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A review by kaitie_reads
A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
๐ Whimsical
๐ซ Beauty & The Beast Vibes
๐ Unique Magic
๐ซ Cozy + Animal Companion
๐ Unique Overall Vibe
I enjoyed this. It's an immersive and slightly odd read. There is a unique overall vibe to this story story, and while the romance fell short for me, I still had a good time.
Foss (our fmc) sets out to find her heart after it's snagged by a mysterious sorcerer. However, she doesn't expect to unearth deeper secrets surrounding these mysterious magic wielders and a mysterious blight that is overpowering her kingdom.
My favourite thing about this story was Cornelius, the cat. He reminded me of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch with his sassy remarks and no-nonsense quips. He stole the show. I have complicated feelings about Foss (our FMC), she really doesn't hold herself in a remarkable light, but she's also a very good person who wants to help anyone she can. Foss did have some great character development throughout, and I loved her coming to realize her value. Sylvester (MMC), however, felt pretty underdeveloped as a character. He just doesn't stand out, and his limited interactions with the FMC in the first half of the story just didn't sell the romance portion of the story.
The first half of the story hit me a lot harder than the second. There's a noticeable change in pace and a sense of urgency that develops. The villains also fall a little flat because there's no real depth to why they are bad. It's more just "bad guy wants to be bad and powerful."
That said, Andrea Eames does a great job of building a kind of cute and cozy story that is, at times, quite dark - but has an overall whimsical tone that supersedes the darker themes. The magic system was really neat, the theme of capturing and stealing hearts was well done, and the animal companion was top-notch. Overall, it reads like a coming-of-age, whimsical, dark fairytale, and you can feel the beauty and the beast references seeping through the pages.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ผ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ท ๐๐พ๐ซ๐ต๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ท๐ฝ๐ช๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐๐ท.
๐ซ Beauty & The Beast Vibes
๐ Unique Magic
๐ซ Cozy + Animal Companion
๐ Unique Overall Vibe
I enjoyed this. It's an immersive and slightly odd read. There is a unique overall vibe to this story story, and while the romance fell short for me, I still had a good time.
Foss (our fmc) sets out to find her heart after it's snagged by a mysterious sorcerer. However, she doesn't expect to unearth deeper secrets surrounding these mysterious magic wielders and a mysterious blight that is overpowering her kingdom.
My favourite thing about this story was Cornelius, the cat. He reminded me of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch with his sassy remarks and no-nonsense quips. He stole the show. I have complicated feelings about Foss (our FMC), she really doesn't hold herself in a remarkable light, but she's also a very good person who wants to help anyone she can. Foss did have some great character development throughout, and I loved her coming to realize her value. Sylvester (MMC), however, felt pretty underdeveloped as a character. He just doesn't stand out, and his limited interactions with the FMC in the first half of the story just didn't sell the romance portion of the story.
The first half of the story hit me a lot harder than the second. There's a noticeable change in pace and a sense of urgency that develops. The villains also fall a little flat because there's no real depth to why they are bad. It's more just "bad guy wants to be bad and powerful."
That said, Andrea Eames does a great job of building a kind of cute and cozy story that is, at times, quite dark - but has an overall whimsical tone that supersedes the darker themes. The magic system was really neat, the theme of capturing and stealing hearts was well done, and the animal companion was top-notch. Overall, it reads like a coming-of-age, whimsical, dark fairytale, and you can feel the beauty and the beast references seeping through the pages.
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ผ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ท ๐๐พ๐ซ๐ต๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ธ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ท๐ฝ๐ช๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐ธ๐๐ท.