*I received a free copy of The Heart Forger from Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco Series: The Bone Witch #2
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on 20 March 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 528
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
In The Bone Witch, Tea mastered resurrection―now she's after revenge...
No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life...and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her―and took the life of her one true love.
But there are those who plot against her, those who would use Tea's dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can't kill someone who can never die...
War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.
The Heart Forger is an amazing fantasy story, and I have to say I’m surprised by how much I loved it!
Story:
I was so curious about The Heart Forger, even if I didn’t fall in love with The Bone Witch, I was very curious as to what would happen in this second installment. And I was wowed! Tea has grown so much as a character, and the pace was much better. There was a lot of action, through flashbacks, and the tale the Bard told as it was shown to him by Tea. There were many surprises, and the ending left me completely out of breath! I need more, and I need it now.
In The Heart Forger, Tea lives a solitary life – surrounded by Aza and Daeva, she is a scary sight to see. She is also immensely powerful. And strong. Her inner strength is one of the things that surprised me the most, as she seemed more immature in the first book in the series. Also, now that I have read the second book, I realize that the first book needed to set up the world and the characters correctly, so I have totally forgiven it for the slower pace now.
In the flashbacks, Tea, Fox, Kalen and others are followed by dark trouble, and it seems that everywhere they go, more trouble arises. This kept me on my toes for the entire story, even through the present time, where Tea shared little tidbits with the Bard.
The intricate political system of the kingdoms, the way some rulers wanted more power than they had, and were willing to do anything to get it made for some great action scenes. And it was so good to see that Tea more often than not relied on her logic rather than on any kind of fighting skills to get herself and her cohorts out of trouble. There were still fight scenes, though, and they were good! Both between human characters, and with various creatures involved, everything happened in ways that seemed plausible to me.
Characters:
Tea is the main character still, and she has definitely grown into her role. Both as a strong bone witch, and as someone who can fight to keep people safe in the face of those who only thirst for power.
The Bard narrates part of the story, as it is told to him by Tea. And this brought a nice external view to her story.
Fox shows up in Tea’s flashbacks, and his relationship to her, and to Inessa made so much more sense with more background knowledge.
Writing style :
The flashbacks are in past tense, mostly in first person from Tea’s perspective. The dialogues made it easy to get to know the other characters as well, and I felt close to the action. The present time is also written in past tense, but in third person perspective, even if it is in the Bard’s point of view. Also, the present time narration is in italics, and this made it very easy to know when in the story I was at.
Feels :
Excitement! Exhilaration! Need! Hope and fear were present, too, but not as much as the first three.
She wore the corpses for show. They trailed behind her, grotesque fabrics of writhing flesh and bone, spreading across the plain for miles around us.
It was not the first time I had deceived myself in this manner. Neither was this the first time I had raised King Vanor from the grave. But if I repeated that mantra enough times, I thought I could finally believe my words.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: HannahSophiaLin
Yes to all of this! I felt so much emotion while reading the sequel, even though I am also not a fan of the first book. I thought I wouldn’t like it as well, but I’m glad I took a chance on this one because all the FEELS.
YAY Sophia! I’m so glad we both jumped onto the Heart Forger wagon, and that we loved it. The feels were strong, and I just loved how different Tea was here than she was in the first book 🙂
I am SO thrilled that you loved The Heart Forger! The Bone Witch was one of my favorite books I read last year and my copy of THF should arrive any day now. I’m so excited!!
Oh see I was curious to see what would happen as well but the first one wasn’t my favorite and it was a bit slow for me in many parts so I was on the fence on if I would continue the series but reading this has made me sway more towards the give it a try side! Glad to hear the pacing was better!
Twitter: nadz1809
This sounds good. Lexxie, do I need to read the first book?
Yes, Nadene, you really do need the first book. And while it was very slow, the world-building, setting, and getting to know important characters is what made this second book so enjoyable.
I keep meaning to read the first book!
I remember loving The Bone Witch and being so excited for this book! While it is very different in pacing and action as compared to The Bone Witch, it was amazing and I loved every minute of it! Now, we just have to wait for book 3 :'(
Good review, Lexxie! I haven’t read book one yet. When I do, I will bear in mind that the second book is stronger, in case I’m on the fence about the first one. But everything I’ve read about them sounds really good (if a bit creepy, given the necromancy.)
Twitter: ailynk
so curiosity killed the cat? Is the 2nd instalment better?
Sold! Thank you for this wonderful review, Lexxie. Now I am so curious that I have to go and get it *lol*
Best wishes
Vi @Inkvotary
Happy Birthday!
I haven’t read this series, but that’s awesome you loved this one since you were a bit iffy on the first. It’s always awesome when a series gets BETTER.
-Lauren
That’s great. Someitmes it takes until book two for the story to hit it’s stride.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
Glad you enjoyed this one more and was WOW’d. I love books that do that to us. Thanks for the great review! I still do want to read The Bone Witch and at least I know 2 is better!
Mary
AHH IM SO GLAD YOU MANAGED TO ENJOY THIS ONE.
i loved both books but i know that a few people had issues w the first bc it was slow but i just adore tea so much and the whole world and books yipee!!
I adore Tea, too, and she really showed me why in this one!