“Don’t bother with the past, Zera.
The future is where you’ll find your freedom.”
If any of you have read my Monstrous Hearts review knows that I was an instant fan. From the magic systems to the brilliantly relatable characters, it was everything I ever wanted out of a fantasy novel – including Fione, the clubbed footed, high spirited girl that stole my heart. I flew through the novel and then was stunned by the cliffhanger, devastated that I now had to wait a year before I would be able to find any closure.
Except… closure is far from what I found.
Sara Wolf once again crafted a story of love and betrayal, trust and longing, and a girl who will do anything to remember the family she lost, and win back the heart she lost in the games she’s played so far.
This book is literally impossible to talk about without spoiling the first one, so if you have not read Bring Me their Hearts, please stop reading and go check out my review for that book and dive in there. These must be read in order for the best story!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Author: Sara Wolf
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Format/Source: Physical ARC (Publisher provided)
From GoodReads: No one can save her.
In order to protect Prince Lucien d’Malvane’s heart, Zera had to betray him.
Now, he hates the sight of her. Trapped in Cavanos as a prisoner of the king, she awaits the inevitable moment her witch severs their magical connection and finally ends her life.
But fate isn’t ready to give her up just yet.
With freedom coming from the most unlikely of sources, Zera is given a second chance at life as a Heartless. But it comes with a terrible price. As the king mobilizes his army to march against the witches, Zera must tame an elusive and deadly valkerax trapped in the tunnels underneath the city if she wants to regain her humanity.
Winning over a bloodthirsty valkerax? Hard. Winning back her friends before war breaks out? A little harder.
But a Heartless winning back Prince Lucien’s heart?
The hardest thing she’s ever done.
The Book Dragon Breaks Down…..
Plot: ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
World: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Writing: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Character Development: ★ ★ ★ ★
“This one moment is all I could ever ask for. It is all I will ever have, and I tattoo it into every part of my aching flesh.“
…the writing…..
I can find little to no flaws in the – once again – brilliant storytelling that Wolf provides. Her world building is fantastic, especially if you’ve read BMTH – and if you haven’t, you will be very confused through most of the book.
…the plot….
FMTB picks up directly where it left off in BMTH. The plot is much different than the first book, but the goal is the same – to earn back Zera’s heart no matter the cost. There are several twists that pop up along the way – one that pops up almost immediately and it left me horrified. This book was much more — gruesome– in plot than the first, but just as wonderful.
There are sections that suffer from the second book syndrome, but it’s few and far between.
...the characters…
Zera is BACK.
Zera is a force to be reckoned with – still just as witty and on point as ever. Her sharp wit makes her entirely hilarious, while her cunning makes her someone to be wary of. There were times that I felt like she played right into the hands of whatever scheme was being concocted. I actually enjoyed that because we aren’t always the cleverest or the most daring. This gave Zera depth and flaws – things that make a hero relatable and likable. The drive for her heart was something that was unrelenting, even when the tasks were not always the smartest to pursue.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the relationship that Zera developed with both the Valtrax and Yorl.
The tension between Lucien and Zera was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and I LOVED IT. Zera was stupidly following a path that she believed was the best for everyone involved. I appreciated this plot line because I have long felt that too many people – girls in particularly- force themselves away from what they want in the belief that the person or thing they want deserves better. This is such a horrible way to break yourself down, and the arc that Zera went through to embrace her self worth was powerful for me. Zera is one of my favorite characters, and she continued to embed herself into my psyche.
Varia
Poor Lucien was kicked to the side for the all real purposes. He quickly became a background problem, something that Zera really did not want to deal with. Be it because of her desire to obtain her heart, or her misguided belief that she did not deserve his love – her actions towards him were infuriating. On the flip side, Lucien was an even bigger douchebag towards her – just to proclaim that he was fighting for her all along. (How much can you really fight for someone that you’ve known for only two weeks anyways, yo?!) While their personalities rang true in this second installment, their actions and behaviors were still enough to scream at them, multiple times. That’s not a bad thing, either. A character being true to themselves, even in the face of falling in a puddle of dicksand – or the female equivalent, is something I really love.
….final thoughts…
The ending of Find Me Their Bones has me just as irritated and longing for the final (?) installment as Bring Me Their Hearts. The mind blowing and infuriating cliff hangers literally leave you in the middle of the scene. I hate when books end this way, mostly because I live the next year terrified that I’ll never get a conclusion. I am eagerly and desperately awaiting the fate of my beloved Zera, as well as all of the rest of the characters that I love so much.
tl;dr
The Heartless is back and she’s not going to lose this time. The quality of suspense that Wolf gives us is on par with the likes of Kendare Blake and Holly Black, each novel leaving us guessing and grasping for more.
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 the Lovely Vicious series. She lives in San Diego with two cats, a crippling-yet-refreshing sense of self-doubt, and not enough fruit tarts ever.
