| ISBN: 978-1492635857 | Pages: 528 |
Publication Date: March 20, 2018 | Source: Sourcebooks/ARC
| Rating: 5 out of 5 stars |
★★★★★
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.
★★★★★
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.
I. AM. IN. LOVE.
The Heartforger was one of my most anticipated releases for this and I am so glad it's finally out in the world for everyone to read. If you picked up The Bone Witch and was not a huge fan because it's heavily based on world building and lacked in action - pick up the sequel because this is where the action is at!
Anyway, this was everything I wanted in the sequel and I'm so glad that there is another book in this series even though I'm not a huge fan of them. (but why do I have to wait another year????)
As with the first novel, we get a dual story-line: one follows present day Tea as she tells her story to the bard and the other is her account of the past. Again, I enjoyed this format, but there were times where it frustrated me when the story-line switched. After the ending of The Bone Witch, I wanted to know more about the present day, but we only get little snippets as the main focus is still on the past.
"That is the nature of grief. But to grieve means that you have loved. To love opens up the possibility for grief."
I was anticipating a lot more development and action and I definitely got that with the sequel. There are so many things happening in the "past" story-line that continue to pave the path towards Tea's exile that leads to where she is in the present. Believe me when I say that so much happens and I wasn't expecting half of them.
"Most people reject the truth, Fox. Lies are sweet to the palate, but the truth is often spat out, bitter and rancid."
Additionally, the fangirling that took place was too much for my heart. I loved Tea and Kalen and I'm so glad we got to see the start of their relationship along with their present-day relationship and it's just so cute! We still don't know how Kalen died and I know that nothing in the world can prepare me for that, but at least Tea was able to bring him back. Part of me wanted more than the "being mean because of a crush" trope for Kalen but when he mumbled his confession I think my heart melted.
"When I die, at least I shall die knowing my eyes were open, looking at all there was to see."
Along with my new favorite power couple, I loved seeing some of my favorite people again from Khalad, Likh, Zoya and Shadi, and of course - Fox. Rin Chupeco has created such an amazing group of diverse characters that have a great dynamic. I adore Likh so much, he's a precious flower that must be protected at all costs and Zoya and Shadi as a couple are just absolute goals.
In terms of the present-day story - it was so exciting to see Tea's revenge in action from the battles to seeing old friends again. I have so many emotions that it's hard to be coherent, but we do get to start to see the overlap of past and present and that just makes me all the more excited for Book 3.
A huge thank you to Sourcebooks for giving me an ARC - I literally almost started crying when I opened the package and saw this beauty in real life.
(Also a big thank you to my parents for helping me to take pictures of quotes cause I left my copy at home and needed quotes for this review....)
