Was Hoping Not to Get Stabbed” and “Absolutely Not as Planned.”
The omniscient POV and incredible imagery create a movie-like quality sure to delight fans of epic steampunk fantasy. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment!
August 21, 2024
5 Stars from Readers' Favorite:
From the first page, I was captivated by this imaginative steampunk-flavored concoction. With lovely prose and many creative details, Plieseis vividly sets the stage for her world, while steadily ramping up the intrigue. Figures like Kristane, Xander, Rellion, and Blackmore display a satisfying balance of heroism and imperfection that makes them especially well-drawn and memorable, and it's a pleasure to see their relationships deepen and develop throughout the story. The pacing is excellent, as Plieseis does a masterful job of juggling the scattered locations and large cast of charming characters without ever losing the thread of the plot or confusing the reader. The violence is swashbuckling, and the main villains, Cristobal and Foon, display just the right amount of dastardliness, power, and menace. Overall, A Tale of The Broken Heart keeps its promise to tell an old-fashioned, high-stakes epic with aplomb, humor, and even a dose of transcendent beauty. The conclusion is satisfying and complete while leaving hints that there may be more adventures to come for Kristane, Xander, and their friends, old and new. This is a tale that will delight young readers and adults alike. Recommended.
From the first page, I was captivated by this imaginative steampunk-flavored concoction. With lovely prose and many creative details, Plieseis vividly sets the stage for her world, while steadily ramping up the intrigue. Figures like Kristane, Xander, Rellion, and Blackmore display a satisfying balance of heroism and imperfection that makes them especially well-drawn and memorable, and it's a pleasure to see their relationships deepen and develop throughout the story. The pacing is excellent, as Plieseis does a masterful job of juggling the scattered locations and large cast of charming characters without ever losing the thread of the plot or confusing the reader. The violence is swashbuckling, and the main villains, Cristobal and Foon, display just the right amount of dastardliness, power, and menace. Overall, A Tale of The Broken Heart keeps its promise to tell an old-fashioned, high-stakes epic with aplomb, humor, and even a dose of transcendent beauty. The conclusion is satisfying and complete while leaving hints that there may be more adventures to come for Kristane, Xander, and their friends, old and new. This is a tale that will delight young readers and adults alike. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews