Review: Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

Bring Me Their Hearts
(Bring Me Their Hearts #1)
by Sara Wolf
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication date: June 5, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating:

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.

Zera is a heartless (sort of like a think of a ghoul) who’s on a mission to rip out the heart of the prince in order to stop a war. You see, a few years ago, Zera and her family were killed by bandits. However, a witch decided to turn Zera into her heartless soldier, by ripping out her heart and storing it in a special magical jar. Now Zera must do the witches bidding with hopes of getting her heart back and becoming mortal again. Will killing the prince be easy? No, but what choice does she have. It’s either get the prince’s heart and free not only herself but her two heartless companions under the witch’s thumb, or remain the monster she currently is.

I have to admit, I have had this book in my procession for over a year before I read it. I am not an Alice in Wonderland fan and for some reason, the red dress, the “Bring Me Their Hearts” title just made me think this was a Red Queen story. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Honestly, I don’t know why I had it in my head that it was an AiW story. Instead it starts off a bit like The Selection with Zera attending the Spring Welcoming, an event for the prince to meet prospective brides and hopefully choose one to be his queen. She, along with two other girls are welcomed into the castle in the hopes of being selected by the prince. However, shortly after that it turns from The Selection and feels more like Throne of Glass with Zera needing to eat raw meat, watching people get drowned to death, the dueling, and really just the darkness underlying everything in the story. I mean, the whole purpose of Zera being there is to get close to and kill the prince. You never forget that. Her inner beastly urges never let you forget that.

Even though Zera’s whole goal is to kill and turn someone else into the thing she despises, it’s hard not to feel sorry for her. She battles with herself and the task at hand at every turn in the story. She doesn’t want to do it, but not completing her tasks have to large of consequences. It doesn’t help that Prince Lucien is against everything going on. He doesn’t stand for the purges or the random “witch” killings. However, he’s not really in a position to do a whole lot about it. So, he does what he can from the shadows and hides behind “traditions” while seeking a way to end the great divide between humans and witches.

I could honestly go on and on about this story. All the characters were likable. Well, okay… maybe not ALL the characters, but all the characters that mattered. I really liked the seamless blend of fantasy and historical storytelling. Sure this is a young adult fantasy, but the darkness of this world really gives it a certain edge that you don’t see all that often in young adult books. This book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but strangely I didn’t mind it.