In The Bone Witch, Tea mastered resurrection―now she’s after revenge…
No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life…and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her―and took the life of her one true love.
But there are those who plot against her, those who would use Tea’s dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can’t kill someone who can never die…
War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.
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After how much I was disappointed by The Bone Witch, I was hesitant to pick up The Heart Forger – but, as my rating indicates, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found within its pages.
The Heart Forger is more plot focused, proceeding much more quickly and containing much more action than its predecessor. And the action definitely delivered: there are plenty of plots, mysterious illnesses, and several glorious fight scenes.
As with The Bone Witch, The Heart Forger is told in a dual narrative: the main narrative takes place in the past, while the secondary narrative consists of Tea recounting her story to The Bard in the present day. The increased number of action scenes in The Heart Forger and unexpected reveals in The Bard’s timeline added intrigue, making this narrative structure work exceptionally well.
I found myself much more enamoured with the characters in this book. Tea is just as impulsive as ever, and I loved watching her slowly become the anti-hero that we see in The Bard’s timeline. The side characters were also more fleshed out, including those who aren’t asha: I particularly loved Fox’s relationship with his sister and Likh’s journey to stand against traditional gender roles.
Overall, The Heart Forger solved many of the problems that I had with The Bone Witch, restoring my faith in this series. I can’t wait to read the next one.
