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The Heart Hunter

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The Heart Hunter is set on the cursed island of Envecor where everyone is doomed to wear their heart outside their bodies and are immortal—unable to die, to change, to have children—until they find their soul mate. Once paired, the soul mates turn mortal, are free from the curse, and are able to leave the island. But all fairy tales have a dark side. Those who don’t want to lose their immortality employ “Heart Hunters” to seek out their predestined soul mates and kill them, ensuring everlasting life. Psyche, a Heart Hunter, is hired by the king to kill his soul mate. As she sets out on her quest, she embarks on her own journey of mending her broken heart and learning to trust again.

179 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 3, 2021

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Mickey George

3 books27 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
Profile Image for Rachel  L.
2,166 reviews2,548 followers
February 3, 2022
4 stars

What if you were immortal until you met your soulmate? What if you don’t want to meet your soulmate and want to live forever? Well, you hire a heart hunter assassin of course.

On the cursed island of Encevor, Psyche is hired by the king to kill his soulmate. All other heart hunters were unsuccessful in their endeavors, and even came back from the job changed. Psyche quickly realizes this job will be more complicated than she expected and may have to face her own broken heart along the way.

I read this graphic novel for a book club I love to attend, and it’s something I never would have picked up on my own but I enjoyed it immensely. I’m actually pretty shocked this book isn’t more popular because it has all the things, enemies to lovers, soulmate assassins (who knew I was missing that in my life?), a touching plot and story. Seriously, if you like graphic novels you need to read this asap. If you don’t normally read graphic novels, maybe try something new!
Profile Image for toointofiction.
322 reviews438 followers
January 11, 2022
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


This was sooo cute!!

I have been waiting for someone to put this concept to paper for so long. It has been going around the web for a while. People do not age or die (unless their heart is pierced with a specific magical arrow) or change at all until they meet their soulmate. And once they do, they must leave the cursed island or risk dying, regardless of whether the soulmates leave their family or children behind. I had a huge crush on this concept and it's so great that it was so well executed. It's so awesome that I found this story and in a comic no less. I love it when an awesome story is illustrated. Fortunately, it was also very well written. I would've been so pissed if this concept was completely butchered and ruined. Not to mention the incredible, beautiful art that accompanied this awesome story.

The idea that some people would rather live forever than have a soulmate, and therefore sent a Heart Hunter to track their soulmate down and kill them adds a bit of more realism into the fantasy of the story and I really liked that. I also liked the idea that hearts can change the way people change and that means they can find a new/different soulmate. So if a soulmate dies, one way or another, and the heart changes then it will be linked to someone else's heart.

The story was so touching and beautiful. People's hearts are outside of their body and they take a form according to how they are treated by their wearers. Just like any living thing, the heart needs to be nurtured, otherwise it tears and bleeds, and rots. The relationships between the MCs, whether soulmates or not, were so beautiful, and sweet, and well-written.

I did find some plot holes, however. I don't understand how more than one child is born on the island if only soulmates can procreate, and once mated, must leave the island or risk dying. Also, while I liked the idea that it's not only romantic love that can mate two people (Psyche, the Heart Hunter mated to her sister because they somehow completed each other), it was specifically mentioned, in the beginning, that people didn't bother forming romantic relationships because of the curse, and those that did were scrutinized and judged. So the mating bond between Psyche and her sister doesn't make much sense.

I still loved the comic, though. It's really, really good and I would definitely recommend it to a friend.
Profile Image for Shannara.
556 reviews111 followers
September 14, 2021
I almost knocked a star off this rating due to the image about 25 pages in. It probably won’t bother most people, but I’m super sensitive about things going near eyes... so here it is in case you are curious... . But other than that, this is absolutely perfect!!

It took me a bit to get used to the art. It looks just a little rougher than what I’m used to, but now I really think it just adds to the charm!! The characters are each so interesting to look at and I really enjoyed the individual hearts. Who would have thought that everyone’s hearts would be so different from each other!.? It was such a fun little detail.

The story was just so intriguing that I had a hard time stopping once I got into it. And just when you’re pretty sure you know how it’s going to go, things get flipped over and you don’t know where everything is going to fall. The ending!!! I’m still all mushy from that ending and I am tempted to reread it just to take it all in again. That’s how much I liked it.

I recommend this to those who enjoy graphic novels that have adventure, humor, and a sweet side. This is such a fun read!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Legendary Comics, and Mickey George for providing the opportunity to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Profile Image for akacya ❦.
1,933 reviews318 followers
August 3, 2021
I received a complimentary review copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating.

A curse in Envecor has doomed its residents to stay on the island and be immortal until they find their soulmate. The king, however, sends out Heart Hunters to kill his soulmates so that he can live forever. The story follows Psyche, a Heart Hunter, and Isaac, the king’s soulmate.

This art style is so unique and not something I normally see in graphic novels. This graphic novel has a great balance of storytelling through both the words and the art. Additionally, there is such a beautiful exploration of platonic love, as well as romantic love. I highly recommend to graphic novel lovers!
Profile Image for sydney.
109 reviews
July 31, 2021
A big thank you to Netgalley and Legendary Comics for the ARC!

TW: gore, death, suicide

"Love is only mortal. It's human. In becoming deathless, we have outgrown our own humanity."

The Heart Hunter is a visually compelling graphic novel following Psyche, a heart-hunter who specializes in killing soulmates in a world where immortality can be achieved through that means. When the king sends her to murder his soulmate, Psyche finds herself an unexpected friend and ally in her supposed victim. Together, they set on a journey to defy the curse, with Psyche learning how to mend her broken heart along the way.

I thought the overall premise was an intriguing concept. The idea of soulmates is popular in fiction but it is the way that The Heart Hunter expands upon it that sets it apart from the trope. George explores the wider ramifications of having the soulmates system in place, providing depth to worldbuilding that only makes the story more fascinating to read. I also thought the manifestation of intangible concepts such as 'indifference' or 'twist of fate' into perceivable elements in the story was a very clever decision.

Both the art and the narrative was absolutely stellar. The art style is expressive and bold, narrated through a diverse cast with strikingly distinct personalities. The art translates each characters' idiosyncrasies endearingly. Gagnon and George do not let the amusing interactions and relationships between different characters distract from the gravity of the message the story conveys. The graphic novel handles dark and gritty topics, like the loss of a loved one or suicide, with graceful tenderness. It is, in the end, a hopeful story even with the multitude of suffering, approached with great compassion and love.

The only real problem I had with this graphic novel is that sometimes the lore and the worldbuilding got too overwhelming. I understand the writers' intention of trying to create a rich plot within the confines of a limited amount of panels, but at times, I found myself lacking behind from the sheer amount of information.

Overall, this was still an excellent read. I strongly urge anyone who enjoys a good subversion of the soulmate AU to give this graphic novel a chance.
Profile Image for Ana.
411 reviews350 followers
July 29, 2021
Envecor is an island cursed by immortality, it’s citizens wear their hearts outside their bodies in indestructible jars, the only way to break the curse it’s to find your soulmate but there’s a curse in it too because once you find them, you have to immediately leave the island, meaning abandoning your family and friends otherwise you met certain death.

The story starts with the King of Hearts employing the services of a Heart Hunter, people that had their heart broken in unimaginable ways, they are the only ones who can locate soulmates and Psyche is the best of her kind.
As it happens the King needs her services because he wants to kill his soulmate, after all it’s the only way for him to continue to be king but every single Heart Hunter he had sent after his soul mate were unable to killed him and instead were found with their hearts fully mended.

The plot is so inventive and clever it was really easy to immerse myself on this world of hearts, curses and soul mates. The beautiful thing about it, is that is not only romantic love that it’s depicted, it was really nice seeing the different types of soulmates that can exist.
The characters too were so well written, they had dimensions and I could completely understand their choices and holdbacks.
But really the best part about this comic was the art, it’s so completely beautiful, the amount of details and colors used were so well done I couldn’t help but be mesmerized and it only added to make a fantastic story.

Definitely recommend for those who want an incredible story and amazing art.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,581 reviews292 followers
August 1, 2025
An oddly compelling fantasy about heartbreak in which everyone carries their heart around outside their body and is immortal until exchanging hearts with a soulmate and being exiled from their isolated community to live out their natural lives.

Heavy themes like suicide and grief abound, but there are also a lot of cheesy heart puns to bring happy little groans.

