Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Heart Forger

Rin Chupeco really outdid herself with this one. The Heart Forger follows Tea across the Eight Kingdoms as she explores the extent of her powers as a Dark asha.

First of all, the pace of this book picked up so much from The Bone Witch, it was incredible. We went from nothing happening in 300 pages to so much happening that it was nearly (but not quite) hard to keep up.

While the plot of The Heart Forger was fantastic, what really took the cake in this book were the characters.

Tea continued to be her marvelous self, and it was interesting to see her slowly changing from the girl we know into the girl she is in the Bard’s chapters.

Kalen surprised me by becoming my favorite character, which I was not anticipating after despising him in the first book.

Fox continued to be his loyal, unshaken self, while also developing his own relationships.

Likh has made impressive strides when it comes not only to personal development but also to sparking conversation in (and beyond) the Willows.

We got to see a lot more of Khalad and get to know him better, and the more I learn about him, the more I love him.

Honestly, this book just grew my love and respect for all the characters. Mykaela, Polaire, Althy, Inessa, Zoya, Shadi, Empress Alyx, they all grew in the best ways.

The only character whom I lost any respect for (other than the actual villains) was

Kance.

The last scene of the book made me irate. He defended his father to Tea, Kalen, and Khalad, who all had experienced Telemaine’s wrath.

Casting Tea out of Odalia for driving Telemaine mad was too much. I understand the grief that comes with losing a parent, but defending him after all the things he did seemed wholly unnecessary.

Despite my misgivings throughout the first book, I cannot express how in love I am with this series so far.

I have high hopes that Chupeco will finish off strong in The Shadowglass.

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pitchblackkoi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I am thoroughly enjoying this series and will be reading the next book in it.
Love seeing the azi being described like a cat (makes a 3 headed dragon beast super adorable. Love when dragons are described like big scaley cats tbh). All the mystery/secrets are keeping me going because I need to know why we got here and what Tea's end goal will be/look like.
Def wasn't expecting the little twist in there involving the Odalian royal family.

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amre23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lakinglaze's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was absolutely wonderful! I loved it even more than the first book in the series and can’t wait for the final installment!!

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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I like the characters and I like the world building but holy moly does the narrative style not do it for me.

I’ve seen in other reviews that people love the flashback-flashforward effect but for me it was exhausting trying to keep up with what’s going on knowing that there are only a few months in between. I don’t think the “present day” story from the Bard should have come until book 3; frankly all it did was annoy me in books 1 & 2 because I had no way of knowing how the actions in the flashbacks led up to the events in the present. Something that helped me enjoy this book more was reading all the “present day” scenes then going back for all the flashback scenes; that helped me feel less thrown around by the two ends of the same story.

Overall, these books have felt like when you get a really pretty skein of yarn & go against your better judgement & try to pull from the center only for it to prolapse into a mess of tangles that you have to pick through for hours to put back in order. gorgeous material, bad execution.

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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved this so much more than book 1!! Going to start book 3 almost immediately lol. Here are my live reactions:

oh snap the revenge is starting!!
who is the hanjian?
oh look, Aenah can be useful
Kance is engaged?? this won't end well
poor Fox too, is he pining for Inessa
oooh forbidden knowledge
Khalad is still on her side *cries*
okay so Tea knows the Daanorian princess
oh Tea and Kalen almost had a moment XD
Tea's family came to see her?? *cries*
OMG FAKE DATING
WHAT HAPPENED TO KANCE
I need to know how Tea and Fox ended up on opposite sides!!
yay jailbreak!
Polaire knows one of the forbidden runes??
oh no oh no why did you compel Kalen
wait Inessa and Fox were serious-serious?
why did Inessa pale at the mention of Fox's heartglass??
did they give each other heartglasses?? but still wear their own, for secrecy??
who did Tea kill?? Inessa? Polaire? Althy??
Empress to the rescue XD
okay so I need to know when Kalen fell for her
also, idk if it's just my edition, but some of the dialogue is not attributed correctly?
yay I love healing❤️
the dead are EATING THEM?? wtf is this
Omg poor Inessa, she has more suitors than she needs
I am here for Khalad/Likh, so sweet!
OMG THEY KISSED
yay Zoya and Shadi confirmation!
LOVE CONFESSION
okay this coup is wild, the Heartforger was in the dungeons all along??
WTF just happened to Hestia
OH SNAP THE KING
Damn this fight is satisfying though, get Aenah!
Mykaelaaaaa

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