The Heartless Archer

by Mia Thorne

A tournament that selects the strongest warriors and fastest hunters. Prize money of 100,000 gulls. When the Prince of Oy Frossen announces a tournament, she can't help but hope. All her life, Noora has given in. Has allowed herself to be insulted. Scum, half-breed, whore. As a child of the orphanage, she is worthless. She decides to take part in the tournament to win the gold to finally escape from her personal Hel. But it's not that easy for her.
A girl who never owned anything and a boy who always had everything he wanted.
Together they must achieve the impossible.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Young Adult

Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2024

Reviews

[Alexei · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know if I should continue reading this. The writing is good, and the pacing is quite okay, but the characters are not.
Noora is overly moody and angry. She lashes out at the queen and the prince and nothing happens.
The prince openly shows his attachment to Noora, despite the fact that he is engaged. His engagement is important just at the beginning.
Of course, we have an LQTB couple. My only problem with that is that I cannot find a fantasy book these days without one.
The worldbuilding sucks. It's autumn and the landscape is full of snow, but the ground starts to freeze. The royal pantry is overflowing with food, despite the barren fields and the malnourished animals.
The author even provides a description of the royal library, so full of books that they stay on the ground. In a dying country, they are printing books. Unbelievable.

[Shinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

liked the story, didn’t like the writing errors

They should have done another edit before releasing. Some words were used wrongly, and while the sounded similar to the word that should have been used… it was evident that this book should have had another thorough edit before release.

I liked the story, but with the wrong words it missed the mark for me. It was almost like this book was written in another language and when translated to English, some of it didn’t translate correctly.

[Isabelle Madliar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea was great but the writing was terrible, hard to tell who is saying what. Could have used more world building and felt inconsistent all the slow paced parts should have been fast and vice versa.

[Kelsey Keen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely read the next book in this series. There were minimal errors, and the story flowed well. I enjoyed the characters, and did not see the end coming!

Pika was by far my favorite character and I wished there were more scenes with him.

[Dada · Rating 2 out of 5]

so much wasted potential

[Giuli · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the banter. loved the tension. hated the end. pls release the sequel…

[Ashley - The Tattered Page]

HOOK: the orphan witch pushes her claws into the Kings chest to rip his heart out,
He grabs her hand and pushes it deeper to help her take it

[Camry Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it until the very last chapter

[Elaine Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very similar to Powerless, but the writing quality was poor and in need of serious editing. There were numerous spelling mistakes and several instances where completely incorrect words were used. While the core story had potential, it lacked sufficient world-building to fully immerse the reader. Dialogue was also confusing at times, making it difficult to distinguish who was speaking. Overall, there were several missing elements that could’ve made the story much stronger.

[Khloe Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was good and I felt like their book could have been better if not for many grammatical errors and the dialogue that was very boring. The FMC was trying to be badass but she really had a big heart which I thought she would not hence the name of the book. But overall the plot was good the book just needed a little something more.

[Maëlys · Rating 2 out of 5]

De bonne idée mais une horrible façon de les exécuter Nikolaï n’est pas le bookboyfriend qu’il pense être et sans oublier le plot??? La fin ??? Rien compris

[Anais Carter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was awful

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.9⭐️

[Mackenzie Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

not great, not bad

I agree with some of the other reviews that it seems like this needed to be edited a bit more before publishing. It was really hard to tell who was talking because the pages hadn’t need formatted correctly.
The story was interesting, but I do think it could have been AMAZING and it was just missing a little oomph.

[Shannan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story is alright but the book is FULL of typos. At one point there is a line about one of the characters 'goading ' another into being angry, but it says 'goat' instead. This book needs some heavy editing and proofreading.

[Magali Laforest · Rating 2 out of 5]

good plot idea but badly written, feels like someone should have read the book and gave feedback to mend all the many many plot holes… so many small pieces started but never finished and links that dont make sens (a huge kingdom but with only one village participating in the big tournament?)

anyways had potential but is mostly frustrating
too many elements introduced and none properly developed

second round of the games (although still full of problems) was quite good

[Manal Al-Harbi]

I picked this up after finishing the sword of kaigen. That was a mistake. Couldn’t go past the third chapter.
Also, Where is the editor? Even though english is not my first language i couldn’t tolerate the grammatical errors!

[Kacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good, but it had the potential to be great. Like many other reviews have mentioned, the grammatical and spelling errors were distracting and took away from the story. I ordered this book paperback from Amazon after seeing it advertised on TikTok. It seems as though the author printed these herself as the cover of the book itself is a bit blurry and actual pages are formatted awkwardly. The cover is beautiful and has the potential to look better.
I loved the plot & banter between the main characters. It was a mix of hunger games vibes with wannabe throne of glass vibes. Loved the cliffhanger ending and I would be open to reading the next book if it is edited properly.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 actually.
I came across this book by chance and I must say that it has really suprised me. It got me hooked from the begining. The story is very interesntig, you get to love the characters and its flaws and the development of the story has a lot of potencial. Although some of the things that happens you can see them coming, some of the plot twist are unexpected. Pretty good book and a recommended reading.

Some of the quotes I want to save:
- To everyone who has been treated undeservingly, let your revenge rain down on them.
- I do not need to know you, to know what humans want, generally. We are greedy creatures, striving for power.
- Because it is better to know your enemy than to fear it.
- ...a king who does not own up to his failures is no true king.
- The only thing I see is a prince made our of ice, trying to fit a crown that is far too large for him.
- You should know best that not everything is always what it seems.
- Many people thought that being a royal equaled getting enything they wanted, it was rather the opposite.
- Your life did not belong to you when being a prince or princess, it belonged to you kingdom and the people living in it.
- There was no more horrifying thing to say than that one resembled the parents one tried so hard to avoid becoming.
- Don't chase a rabbit that is dressed as a wolf.
- There is no honour in changing things that have always been right.

[ADV · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished the book just to see if it would get better, but it never did. I like this kind of books and the premise sounded quite good, the thing is that it felt fake. We have no background on the characters, there is no depth to anything, the dubious love or affection between the main characters feels forced, as well as the potential friendship with Noora and the contestants. It feels as is everything happens because the author says so. For me it was just not believable, felt no chemistry whatsoever between the king and Noora, there was no reason why Pikka would want to be nice or friends with Noora, she was unlikable throughout the whole book and there was no writing that would led you to believe why a friendship would build up between them. Once again, it felt forced.
Not the book for me.

[Kira K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ends in a cliff hanger!! Gahhh I wish it was longer! The first 3/4 of the book is pretty much build up for the last fourth of it. Kind of a slow start for me but I really like Noora she has a lot of depth to her character, Nikolai is very mysterious up till pretty much the last chapter. Lots of action packed into the end and a lot of the open ended aspects of the book are somewhat answered near the end, definitely left open ended for a reason, aka another book. But of course it ends in a cliff hanger, I cannot wait for more books to come out! I can’t wait to see how this new dynamic between Noora and Nikolai plays out and this new journey that they are hinting at… hopefully what I’m foreshadowing is true or will be answered soon, and of course would love to see more romance, this one is definitely a slow burn.

[Belthaea .ೃ࿔ * ;༊ · Rating 2 out of 5]

ˋ°•*⁀➷**. I almost dropped it at one point, but curiosity kept me going, I just had to know how it ended.

To be fair, I actually liked the plot. There’s a solid story underneath it all, and parts of the world-building were genuinely intriguing. The premise had a lot of potential, and some of the twists did manage to surprise me in a good way.

But the writing… that's where I struggled. I enjoyed it at first, but as the book went on, something about the prose became harder to push through. The pacing felt uneven, and certain descriptions or dialogue just didn’t flow naturally. It made the reading experience feel more like work than escape, which is disappointing considering how promising the storyline was.

Quite alright, but could be better. Two stars from me.

[Brynn Bollinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm confused and concerned

The book moved at a moderate pace for most of it, sometimes even slow until the end, when everything happens within about 20 pages. I was a little confused, especially with what happened to Noora at the end. The ending just seemed rushed, i would have liked a little more suspense, as things progressed very suddenly and didn't always make sense. There were some nice elements of foreshadowing that came together at the end that i enjoyed, though. The writing in the book also confused me at times, sometimes it almost seemed as if the book had been translated from a different language because some of the sentence structures where a little off, but that could just be me. However I overall enjoyed this book.

[Shreya · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF! I tried but I just can’t finish this book. The writing itself wasn’t horrible but there were definitely grammar mistakes and that’s coming from someone who usually never notices them. I think I would have gotten past that if the book wasn’t just super boring. The FMC and MMC were insufferable and annoying. I could tell there’s meant to be a romance there at some point but I just honestly didn’t care. The whole trial aspect is overdone as it is but if you’re going to do it at least make it entertaining. It was just bad. Don’t waste your time with this one!

[Mike Wazowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry but this book was horribly written in every way possible. It’s basically an unedited Wattpad story - There’s absolutely no world building, grammar issues/poorly edited and the characters just…suck?

I couldn’t like either of them, the scenes were so short and there was hardly any descriptions and when there was they never made any sense or relevance to the book itself. The language was not fitting for the type of setting they were in, how FMC spoke to the MMC and just everything

ALSO- “squeal like a girl” “running like a girl” girl grow the fuck up wtf

No thank you

[Retrocherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

So it didn't take me long to read and I did enjoy it as I read it. My only complaint is the FMC was such a bitch... I'm fine with FMCs being strong willed and snarky but straight up mean and bitchy the entire book was rough. I kept waiting for her to soften up or something but wow she was mean to literally everyone all the time except her little sister. I dunno I mean it was an okay read... not sure if I'll read the other book coming out.

[book obsessed · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ rounded up to 3⭐️ because I do like the plot and want to continue reading on in the next book, but I did feel that I wish some things weren't so rushed and confusing. I wish there was more depth to the characters as well. That ending confused me. I predicted some of the events but there was atleast some that I didn't.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this. When I first started I thought it was going to be quite intelligent writing. But as I went on there were so many errors. It is almost as if it’s been translated from another language to English. Storyline was good but no real connection between the two main characters and they were both hard to like.

[Charlie Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF I’m sorry i just can’t finish this book. Brilliant idea with shit execution. I managed to get to chapter 34 but I just can’t bear to read another page. Not THE worst book I’ve ever read but damn it gets close.(I’m also updating my book challenge for the year as because I dnf this one I feel like it doesn’t count)

[Clare-Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure if this book was originally written in another language and translated to English or if it was just edited badly, but it was so hard to follow. Spelling errors and wrong words used, and the story constantly jumped from one thing to another.

I love the story idea, but this book wasn't for me.