Likable characters carry the day over a sometimes confusing mythology.
Profile Image for Starr ❇✌❇.
1,815 reviews166 followers
July 22, 2021
TW: suicide, death of sibling
I received an ARC from Edelweiss

I am so, so obsessed with this, I know I'm going to be going crazy over it for weeks now. Not only is the art so good, and the character designs- especially for Time and Death- great, but the concept? Fantastic. The idea of being immortal until you find your soulmate is not completely unique, but compelling all the same- and the idea of the brokenhearted becoming basically assassins to destroy the hearts of the soulmates of those who want to live forever? Phenomenal. This book is also chock full of metaphors about grief, connection, and emotional well being, in some really cool ways, and includes non-romantic and non-concrete soulmates at its core!

Plus, man, I just really love these characters. I want more Marius and more Isaac right now please (and more Psyche would be nice too, she needs a hug). I feel totally sucked into this cast of characters and their world, and I am legitimately sad to have to leave them now.
Profile Image for Krysti.
398 reviews116 followers
July 14, 2021
An absolutely stunning story about love in all its many forms. The storytelling was beautiful with themes that left my own heart full and healed. The artwork is phenomenal. Each frame was beautiful beyond words. I fell in love with these characters as they discovered and explored love themselves. This book is absolute perfection in the form of a graphic novel. I simply can’t recommend it highly enough. Gorgeous.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
703 reviews13 followers
September 8, 2021
What a fascinating concept and world! I enjoyed how many idioms and heart-concepts were used and turned on their heads ("bleeding heart", "broken heart", "heart of steel", "king of hearts" etc.) Very smart and a deep exploration of love and loss.
Profile Image for Sophie - biblisophagist .
664 reviews6 followers
July 19, 2021
"Joy? It... aches. Why isn't it happier?"

"Joy is never shallow. If a heart is whole, it slides right off. Only deep cracks of suffering create room for it."

This unique story and gorgeous art stole my entire heart. There was truly a point I almost cried.

The Heart Hunter is a story about a town where people are immortal until they find their soulmate. At that point, they can leave and grow old together. After hundreds of years of this... not everyone wishes for a mortal life, especially those with broken hearts. We follow Psyche, who as a Heart Hunter, is sent out by the King to kill his soulmate. Only when she meets the soulmate, everything changes.

This GN was truly depicted so beautifully. The amount of emotion used in the deep and vibrant color choices really added to the characters and words on the page. The art style is phenomenal and I can't wait to read more that the artist has worked on and more from the author after this debut!

The story itself felt so one of a kind. The use of hearts in actuality, using things such as Coping Mechanisms and Bleeding Hearts, etc. as story tools was innovative and made the story easy to connect to. The story and its characters are so beautiful as they consider broken hearts, losing those you love, allowing yourself to move forward and love again. Add to that the beautiful art and this is an altogether stunning piece.

Isaac, Psyche, Jez, and Marius all have my heart.

(The story also has queer characters, possibly (?) non-binary characters (never outright stated by "they" is used in reference to them, and characters of color)

Thank you to NetGalley and Legendary Comics for my ARC!
Profile Image for Demi.
165 reviews27 followers
October 22, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've always been fairly indifferent to the Soulmate trope, it doesn't do much for me, but this concept is fantastic! I don't know what it says about me that I'm only interested in Soulmates if one wants to assassinate the other but it sounds fairly On Brand to be honest.

It's very cleverly executed. The writer uses feelings and trauma and intangible concepts in very interesting ways and there also a lot of play on words which I'm always a real sucker for. I also really enjoyed the personifications of Death and Time, and their role in the story.

It has great rep going on too! Very important.

I really liked the art style, it was stunning and bold and engaging. However I thought that parts were a little confusingly drawn, or maybe the issue was with the information given in the word balloons/narrative blocks... I don't know. But it hindered the experience some when I had to stop and try to figure out what I was meant to understand from certain pages/panels.

I will also say that people should approach with caution. It deals with some particularly tough topics: grief and neglect for yourself and suicide and euthanasia. (The last is how I took that plotline, at least, other people's opinions may vary.) Plus, if you're squeamish, be aware you'll be seeing medically drawn hearts in all sorts of states: bloody and split apart and various objects shoved through them.

Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Isabel Hinen.
252 reviews4 followers
November 9, 2021
Age group: 13+
Genre: graphic novel, sci-fi/fantasy, YA
Content: some blood because of exposed hearts (duh)
Sensitive subjects: LGBTQ+, trauma, death

As a mostly conservative Christian, I was disappointed in this story. The premise sounded pretty cool, but there was a heavy theme of LGBTQ+; some of the characters were completely gender-fluid, which was very confusing to me. I don't agree with that idea/lifestyle, but I looked past it for the sake of the story. I found the story itself to be decent- I loved the whole idea centered around the heart curse, and the way that so much of the story was metaphorical for the way we experience love and heartbreak and our coping mechanisms. That was really cool. I just wish there was a little more in-depth character development, world development, and a less abrupt end. Overall it was pretty good, but I just wish I could find good graphic novels with more traditional values. I would be okay with some background reference to same-sex partnership, but I feel like every graphic novel I've come across beats you over the head with it and makes it the central theme. I just wish for more inclusion of traditional values in this genre. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox and let you think whatever you want. Everyone is free to their opinion and I'm just sharing mine. I liked the idea of the story, honestly. Just could have done without some of the details.
Profile Image for kaitlphere.
2,094 reviews39 followers
July 10, 2025
I liked the art a lot. Reminded me of Heart in a Box. There were some plot holes but it ended nicely.
Profile Image for Online Eccentric Librarian.
3,421 reviews5 followers
August 29, 2021
More reviews at the Online Eccentric Librarian http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This is a beautifully written story that explores so many aspects of the 'heart' - indifference, hardening, heart of gold, several types of love (sibling, soulmate) and more. The artwork is distinct and moves the story along well. Truly a unique piece with many layers that leave you thinking while also enjoying the action.

Story: On a remote island, a curse has settled on the populace: they are immortal and wear their hearts outside their bodies. But should they find their soulmate, they need to leave the island as they will begin to age. The young king of the island does not want to find his soulmate and became mortal so he hires a heart hunter to track down his soulmate and destroy his heart. But things don't always go as planned....

The premise sounds very simple and yet there really is so much more here. Even something as simple as payment to the heart hunter is done with 'coping mechanisms' since a heart hunter is created as the result of a severely broken heart. It is clear the author spent a lot of time really thinking through the premise and honing out a multi layered narrative with fascinating concepts and ideas. And yet, the story has plenty of action and moves fluidly.

The artwork is distinct. At times, it could be hard to discern what was going on but I found I didn't mind since such a great story really deserved distinct illustrative work to showcase it best. Pages are full color and the paneling is well done. The cover is representative of the style inside.

In all, a great match of excellent story and good illustrative work. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
Profile Image for Misa.
1,641 reviews3 followers
August 25, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book reminded me so much of Nimona by Noelle Stevenson, it has the same vibes. The story was inventive with some great figurative imagery related to the heart, love and soul mates. It was smart and so interesting with an amazing world building that you can see with your own eyes because the artist has done such a great work into making the story alive, you are submerged in each panel with colors and art so vibrant and you don't want to miss a thing.

The story is about this cursed island called Envecor where its inhabitants are doomed to wear their hearts outside their bodies also this curse unable them to die, change or have children until they find their soul mates, so they could become mortals, but there are those who love being immortal and in order to remain this way, they send Heart Hunters like our heroine Psyche who is paid to kill those people's soulmates.

At first, I had some difficulty to immerse myself in the story but then it got so much fun and interesting to follow the misadventures of the characters. It was funny crazy with some sad moments that could be difficult for some readers (TW: suicide), the part that I didn't really enjoyed in the story.
Profile Image for Gemma.
274 reviews25 followers
July 15, 2021
I thought the concept of this story was super interesting. A curse means people cannot die until they find their soulmate, but killing your soulmate means living forever. I think I would also really enjoy reading this in literary form to understand more of the world building and character development.

My favorite thing about this story was that your soulmate doesn't necessarily need to be in a lover and that true love can be found in any form. Being vulnerable is hard but can also lead you to finding the greatest love story. The story overall was very wholesome in its message.

While the illustration was very detailed and beautiful, I found it to be just a tad overly graphic. By no means did it detract from the story, it just was a bit much for me.

Overall, the plot and message wrapped up well in the end and I was satisfied with where the characters ended up. For a short graphic novel, the characters go through a large development and I was quite pleased with the pacing.
Profile Image for BadassCmd.
207 reviews50 followers
August 12, 2021
I liked this comic a lot.
We use a lot of phrases like "wearing your heart on your sleeve", or metaphors of having a broken heart, of healing your heart and of having a heart of stone, and we dream of soulmates that we might one day meet.
And "The Heart Hunter" takes all of that and makes it literal.

