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the_horror_maven's review
5.0
In my honest opinion, I feel like The Heartbeat Thief was written for me. It is right down my alley – a dark, historical fantasy – and it couldn’t have been more brilliantly done. The originality was outstanding, and Ash Krafton’s style added a perfect poetic feel to this novel – very reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe.
First of all, the play on vanity in this novel is something that always fascinates me. Senza is a character perfect for today’s times. She is obsessed with staying young and beautiful forever, and her fear of growing old and dying is a widespread fear for almost anyone. Krafton did a wonderful job of forcing the reader to face their fears, while adding fantasy elements that are extremely believable. Her novel didn’t seem like it was worlds away; instead, it made me believe that the situations presented could happen to anyone. One of my favorite examples of Krafton’s poetic writing style is seen below, and it is one of the best sentences I have ever read in a piece of literature:
“Moonlight spilled down its silvery veil upon the passengers in the Fyne family carriage, adding another sheen of splendor to their finery.”
I also found that the novel’s historical elements were accurate and realistic as well, which is always important when it comes to historical fiction. Every aspect of this novel amazed me, and it opened me up to a story much different than anything I have read recently, which was refreshing. I also fell in love with the cover of this book, and I felt that it complimented the story well.
Krafton is one of those rare authors who possesses the techniques of some of our world’s great authors, and reading her novel was like reading a classic. If you are looking for a novel featuring elements of the great authors of our time, such as Jane Austen, then The Heartbeat Thief is perfect for you.
First of all, the play on vanity in this novel is something that always fascinates me. Senza is a character perfect for today’s times. She is obsessed with staying young and beautiful forever, and her fear of growing old and dying is a widespread fear for almost anyone. Krafton did a wonderful job of forcing the reader to face their fears, while adding fantasy elements that are extremely believable. Her novel didn’t seem like it was worlds away; instead, it made me believe that the situations presented could happen to anyone. One of my favorite examples of Krafton’s poetic writing style is seen below, and it is one of the best sentences I have ever read in a piece of literature:
“Moonlight spilled down its silvery veil upon the passengers in the Fyne family carriage, adding another sheen of splendor to their finery.”
I also found that the novel’s historical elements were accurate and realistic as well, which is always important when it comes to historical fiction. Every aspect of this novel amazed me, and it opened me up to a story much different than anything I have read recently, which was refreshing. I also fell in love with the cover of this book, and I felt that it complimented the story well.
Krafton is one of those rare authors who possesses the techniques of some of our world’s great authors, and reading her novel was like reading a classic. If you are looking for a novel featuring elements of the great authors of our time, such as Jane Austen, then The Heartbeat Thief is perfect for you.
tinynavajo's review
5.0
Enjoyable
I loved this book about a girl who wishes to avoid death, at all costs. To her, it is a monster, someone who takes away the ones she loves. So, she makes a deal to avoid death, and lives far beyond what she should. And in doing, she realizes that death is always there.
I loved this book about a girl who wishes to avoid death, at all costs. To her, it is a monster, someone who takes away the ones she loves. So, she makes a deal to avoid death, and lives far beyond what she should. And in doing, she realizes that death is always there.
amotisse's review
4.0
The heartbeat thief
Sadness, loneliness, loss...
Regret, lost souls, fear
An unusual love story, speckled with pain and grief and a misunderstood passion for life.
Sadness, loneliness, loss...
Regret, lost souls, fear
An unusual love story, speckled with pain and grief and a misunderstood passion for life.
tracey_stewart's review
2.0
This could have been spectacular. It missed some amazing opportunities, though, and was poorly written, and unfortunately that impacts my rating and opinion of the book. Along with the ending.
Unless it is based in some mythology or folklore I've never heard of, the author created a new kind of vampire. Dead/undead, unkillable, stealing heartbeats from others to take the place of those no longer stirring her own heart, Senza Fyne is perpetually eighteen years old. Once so afraid of death that she agreed to this still-hearted existence, now she avoids staying in one place for too long and watches as those she loves age and die.
The initial problem I have with this really terrific premise is … it simply takes too long to manifest. For nearly a third of the book (29%, thank you Kindle reading progress counter) Senza is battered by first the death of a favorite grandmother and then of a friend, and – along with her mother's constant badgering that she needs to snare a husband before her great beauty fades – that is supposed to be the reason she is so terrified of death. It doesn't work. She meets with the mysterious Mr. Knell quite some time after the second death in her life, when she seemed to be beginning to recover. If at that point she had, say, witnessed a child run over in the busy street or something of the sort, I could understand her worry blossoming into a full-blown obsession. Or if another adventure in the story had been the focus of the beginning, I would have bought into the whole plot much more readily.
The adventure I refer to there is Senza's involvement in the Jack the Ripper murders. Without spoilers, I will say that it felt wildly implausible; for one thing, there's no historical basis as far as I know that all of the Ripper's victims knew each other. I think that would have been counted as evidence. Late nineteenth century police work was primitive, but even then something like a common pimp or customer among the victims would probably have come to light. And quite simply the depiction of the victims in this book is historically inaccurate, and served to make me less than trusting of pretty much the rest of the author's research. (For one thing, the final victim was blonde.)
At least Senza didn't become a gorgeous female Forrest Gump, inserting herself into historical events at every turn, and I'm grateful for that. Her peregrinations take her out of history, which actually makes the Whitechapel events stand out even more – not in a good way.
Senza is gorgeous – stunningly gorgeous. And the reader is never allowed to forget it, not for a moment. Tight third-person perspective or no, her astonishing beauty is kept at the forefront. ("I can’t imagine you ever looking less than perfect.” She dropped her gaze. She couldn’t imagine it, either.) Oddly, it's never made out to be a burden as I've seen elsewhere; the only readon it's not an asset is that, as her mother does keep reiterating, beauty fades. But Senza has a brain as well, and reads constantly – especially Shakespeare. This should have been endearing, for me. It wasn't, merely because it all comes back, as so many things do, to "show and tell". No matter how many times I'm told that Senza is ever-so-clever and knows Hamlet by heart and can out-argue philosophers and scholars … I was never shown it. There are very occasional scenes in which she is shown reading – or, rather, sitting somewhere with a book and thinking about Mr. Knell or her troubles; she quotes Shakespeare once, to my knowledge; otherwise her dialogue and behavior show no indication of all those brains.
One major area where the unique and fascinating premise of the book is simply let down is in the way it is dealt with in the narration. By this I mean: The book is told from the point of view of Senza, the thief, whose existence is turned upside-down by this "gift", and who – at a sheltered and innocent eighteen – has to learn how to manage the new facts of her life. An incident is described from the first days of her altered state – but apart from her awareness of the need to avoid another such incident, there's not really anything here about how she avoids it (does she lock her door at night? Use a doorstop? Claim to kick and snore in order to avoid bedfellows?) The mechanics of stealing heartbeats are glossed over, but more would have been better: I would have preferred less buildup to the change and more on her learning curve. And at certain points the stolen heartbeats are described as having a flavor or weight to them – but again there is little more than that provided. Again, in a tight-perspective narrative, where POV never leaves the main character and where that character's entire existence centers around others' heartbeats, I expected there to be more color, more data. What do they taste like? How do they have weight? What are the mathematics to their being used up? How does she work out her routine of where and from whom they're stolen?
So, the idea was terrific, let down by execution – and by the writing. For example, the author has a strange disconnect with gender in her vocabulary, which perhaps will be fixed for a final draft. The mysterious Mr. Knell constantly calls Senza "bien-aimé" – the masculine form of the endearment; a man's hair is described as "blonde", commonly the feminized form of the adjective.
And then there are ... all the other problems. "The captivating woman with the eyes that never stopped." Sentence fragment - and... stopped what? "Most interesting was the fact that the fan, once the ultimate female weapon, had been replaced by the ever-useful garter belt and the secrets they concealed." What secrets, and how big is her garter belt? And how did garter belts replace fans? Are ladies waving garter belts about in public? "Exploring the costal colonies—states, she’d remind herself" – aside from the typo, Senza wasn't so old she'd be thinking of the states as colonies. This is ridiculous.
I had an issue with the idea of a love interest being named Gehring. Sorry – whatever the spelling, too many evil echoes.
And yes, I am aware that at least some of the problems I saw might have been resolved before the book's final release; this was, after all, a Netgalley ARC (thanks to them and the publisher for a free copy for review.) Things like a move to France with no mention I could find that Senza ever learned to speak French. Things like a fairly important character (the innkeeper) who is never given a name. Things like "too" and "as well" being used in the same sentence; "everyone … were"; "laying" where "lying" should have been used (this is becoming more and more common); things like part of a sentence being in the present tense and the other part in the past; things like someone "knicker"ing to a horse (which is wrong in so many ways). Et cetera, et cetera… I did a lot of highlighting. ("His heart banged like a bull"?)
Speaking of horses, the line "And she had no interest in being sold off, ridden for sport, or put out for stud" irked me deeply. She is rather unlikely to be put out to stud, no?
Speaking of horses some more: "He grasped her hand and tugged it toward him, reining her in like a yearling." What? I'm sorry, anyone who's reining in a yearling needs to be reported to the RSPCA. And … I just don’t see the simile. (It's far from the only bad simile – I just don't want to make this a ten-page review.)
And still speaking of horses and being deeply irked, "the master’s quarter horse". As with verbal anachronism, I have absolutely no patience with horse-related anachronism. The odds of someone having a quarter horse – which is a specific breed, not something more vague – in 1921 France is just short of impossible. I should just write and save a diatribe to cut and paste into reviews for books like this: it's so easy to avoid stupid mistakes like this which only serve to rile people who know a little. Research. It took me less than five minutes to confirm my strong hunch that this was totally wrong. Why did I have to?
Sadly, this is one of those times that upon working through my notes and beating a review into shape, my rating for the book goes down. I’m leaving it with two stars simply because the idea was so very interesting. But I'm tempted to take one away because it was just badly done.
And the ending was dreadful. What an absolutely terrible idea - almost bad enough to completely negate the original concept. Pity.
Unless it is based in some mythology or folklore I've never heard of, the author created a new kind of vampire. Dead/undead, unkillable, stealing heartbeats from others to take the place of those no longer stirring her own heart, Senza Fyne is perpetually eighteen years old. Once so afraid of death that she agreed to this still-hearted existence, now she avoids staying in one place for too long and watches as those she loves age and die.
The initial problem I have with this really terrific premise is … it simply takes too long to manifest. For nearly a third of the book (29%, thank you Kindle reading progress counter) Senza is battered by first the death of a favorite grandmother and then of a friend, and – along with her mother's constant badgering that she needs to snare a husband before her great beauty fades – that is supposed to be the reason she is so terrified of death. It doesn't work. She meets with the mysterious Mr. Knell quite some time after the second death in her life, when she seemed to be beginning to recover. If at that point she had, say, witnessed a child run over in the busy street or something of the sort, I could understand her worry blossoming into a full-blown obsession. Or if another adventure in the story had been the focus of the beginning, I would have bought into the whole plot much more readily.
The adventure I refer to there is Senza's involvement in the Jack the Ripper murders. Without spoilers, I will say that it felt wildly implausible; for one thing, there's no historical basis as far as I know that all of the Ripper's victims knew each other. I think that would have been counted as evidence. Late nineteenth century police work was primitive, but even then something like a common pimp or customer among the victims would probably have come to light. And quite simply the depiction of the victims in this book is historically inaccurate, and served to make me less than trusting of pretty much the rest of the author's research. (For one thing, the final victim was blonde.)
At least Senza didn't become a gorgeous female Forrest Gump, inserting herself into historical events at every turn, and I'm grateful for that. Her peregrinations take her out of history, which actually makes the Whitechapel events stand out even more – not in a good way.
Senza is gorgeous – stunningly gorgeous. And the reader is never allowed to forget it, not for a moment. Tight third-person perspective or no, her astonishing beauty is kept at the forefront. ("I can’t imagine you ever looking less than perfect.” She dropped her gaze. She couldn’t imagine it, either.) Oddly, it's never made out to be a burden as I've seen elsewhere; the only readon it's not an asset is that, as her mother does keep reiterating, beauty fades. But Senza has a brain as well, and reads constantly – especially Shakespeare. This should have been endearing, for me. It wasn't, merely because it all comes back, as so many things do, to "show and tell". No matter how many times I'm told that Senza is ever-so-clever and knows Hamlet by heart and can out-argue philosophers and scholars … I was never shown it. There are very occasional scenes in which she is shown reading – or, rather, sitting somewhere with a book and thinking about Mr. Knell or her troubles; she quotes Shakespeare once, to my knowledge; otherwise her dialogue and behavior show no indication of all those brains.
