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Book: “A Harvest of Hearts” by Andrea Eames
Publishing Info: Erewhon Books, March 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Before Foss Butcher was Snagged, she thought no more of the magic-users than did anyone else in her tiny village. Sometimes gorgeous women in impossible carriages rolled into town and took bits of people’s hearts. Everyone knew hearts fueled their magic. But Foss, plain, clumsy, and practical as a boot, never expected anyone would want hers.
True enough, when the only sorcerer in the kingdom stepped from his glossy carriage, he didn’t intend to hook Foss. Sylvester’s riot of black curls and perfectly etched cheekbones caught her eye a moment too long, that was all. Suddenly, Foss is cursed and finds herself stomping toward the grand City to keep his enchanted House, where her only friend is a talking cat and the walls themselves have moods.
But as Foss learns the ways of magic, she realizes she’s far from its only unwilling captive. Even Sylvester is hemmed in by spells and threats. It’s said this sorcery protects king, country, and order for thousands. If Foss wants to free herself—and, perhaps, Sylvester—she’ll have to confront it all . . . and uncover the blight nestled in the heart of the kingdom itself.
Review: I had high hopes for this book based on the unique-sounding summary (plus, who can say no to a cover with an adorable cat silhouette?). Unfortunately, this one started out a bit rough and then never quite recovered. I will talk about some of the good things first though. And primarily among those is the creativity at the heart of the this story. The idea of sorcerers who casually roll through villages and suck up parts of peoples’ hearts to gain power? Super interesting! This book has also been compared to “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and as I don’t think this fully works, there were aspects of the writing that did strike a similar note. Moments of whimsy and small interactions between Foss and Sylvester, some of these did have a certain “Howl’s” vibe to them.
However, for the most part, I didn’t connect with this book. It didn’t start off on a good note, with the very first chapter being essentially a big info-dump from the main character. It was paragraph after paragraph of basic facts about this world. This was made worse by some of the inconsistencies with the writing style for the voice of the main character. She’s meant to be have had a simple upbringing, which the author demonstrated with attempts at “folksy” language. But then some of the exposition would completely conflict with this character style, with Foss conveying information to the reader that it doesn’t seem like she would know (always a challenge with this POV style of writing, but the challenge in and of itself doesn’t excuse the error). Beyond that, this manner of introducing a world and magic system was simply clumsy, at best. From this rocky start, the pacing continued to be a problem, with large lulls happening throughout.
I also struggled to enjoy Foss as a character. I appreciate what the author was attempting to do, creating a character who struggles with self-esteem and self-perception. However, the actual execution of this was, again, very clumsy. Foss would bemoan her own looks and her expectations for a loveless future to such a degree that it felt like she was hitting readers over the head with it. And, from what the reader is given, none of these fears seem based in reality. Yes, people often struggle to view themselves as others do, and this is a believable problem. But the degree to which Foss focused on this aspect of herself was over the top and began to overwhelm any other characteristics she brought to the table.
I was also supremely uninvested in the romance. There wasn’t anything overtly bad here, but Sebastian was such a nothing character that, combined with my struggles with Foss’s self-talk, I couldn’t become invested in their love story. Perhaps others will appreciate these characters more than I did. I think each started with some interesting groundwork, but the story failed to realize them as fully-fleshed out characters.
Overall, this was a very underwhelming read. There were brief moments of light and I think the author could come into her own with future projects. But as it stands now, this book felt underdeveloped with fairly weak characters. Perhaps those fully dedicated to the cozy fantasy subgenre may find this one more appealing than I did, and I’m sure there are readers out there who will enjoy it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t me.
Rating 6: There were some creative ideas at the heart of this story, but weak characters and choppy pacing left me struggling to get through this one.
Reader’s Advisory:
“A Harvest of Hearts” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Realistic Hearts and 2025 Cozy Fantasy Romance.
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