The whole concept of this story is such a cool idea and the visuals and word play on love, hearts and soulmates work very well with it.

I also loved that the story is very non-chalant about same sex love and that soulmates don't always have to me lovers, but can also be family or deeply connected in other ways.
Profile Image for Nathan Bartos.
1,225 reviews73 followers
October 26, 2021
I thought the concept of this graphic novel was such a cool one, and I think the art is really great. However, the plot gets sort of convoluted, and by the end, I was just reading for it to be over. I wish I had liked it more, obviously, but I don't really have a ton of positives or negatives.
Profile Image for Aaron.
1,070 reviews44 followers
September 25, 2021
There is very little qualitatively redeeming about this comic. One might hope to unearth even the slightest acreage of arable earth in this title, given its wildly, defiantly broad scope of fantastical worldbuilding. One might also hope to field a kernel of common sense amid the narrative's array of immortal deities, eternal curses, and glut of strong-willed characters. THE HEART HUNTER means well. Most achingly progressive graphic novel projects do. However, in this case, the mythology is nonsensical, its intertwining narrative motifs are incredibly exhaustive, and the artistic style cannot quite make up its mind.

Between the book's prologue, epilogue, and the eight chapters in-between, readers will require only six pages to squint in protest and query what in the world is going on. The mountainous island nation of Envecor rests comfortably in the grasp of the tragic personifications of Death and Time. The logic behind how the island came to be (and the curse that binds its people) is irrational and confusing, but the simple version is that for these two deities to be together, an otherworldly spell was spun on the mortal plane to make their union possible. The people of Envecor are purportedly immortal, living their non-lives with their physical hearts outside of their bodies (carried in jars or other containers as they desire).

THE HEART HUNTER wields the open/exposed heart motif like a bludgeon: characters with "broken hearts" are emotional wrecks, characters with "steely" hearts are tactically reserved, characters who "wear their heart on their sleeve" are dreadfully over-communicative. As for the individuals who populate Envecor, questing for true love is the only solution for leaving the magical isle (and thus obtaining mortality).

Nevertheless, the protagonists seem hell-bent on ruining this possibility for themselves several times over. Protagonists Psyche (a mercenary) and Marius (the king who hires her) are wildly compatible but interminably impenitent of the consequences of their actions. Readers never learn if the people Psyche has thwarted and murdered has benefited her island's greater pursuit of self-sustainability or merely appeased her own brash insecurities. Readers only glimpse Marius's mercantilist ambitions before the young ruler's foolhardy nature pivots the story in a less grounded direction.

The clever premise of aligning with or living in defiance of the decree of the gods, if in rebuke of true love, is this comic's largest draw as well as its most obvious demise. The deities, monsters, curios, and nightmarish surprises lurking at the center of the island are a tirelessly random and incompetently interwoven architecture of fantasy literature with too much time on its hands. For example, something called an "indifference monster," inky and skulking, scours the land and nearly cradles and kills Psyche and one of her traveling companions. In concept, it's a shrewd, faceless villain (that is, a creature somehow attracted to inefficient wielders of their heart). In practice, the story doesn't say where the beast comes from, precisely why it does what it does, the threat it poses, or how the simple act of kicking the shapeshifting beast into a conveniently nearby river is enough to defeat it. The way THE HEART HUNTER manages the case of the "indifference monster" is articulated simply enough, but readers should know it is not an exception to how the comic is written, it's the rule; nearly every facet of homegrown mythos is pulled together with such random, shallow, and incomplete storytelling as to be utterly inconsequential.

THE HEART HUNTER is not the comic book for readers in search of a smoothly edited tale boasting manifestly streamlined character building. Psyche's arc, however lacking in context, merits approval for its leveraging of a character's darker habituations (e.g., regret, vengeance) as an equally powerful motivator as one might find in a more placid character. But the seesaw emotional diagram around which Psyche and others constantly wander give one pause.