One major area where the unique and fascinating premise of the book is simply let down is in the way it is dealt with in the narration. By this I mean: The book is told from the point of view of Senza, the thief, whose existence is turned upside-down by this "gift", and who – at a sheltered and innocent eighteen – has to learn how to manage the new facts of her life. An incident is described from the first days of her altered state – but apart from her awareness of the need to avoid another such incident, there's not really anything here about how she avoids it (does she lock her door at night? Use a doorstop? Claim to kick and snore in order to avoid bedfellows?) The mechanics of stealing heartbeats are glossed over, but more would have been better: I would have preferred less buildup to the change and more on her learning curve. And at certain points the stolen heartbeats are described as having a flavor or weight to them – but again there is little more than that provided. Again, in a tight-perspective narrative, where POV never leaves the main character and where that character's entire existence centers around others' heartbeats, I expected there to be more color, more data. What do they taste like? How do they have weight? What are the mathematics to their being used up? How does she work out her routine of where and from whom they're stolen?
So, the idea was terrific, let down by execution – and by the writing. For example, the author has a strange disconnect with gender in her vocabulary, which perhaps will be fixed for a final draft. The mysterious Mr. Knell constantly calls Senza "bien-aimé" – the masculine form of the endearment; a man's hair is described as "blonde", commonly the feminized form of the adjective.
And then there are ... all the other problems. "The captivating woman with the eyes that never stopped." Sentence fragment - and... stopped what? "Most interesting was the fact that the fan, once the ultimate female weapon, had been replaced by the ever-useful garter belt and the secrets they concealed." What secrets, and how big is her garter belt? And how did garter belts replace fans? Are ladies waving garter belts about in public? "Exploring the costal colonies—states, she’d remind herself" – aside from the typo, Senza wasn't so old she'd be thinking of the states as colonies. This is ridiculous.
I had an issue with the idea of a love interest being named Gehring. Sorry – whatever the spelling, too many evil echoes.
And yes, I am aware that at least some of the problems I saw might have been resolved before the book's final release; this was, after all, a Netgalley ARC (thanks to them and the publisher for a free copy for review.) Things like a move to France with no mention I could find that Senza ever learned to speak French. Things like a fairly important character (the innkeeper) who is never given a name. Things like "too" and "as well" being used in the same sentence; "everyone … were"; "laying" where "lying" should have been used (this is becoming more and more common); things like part of a sentence being in the present tense and the other part in the past; things like someone "knicker"ing to a horse (which is wrong in so many ways). Et cetera, et cetera… I did a lot of highlighting. ("His heart banged like a bull"?)
Speaking of horses, the line "And she had no interest in being sold off, ridden for sport, or put out for stud" irked me deeply. She is rather unlikely to be put out to stud, no?
Speaking of horses some more: "He grasped her hand and tugged it toward him, reining her in like a yearling." What? I'm sorry, anyone who's reining in a yearling needs to be reported to the RSPCA. And … I just don’t see the simile. (It's far from the only bad simile – I just don't want to make this a ten-page review.)
And still speaking of horses and being deeply irked, "the master’s quarter horse". As with verbal anachronism, I have absolutely no patience with horse-related anachronism. The odds of someone having a quarter horse – which is a specific breed, not something more vague – in 1921 France is just short of impossible. I should just write and save a diatribe to cut and paste into reviews for books like this: it's so easy to avoid stupid mistakes like this which only serve to rile people who know a little. Research. It took me less than five minutes to confirm my strong hunch that this was totally wrong. Why did I have to?
Sadly, this is one of those times that upon working through my notes and beating a review into shape, my rating for the book goes down. I’m leaving it with two stars simply because the idea was so very interesting. But I'm tempted to take one away because it was just badly done.
And the ending was dreadful. What an absolutely terrible idea - almost bad enough to completely negate the original concept. Pity.
inwonderland49's review
4.0
This book surprised me. I was a bit weary when I first received the copy because it was New Adult and the only New Adult books I have read were contemporary romances. So, I wasn't really sure on how The Heartbeat Thief was going to go. But I ended up really enjoying this one. And it could easily be read by Young Adults for sure. It didn't have the same vibe as some of the other NA books that I have read.
