Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf {review}

Bring Me Their Hearts
by Sara Wolf
♦publisher: Entangled Teen
♦release date: June 5th, 2018
♦hardcover 400 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: Bring Me Their Hearts, book 1
♦source: ARC received from publisher for review consideration

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.

Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.

Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The Prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.

So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all.

Winner takes the loser’s heart.

Literally.

{My thoughts}

Readers, Bring Me Their Hearts is exactly how I like my fantasy: a little on the lighter side, great complicated characters, some imaginative world-building, and a few great laughs.  This book was such a fun adventure and I left me absolutely dying for more. 

So, see that smirk on the cover? It pretty much sums up the main character Zera to perfection. So. Much. Sass. But luckily that's not all there is to her. Nobody likes a wise-ass without a little depth and sinister backstory, right? Zera is a Heartless, which means she was created by and serves a witch, has a ragingly violent inner impulse, and a very bloody diet. The Witches decide to use her in a plot to gain the upper hand in their war and are willing to give her and her friends their freedom if she succeeds. So off to court she goes, to win the heart of the prince...and rip it out of his chest and turn him Heartless, too. 

I loved the way this world and society is built--very fantastical with a little steampunk and alchemy mixed in. While there are some details that left me a little confused, I really can't wait to be even further immersed into it's inner workings as the series continues. The villain was just a little two dimensional, but every single other character was absolutely intriguing, even those like the King who we only get a brief glimpse of. Once Zera meets Lucien, so begins the incredible conflict...will she kill him or won't she? It's a high price for her either way.  Lucien matches her in wit 100% and it was wildly entertaining watching each and every one of their interactions. His guard is also hilariously snarky and turned out to be one of my favorite characters. I could go on, there are several other noteworthy characters, but I'll leave them for you to discover! 

The ending, ahh, the ending. Be prepared, it's one heck of a cliffhanger---literally had me clutching the pages hard enough to wrinkle them and in the last moment all I could say was "WHAT???" (In a good way! In a "please, book, don't rip my heart out this way" kind of way) Needless to say, I need book two right now. :)

•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.

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