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A review by wjreadsbooks
The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones
3.0
Deidre "Dee" Moreno is the midst of completing her community service hours for her exclusive boarding school when she comes across a demon.
And despite her words of protests, Dee ends up making a deal with the demon in order to pay for her boarding school. This is because Dee comes from a difficult background, one where her parents aren't like any normal parents and Dee is desperate to stay away from home. In Dee's world, demons have made their existence known for years. They are known for making covenants with humans where in exchange for their hearts' desire, they often have to give up a limb or organ of their own. Strangely enough, the demon that Dee approaches isn't interested in any ordinary body part. He wants her heart.
So in exchange for funds to continue schooling, where Dee is kept safely away from the reset of her family, Dee joins the demon's other troops and is part of the heartless. The demon has the heartless enter into what they call a void, where they try to make the void that opens implode. The heartless comprise other teenagers. Artist James Lancer is talented, charming and makes Dee feel like she could lose her heart to him, if it weren't already lost already. Cal is the resident genius, the one who has the scientific background to build the weapons that the demons use. And finally, Cora is the leader of their group but she finds herself in a moral quandary, over the deal that she made and over the tasks that they are expected to do for the demon.
The Hearts We Sold has too many elements working in the book, so much so that I wished that the author just focused on one or two of them so that she could develop it in detail. There are too many balls that she tries to keep in the air: (1) the repercussions of the deal that Dee made the demon both in terms of her physical self and her emotional self, as she wonders what she is now that she's lost her heart (2) descriptions of the heartless doing the demon's bidding and why the demon needs them specifically (3) Dee's terrible home life and why she goes to the human rather than to seek help from her parents (4) Dee learning to trust others with her past and her future (5) the love story that's developing between James and Dee (6) the back stories of the other heartless and why they chose to make the same deal that Dee did and (7) why the demons revealed themselves to humans. Whew, just writing that entire list was quite overwhelming!
However, I want to give props specifically for the way that Dee's home life was written because I think that Emily Lloyd-Jones did a good job describing how Dee felt and how she grew.
The story has an extremely strong start, with Dee's unexpected encounter with the demon which was a little chilling, and ending was also heartbreaking and bittersweet. I did not see that ending coming.
I just wished that the middle was better written, that it was more focused.
It leaned closer to Dee, its voice lowering to an intimate tone. "You see, my dear, only a human that wants to make a deal can see a demon for what they are."
Dee discovered she was shaking when the crust of her sandwich dropped into the damp grass.
The demon was still smiling at her. A cool, almost smug smile. Again, Dee felt that little flare of defiance. "I don't want to make a deal with you," she said firmly.
The demon returned its attention to the knitting, to the bloodred yarn trailing through its fingers.
"Well, if you do," said the demon, "you know where to find me."
And despite her words of protests, Dee ends up making a deal with the demon in order to pay for her boarding school. This is because Dee comes from a difficult background, one where her parents aren't like any normal parents and Dee is desperate to stay away from home.
Spoiler
In fact, this book shares some common themes with a book that I read recently ([b:The Impossible Vastness of Us|30297673|The Impossible Vastness of Us|Samantha Young|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477935549s/30297673.jpg|50778291].So in exchange for funds to continue schooling, where Dee is kept safely away from the reset of her family, Dee joins the demon's other troops and is part of the heartless. The demon has the heartless enter into what they call a void, where they try to make the void that opens implode. The heartless comprise other teenagers. Artist James Lancer is talented, charming and makes Dee feel like she could lose her heart to him, if it weren't already lost already. Cal is the resident genius, the one who has the scientific background to build the weapons that the demons use. And finally, Cora is the leader of their group but she finds herself in a moral quandary, over the deal that she made and over the tasks that they are expected to do for the demon.
The Hearts We Sold has too many elements working in the book, so much so that I wished that the author just focused on one or two of them so that she could develop it in detail. There are too many balls that she tries to keep in the air: (1) the repercussions of the deal that Dee made the demon both in terms of her physical self and her emotional self, as she wonders what she is now that she's lost her heart (2) descriptions of the heartless doing the demon's bidding and why the demon needs them specifically (3) Dee's terrible home life and why she goes to the human rather than to seek help from her parents (4) Dee learning to trust others with her past and her future (5) the love story that's developing between James and Dee (6) the back stories of the other heartless and why they chose to make the same deal that Dee did and (7) why the demons revealed themselves to humans. Whew, just writing that entire list was quite overwhelming!
However, I want to give props specifically for the way that Dee's home life was written because I think that Emily Lloyd-Jones did a good job describing how Dee felt and how she grew.
Spoiler
I felt for Dee, in terms of how her family's abuse has shaped her character and psyche. And how Dee constantly underestimated herself, because of the way that her parents have treated her and the constant fear that she lives with. I loved how Dee eventually managed to break away from her family, for the sake of her own mental and emotional health. She also manages to learn how to trust people around her.The story has an extremely strong start, with Dee's unexpected encounter with the demon which was a little chilling, and ending was also heartbreaking and bittersweet. I did not see that ending coming.