This book is set in Victorian Times and reminds me of all the classic Gothics like Edgar Allan Poe, The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc. mixed with Jane Austen. Now, I love Jane Austen and I love EAP. So when someone mixes them together to create a fantastical, beautifully written story, I am definitely down to read it.
The characters are flawed and I like that because it makes them more relateable. I really enjoyed the premise of this story because it is sort of vampiric because instead of Senza stealing people's blood, she steals their heartbeats. So, I thought that was very unique and interesting. I really liked Senza as a character. Some have said that she could come off as shallow and selfish and I can see how they think that, but I thought that she was very justified with everything.
If you're in the mood for a great paranormal, I would recommend this book because it is so unique and beautiful. It has historical, Gothic, and paranormal elements within and I really enjoyed this one!
This book is set in Victorian Times and reminds me of all the classic Gothics like Edgar Allan Poe, The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc. mixed with Jane Austen. Now, I love Jane Austen and I love EAP. So when someone mixes them together to create a fantastical, beautifully written story, I am definitely down to read it.
The characters are flawed and I like that because it makes them more relateable. I really enjoyed the premise of this story because it is sort of vampiric because instead of Senza stealing people's blood, she steals their heartbeats. So, I thought that was very unique and interesting. I really liked Senza as a character. Some have said that she could come off as shallow and selfish and I can see how they think that, but I thought that she was very justified with everything.
If you're in the mood for a great paranormal, I would recommend this book because it is so unique and beautiful. It has historical, Gothic, and paranormal elements within and I really enjoyed this one!
bookwife's review
2.0
Senza Fyne was an 18 year old who was so afraid of death that she gave her life to a complete stranger with magic so that she could live forever. That is where I had my first issue with the book. She was willing to give up her life to a man she did not know. I just had a hard time wrapping my mind around that.
So the Mr Knell tell her she has to steal heartbeats in order to keep going. She goes on and lives for 150 years. She kills Jack the ripper and kills a boy who she claims she loves with all her soul and then she gives her last heart beat to a dying man with cancer.
And after that I won't give away the ending put I will say that I was royally pissed off. Like ROYALLY PISSED! I feel like I wasted 7 hours of my life on a depressing book that could have just been happy if she would have stopped bitching about something that is inevitable.
So the Mr Knell tell her she has to steal heartbeats in order to keep going. She goes on and lives for 150 years. She kills Jack the ripper and kills a boy who she claims she loves with all her soul and then she gives her last heart beat to a dying man with cancer.
And after that I won't give away the ending put I will say that I was royally pissed off. Like ROYALLY PISSED! I feel like I wasted 7 hours of my life on a depressing book that could have just been happy if she would have stopped bitching about something that is inevitable.
powder_and_page's review
4.0
Originally posted on Powder & Page
This was a darkly beautiful novel that really explored death in a way that I’ve never seen done before. I found it to be relevant to readers without being cliché, though Death ended up being a rather handsome fellow. That’s totally not a spoiler, right? I knew immediately that Mr. Knell (I see what you did there!) was Death, or a related entity, so I’m going to assume that most anyone that reads this will pick up on it too. This book, to me, was elegantly done and Senza Fyne was written remarkably well. Did I mention that the cover is also beautiful?
Senza Fyne is a stunning young lady born to wealthy and loving parents in 1860’s England. Her otherwise enviable life is plagued with the deaths of her loved ones, beginning with her grandmother. This has given her a terrible fear of death that haunts her every moment… that is until she meets Mr. Knell. Handsome and mysterious, Senza is drawn to Mr. Knell, but never quite seems to be able to draw close to him until one day he offers her an escape she has always longed for- an escape from death itself. She quickly agrees to his proposition and begins a life eternal, always stealing heartbeats from those around her to sustain her never-ending life. Staying young and beautiful forever isn’t always a dream come true…
Senza’s unnaturally long life held a number of sad memories along the way. She saw what it was like to outlive every member of her family- she feared death for herself, but had to sit with her family as they died and she remained young and unblemished. To me that would be a far worse fate than death- to hold the memories of those you loved and to know that you were alone in the world. She also learned that you cannot control who lives or dies, the consequences of loving a mortal, and what it’s like to be recognized by a relative that resents you. My oh my, AJ Krafton really thought about the repercussions of living for an eternity and I commend her for this! I was pleasantly surprised at all the details she included and the situations she addressed. The ending was spectacular- I was extremely moved by the conclusion, which was well played and quite happy.