Marius, the king of Envecor, is a well-studied and efficient ruler. And although one wonders why he lives in a massive castle with perhaps only five attendants, the guy actively avoids searching out his true love because he is convinced he can manipulate his island's immortal disposition into something manageable, if not successful. But Marius is a case study for all of the other characters in the book: his intuition is calculating, only to be later subsumed by the arrogant chatter and idle prognostication of others, as well as the book's awkward, overwrought metaphors. Regrettably, the only character who does what is in their best interest is an annoying and irascible thief whose nonstop prattle is too full of idealist grandeur to be taken meaningfully (Jez: "Vulnerability feels like courage. It's not always comfortable to wear your heart like this, but it doesn't weaken it. I promise.").

The comic's visual styles vacillate uneasily, often between various Art Nuveau, Tudor, and other, more modern aesthetical approaches, for page composition, whereas the character art often favors blocky, sometimes approximated gestures more akin to the mimicry of movement than of character movement itself. The conflation of traditional and antique compositional strategies combined with at times uncooperative character art makes for sometimes-good and sometimes-terrible narrative sequencing.

Sometimes, it's good: Readers witness Psyche, in a large and circular panel, holding her newly mended heart, while smaller offshoot panels lend attempted context to the pain she feels, why the pain she feels is different, and whether the pain she feels will ever go away.

Sometimes, it's atrocious: Every flashback scene in THE HEART HUNTER is impossible to read correctly after two or three tries. Layered panels mean action scenes clutter quickly. The lack of consistency of style, from page to page, much less from chapter to chapter, proves routinely disorienting and can result in the reader skipping whole panels because the pacing is so far off. There are even pages for which the layout and composition is too crafty for its own good, resulting in dead-space panels.

And yet further, sometimes, it's a labor of depressing uncertainty: One may never know if many of the book's character poses, showcasing painfully craned necks and featuring slippery facial geometry, are deliberately Picassoesque in design or are simply a fact of poor, inelegant artwork. One's inability to discern as such is rather troubling.

THE HEART HUNTER leans heavily on teaching its readers a lesson on the prevailing, metaphorical needs and duties of the heart. How hearts break. How hearts heal. How hearts can lose focus. How hearts guide one another. The burden of social commentary is woefully heavy and uncomfortably shoved into readers' faces on almost every page. If the motifs of hearts, emotions, and hyper-sentimentality were scrubbed from this comic book, it might be worth saving.

Nevertheless, the book's incomplete and incomprehensible mythology doesn't help matters much, and the book's clumsy character dynamics result in similar narrative misfortunes. Jez wouldn't be so blasted exhausting if the character didn't use every waking breath to extol the incorruptibility of giving rather than taking. Psyche is a wreck, but her evolution from selfish crank to wholesome, soft-woven hero feels far more convenient by story's end than it does fit the natural curvature of her character's development.

A fantasy tale, about how hearts struggle to do what they are designed to do, may well be worth one's energy to learn, discern, define, and document. But this is not it.
Profile Image for Ingrid Helmke.
32 reviews
January 13, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and Legendary Comics for giving me and e-arc to read! Wow I loved this book. The artwork is gorgeous, giving some fantasy/spooky vibes but the story having a heartfelt love story. I loved the intertwining plots of Time and Death, and the heart strings connecting soulmates of our main characters. There were so many beautiful lines about the different form of love and heartbreak and grief and how these all come in so many different forms. Probably one of the best comics I've read.
Profile Image for Jessica Rose.
197 reviews149 followers
August 17, 2021
The island of Envacor is cursed. Everyone is doomed to wear their heart outside their bodies, and are immortal—unable to die, to change, to have children— until they find their soulmate. Paired soulmates are then turned mortal, freed from the curse, and are able to leave Envacor.
Psyche, our protagonist, is a Heart Hunter. People used to hire Heart Hunters to find their soulmates for the old-fashioned reason, a happily ever after. But times have changed, and people are finding that they might like immortality after all. Heart Hunters are now assassins for people who wish to keep their immortality, people like the King, who has just hired Psyche to find and kill his soulmate. But when Psyche finds Isaac, things don’t go quite to plan...


'The hallmark of a Heart Hunter is a broken heart.'


I loved this graphic novel! It has such an intricate, established world and characters. It explores grief, friendship, and different kinds of love. I adored the casual LGBTQ+ rep, and how many messages it had to tell. You could take away something new from this story every time you pick it up.

This is a fairly short novel, but so much was packed within its pages! I feel like I could talk about this world and it's mechanics for hours. The exploration of soulmates in particular, and how unique each case could be was so interesting.


