Paradise Found: Review - Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

Title: Bring Me Their Hearts

Author: Sara Wolf

Publication Date: June 5th, 2018

Synopsis:

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:

Zera is missing her heart because it holds her humanity, at least that's what she thinks. It's not easy to walk with an empty hole in your chest in a world where a missing heart marks you as a monster.

She cannot even walk around at her leisure to start with: she is bound to Nightsinger the witch; the very one who took her heart. She doesn't hate her, no. Nightsinger practically saved Zera's life by turning her into the creature she is today. But ohh, how much she yearns to be whole again with the organ that beats in a jar on the mantelpiece... Getting back the heart would mean freedom for her.

However, like everything, the heart has a price. The witches would like to prevent another war between them and the humans, and to do so the Prince Lucien has to become what Zera is: a heartless. No one is better fitting for the job than Zera. Take a heart to own yours again – the only thing she doesn't know is that the bloody and dangerous game will have a pitfall that she may just not be able to avoid.

This YA fantasy novel was fun. I usually enjoy stories that involve witches, that's why I requested this title in the first place (and because of the Snow White vibes of course). The witches here can turn into white ravens and those parts when they appeared in flocks on the sky or on the barks of a tree were very sinister, despite the fact that witches are not bad creatures in this novel.

Actually there is no evil and good side in the war that is about to break out either. Humans and witches simply cannot live with each other; humans are terrified of witches because a hysteria is created by Gavik, the evil duke and witches still hold grudges against humans for the purifications they do (a consequence of the hysteria).

Even though the plot is a bit predictable the story flows well, it's easy to understand the motivations of the characters and to sympathize with them because of their hardships. Lucien is a headstrong prince, I think they are a good match with Zera, who is determined but, despite her heartlessness, suddenly gets attacked by unwanted feelings that she has yet to understand.

The newly found family relationships and friendships warmed my heart. I especially liked two side characters: Y'shennria and Malachite, Zera's 'aunt' and the bodyguard of prince Lucien. The letter was utterly adorable and would have been a better love interest in my opinion than the prince (ooops, I'm giving away my preferences...).

Going into this book I didn't know this is only the first instalment in a series, but as it turned out, it is. If you generally like YA fantasies, give this one a try. It's a sweet classic story with a twist.

Goodreads | Amazon

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 Lovely Vicious. She lives in San Diego with two cats, a crippling-yet-refreshing sense of self-doubt, and not enough fruit tarts ever.