I would like to note that I received this book via NetGalley and the publisher. Thank You!
This was a darkly beautiful novel that really explored death in a way that I’ve never seen done before. I found it to be relevant to readers without being cliché, though Death ended up being a rather handsome fellow. That’s totally not a spoiler, right? I knew immediately that Mr. Knell (I see what you did there!) was Death, or a related entity, so I’m going to assume that most anyone that reads this will pick up on it too. This book, to me, was elegantly done and Senza Fyne was written remarkably well. Did I mention that the cover is also beautiful?
Senza Fyne is a stunning young lady born to wealthy and loving parents in 1860’s England. Her otherwise enviable life is plagued with the deaths of her loved ones, beginning with her grandmother. This has given her a terrible fear of death that haunts her every moment… that is until she meets Mr. Knell. Handsome and mysterious, Senza is drawn to Mr. Knell, but never quite seems to be able to draw close to him until one day he offers her an escape she has always longed for- an escape from death itself. She quickly agrees to his proposition and begins a life eternal, always stealing heartbeats from those around her to sustain her never-ending life. Staying young and beautiful forever isn’t always a dream come true…
Senza’s unnaturally long life held a number of sad memories along the way. She saw what it was like to outlive every member of her family- she feared death for herself, but had to sit with her family as they died and she remained young and unblemished. To me that would be a far worse fate than death- to hold the memories of those you loved and to know that you were alone in the world. She also learned that you cannot control who lives or dies, the consequences of loving a mortal, and what it’s like to be recognized by a relative that resents you. My oh my, AJ Krafton really thought about the repercussions of living for an eternity and I commend her for this! I was pleasantly surprised at all the details she included and the situations she addressed. The ending was spectacular- I was extremely moved by the conclusion, which was well played and quite happy.
I would like to note that I received this book via NetGalley and the publisher. Thank You!
ashleynestlermsw's review
5.0
In my honest opinion, I feel like The Heartbeat Thief was written for me. It is right down my alley – a dark, historical fantasy – and it couldn’t have been more brilliantly done. The originality was outstanding, and Ash Krafton’s style added a perfect poetic feel to this novel – very reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe.
First of all, the play on vanity in this novel is something that always fascinates me. Senza is a character perfect for today’s times. She is obsessed with staying young and beautiful forever, and her fear of growing old and dying is a widespread fear for almost anyone. Krafton did a wonderful job of forcing the reader to face their fears, while adding fantasy elements that are extremely believable. Her novel didn’t seem like it was worlds away; instead, it made me believe that the situations presented could happen to anyone. One of my favorite examples of Krafton’s poetic writing style is seen below, and it is one of the best sentences I have ever read in a piece of literature:
“Moonlight spilled down its silvery veil upon the passengers in the Fyne family carriage, adding another sheen of splendor to their finery.”
I also found that the novel’s historical elements were accurate and realistic as well, which is always important when it comes to historical fiction. Every aspect of this novel amazed me, and it opened me up to a story much different than anything I have read recently, which was refreshing. I also fell in love with the cover of this book, and I felt that it complimented the story well.
Krafton is one of those rare authors who possesses the techniques of some of our world’s great authors, and reading her novel was like reading a classic. If you are looking for a novel featuring elements of the great authors of our time, such as Jane Austen, then The Heartbeat Thief is perfect for you.
First of all, the play on vanity in this novel is something that always fascinates me. Senza is a character perfect for today’s times. She is obsessed with staying young and beautiful forever, and her fear of growing old and dying is a widespread fear for almost anyone. Krafton did a wonderful job of forcing the reader to face their fears, while adding fantasy elements that are extremely believable. Her novel didn’t seem like it was worlds away; instead, it made me believe that the situations presented could happen to anyone. One of my favorite examples of Krafton’s poetic writing style is seen below, and it is one of the best sentences I have ever read in a piece of literature:
“Moonlight spilled down its silvery veil upon the passengers in the Fyne family carriage, adding another sheen of splendor to their finery.”