"...isn't that what a soulmate is for? They're supposed to be the catalyst that changes you into what you're supposed to become."


Each of the main characters were so well developed, with really distinct personalities. Some were more likable than others (Isaac was my favourite- definitely one of the best characters I’ve read this year), but through the slow reveals and exploration of their backstories- which was absolutely heartbreaking, I found I had a soft spot for everyone by the end of the novel.

The art style perfectly matched the vibe of the book, it was bold and vibrant, and emotion was conveyed deftly through the panels.


Actual rating: 4.5 stars


Thank you to Netgalley and Legendary Comics for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
9,444 reviews135 followers
July 15, 2021
Hmmm... Slightly clunky, and unevenly paced, this still might appeal to some of the teenaged audience it seems aimed at. It's an interesting premise – this kingdom is cursed, and the terms of the curse are that everyone stays as an adult, never ageing, with their hearts outside their bodies. If they find their soulmate, they can leave together, and they age naturally together to the natural end. Nobody else can get out, and there's actually a dark new career of heart-hunter, whereby you pay an assassin to kill off your soul-mate, thus leaving you immortal, until a new one crops up. The king is using Psyche, the first and best heart-hunter, to get rid of the bloke who's supposed to be his current soul-mate, but of course nothing is going to be that easy...

Reading this isn't easy at times – the page is deliberately made dynamic, making those peculiar frames and use of Norman arches in, say, Fables, look quite staid in comparison. Some scenes are fine, text wise; others are certainly rushed. Action scenes aren't handled very well at all. And the script forces all kind of idioms concerning the relevant organ on to the page, so we see the embodiment of a bleeding heart, a heart of gold, someone pouring out their heart... It gets really cheesy quite quickly, and smacks of those teen-friendly texts that try to dramatise the strongest of emotions by turning them into genre fantasy characters. All told it's pretty much worth a look, but in trying to work out how well this great concept had been handled, I quite quickly learnt that it wasn't that great and doable an idea in the first place. Two and a half stars.
Profile Image for soph.
378 reviews43 followers
July 29, 2021
What an amazing story! It takes the concept of soulmates, curse, broken heart, and healing together and I enjoyed every second of it. The Envecor island is cursed. People have to carry their hearts outside their bodies, and do not age or die until they meet their soulmate. Only then can they leave this cursed island and grow old. Not everyone wants to find their soulmate and bond, forcing them to leave Envecor, and that's why Psyche is a heart hunter. Killing someone's heart is the only way for them to die. Psyche, who had her heart broken, goes in search for the king's soulmate, to kill his heart and allow the king to stay on Envecor to make the change he wants around the curse for the island.

My favourite things about this story are how soulmates are not necessarily romantic, the casual LGBT+ representation, the heart expressions being literally (bleeding heart, wearing your heart on your sleeve, broken heart, golden heart, etc), and, of course, Psyche's journey and her relationship with Isaac, Marius and Jez.
Profile Image for Fern.
639 reviews50 followers
July 30, 2021
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Legendary Comics for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved this standalone graphic novel. The story and world mythology were really original and the characters felt fleshed out for a story that had a lot of world building to do. The overarching theme of grief and dealing with a broken heart was woven into the story really well. The art was phenomenal and I absolutely loved the character designs and color palette.

What I really appreciated the most about this story that is focused so much on soulmates and love, is that it isn't all about straight/ heteronormative romantic love. The author has characters who are queer and also characters who experience familial and friendship love, and it all being shown as a valid form of how you feel about someone.
Profile Image for Molly Em.
34 reviews1 follower
August 28, 2021
I loved this graphic novel! I'm always interested in quirky fantasy stories about hearts being worn outside the body and this is a gem. I loved all the intricate folklore, including having a heart of gold, wearing your heart on your sleeve, the concept of heart hunters, everything! The story is full of adventure but at the centre it has - you guessed it, heart. Was that too cheesy? But really, it does, and it's not cheesy. I loved all of the characters and their own personal journeys. There's LGBTQ+ rep and it doesn't feel out of place or forced. Some books feel like they're just going down a list and checking off the boxes of stuff they want to include - this isn't one of those stories. The artwork was amazing. I hope to read more by this team.

Thank you Net Galley and Legendary Comics for letting me read this amazing book.
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