A Heart so Fierce and Broken Book Review

A Heart so Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer.

THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE FOR AHSFAB. However, it will include some things that are going to be big spoilers for A Curse so Dark and Lonely so if you haven’t read book one and plan to, and you don’t want to know what happens, please click away now. Otherwise, welcome to my review…

From Goodreads: Find the heir, win the crown.

The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.

Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen–until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.

Gah, I was so excited for this book to hit the shelves. Last year, I spent a lot of time praying to be lucky enough to get an ARC of this novel, and unfortunately due to variety of mishaps, was unsuccessful. Still, my local bookseller had copies of AHSFAB in a few days before their official UK release, so it was nice to pick it up a tiny bit earlier than I anticipated. It was one of those weird things where you’ve been waiting for a book for so long, and you’re so hyped, that you kind of feel deflated when you get it in your hands. Not because you don’t want to read it, but because it’s finally there. Do you know what I mean?

To my surprise, I was off to a slow start reading this. For some reason, despite the fact that Brigid kept saying this was a Grey book on Twitter, I somehow forgot that when I opened the novel. Grey was okay for me in the last book. I didn’t dislike him, but he also wasn’t my favourite. I think some of my issues going through the first few chapters of this book is that it wasn’t about Harper, who I had grown to love in the first novel. And though she does appear a bit throughout, I was disappointed at the lack of her awesome presence.

At least, that’s how I felt at first. I missed Harper, and to some extent I missed Rhen too. Grey’s story in AHSFAB starts out a little slow, and I think it took me a while to wrap my head around a novel that focussed on new-ish characters. Or at least characters we’ve not seen much of already. Even though I wasn’t entirely hooked at this point, I did like reading about Grey, and I found Lin Mara’s chapters progressively more interesting too. And I loved the new characters that enter the story. Brigid has such a way with words, and the settings and people just felt so lifelike and wonderful. I was pretty content with Washington D.C. taking a back seat in this book too. I was thrown off at the start of ACSDAL by the setting and the sort of not quite urban fantasy feel to it. With AHSFAB the focus is very much on Emberfall and the world around it, and that suited me just perfectly.

Things changed for me about halfway through the book, when the pacing really began to pick up. And by pick up, I mean it was a full throttle rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I [very almost] hurled my book across the room. Joey on Friends once put a copy of The Shining in a freezer for being ‘too scary’ and honestly, a small part of me was tempted to try that out with AHSFAB. That title is very appropriate is all I can say. Several days later, I’m still picking shards of my heart up off the floor. So thanks for that, Brigid :’D

All joking aside though, this is a phenomenally good book. The characters are so well developed and life-like, and their complex emotions and behaviours are so perfectly captured by the prose. And the plot. Wow. I can’t say much without delving into spoilers, but I do have to say that the last third or so of the book never relented on the pace, and threw in so many twists and curveballs. I’m still in awe of the brilliant writing here, and it feels expertly crafted to wring every last tear out of readers.

And of course, as with ACSDAL it ended on another huge twist. No spoilers but I am absolutely gobsmacked and I cannot wait for book three to come out so we can see how this latest development unfolds.

If you need me, I will be in the corner, crying, until then.

Overall, I’m giving A Heart so Fierce and Broken a full:

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think it deserves anything less. Although the beginning was a little slow, and it was hard to adjust to a book so focussed on Grey, it was well worth the little nudge to keep going. The last half or so of the book really flew by, and by the end I was frantically turning pages to find out what happened. This isn’t a book for readers who hate long waits and cliffhangers. Seriously. Now if anyone wants to offer me book three before it’s released, I will happily relinquish my soul in exchange.

Has anyone else read this book already or plans to? What do you all think of it? Let me know in the comment section down below ❤