I also found that the novel’s historical elements were accurate and realistic as well, which is always important when it comes to historical fiction. Every aspect of this novel amazed me, and it opened me up to a story much different than anything I have read recently, which was refreshing. I also fell in love with the cover of this book, and I felt that it complimented the story well.
Krafton is one of those rare authors who possesses the techniques of some of our world’s great authors, and reading her novel was like reading a classic. If you are looking for a novel featuring elements of the great authors of our time, such as Jane Austen, then The Heartbeat Thief is perfect for you.
hannahsophialin's review
3.0
I received this book for free from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Strangely enough, I enjoyed The Heartbeat Thief. Senza is the most perfect character I've ever met – she's flawless, admired, wealthy, loved, intelligent. She knows it, but she doesn't want to flaunt it, which is what I really liked about Senza as a character. She hates going to parties and balls, and she dreads getting married off to a man that she doesn't want. I think I have a thing for characters who have an inner rebel in them.
Senza seems to have a perfect life until her grandmother dies. After that, she seems lost and obviously wants to carve her own path in life instead of letting her mother take the reins from her. Her discovery of eternal life is almost like a deal with a devil. She has to sacrifice her life to become immortal and keep her looks forever, but she has to carefully steal the heartbeats of another if she wants to keep her immortality. If she's not careful, those around her would be able to find out about her and accuse of witchcraft or something equally sinister.
Krafton's latest novel is a book I'm just interested in how the story will play out. Senza doesn't really come across as a selfish person in general until she decides to play with the strings of fate. As time goes by, she has to disguise herself from those around her so they don't find out what she did. Senza goes from place to place and she meets all kinds of people from all walks of life throughout the book. There's not exactly a clear plot going on here, and I almost expected a tragic ending where karma decided to finally bite back at Senza.
The Heartbeat Thief is a book with a unique storyline where one eventually realizes just what kind of price is really paid when death is defied. It's nicely done for a book where there's a character who doesn't have any flaws whatsoever.
This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts
Strangely enough, I enjoyed The Heartbeat Thief. Senza is the most perfect character I've ever met – she's flawless, admired, wealthy, loved, intelligent. She knows it, but she doesn't want to flaunt it, which is what I really liked about Senza as a character. She hates going to parties and balls, and she dreads getting married off to a man that she doesn't want. I think I have a thing for characters who have an inner rebel in them.
Senza seems to have a perfect life until her grandmother dies. After that, she seems lost and obviously wants to carve her own path in life instead of letting her mother take the reins from her. Her discovery of eternal life is almost like a deal with a devil. She has to sacrifice her life to become immortal and keep her looks forever, but she has to carefully steal the heartbeats of another if she wants to keep her immortality. If she's not careful, those around her would be able to find out about her and accuse of witchcraft or something equally sinister.
Your spell must be fed, one heartbeat at a time. You must learn to steal them from the living. One here, one there. A person will not notice a skipped beat, and they must never know it is you who is making them skip. And you must do it, or the spell will fade and die.
Krafton's latest novel is a book I'm just interested in how the story will play out. Senza doesn't really come across as a selfish person in general until she decides to play with the strings of fate. As time goes by, she has to disguise herself from those around her so they don't find out what she did. Senza goes from place to place and she meets all kinds of people from all walks of life throughout the book. There's not exactly a clear plot going on here, and I almost expected a tragic ending where karma decided to finally bite back at Senza.
The Heartbeat Thief is a book with a unique storyline where one eventually realizes just what kind of price is really paid when death is defied. It's nicely done for a book where there's a character who doesn't have any flaws whatsoever.
This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts
caitlinejones's review
3.0
In all fairness to this story, the writing is really beautiful and period appropriate. Actually, the first half of the novel very much captured my attention with its Gothic themes and introspective prose. Senza is a Dorian Gray-style lead and lends some color to the story! The second half does drag too much though, leaving a notable pacing issue with the story as we simply hop from era to era in an episodic manner. So much filler. There is so much potential in this concept, but messy plotline and the particularly weak ending may leave many things to be desired.