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purrson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I’ve been waiting to read this for quite a while, and am so happy now that I finally have! It’s long enough to really get comfortable with—to be honest, the title had me wondering if the story would take place during the titular ‘one night in Heartswood’, making more a novella-length. In fact the night happens early on and concludes relatively quickly, but remains hugely influential for the rest of the novel.
Our two main characters, Raff and Penn, are each looking for escape from their current circumstances. When they stumble upon one another by chance one night at the start of the story, each logically decides to conceal a portion of his identity—his class & parentage—from the other. A large part of the story takes place as pair trek away from Penn’s home, growing closer amid the tension of traveling in rough weather, and secretively at that, trying to avoid notice as much as possible.
Throughout the journey there are complications and twists that keep the tension up, and stakes rise organically as Penn and Raff each slowly shift from trying to find a way forward independently, to hoping a future together might not be impossible. Their relationship is a very earnest, romantic one, and I enjoyed seeing Raff and Penn grow and change under each other’s influence—there is subtle but good character development here.
The world-building is grounded well enough in history and just expansive enough to feel real, just as the villains are truly cruel and entirely commonplace. Queerness is treated as normal though not without its dangers—but thankfully this takes place about 200 years before The Buggery Act of 1533, so things are not so dire. There are references to physical and emotional abuse of a character by their parent, which is heartbreaking and may be triggering to some. There are also depictions of loving, accepting family.
All in all I absolutely recommend this MM historical fantasy. Open door spice, lots of active consent.
Our two main characters, Raff and Penn, are each looking for escape from their current circumstances. When they stumble upon one another by chance one night at the start of the story, each logically decides to conceal a portion of his identity—his class & parentage—from the other. A large part of the story takes place as pair trek away from Penn’s home, growing closer amid the tension of traveling in rough weather, and secretively at that, trying to avoid notice as much as possible.
Throughout the journey there are complications and twists that keep the tension up, and stakes rise organically as Penn and Raff each slowly shift from trying to find a way forward independently, to hoping a future together might not be impossible. Their relationship is a very earnest, romantic one, and I enjoyed seeing Raff and Penn grow and change under each other’s influence—there is subtle but good character development here.
The world-building is grounded well enough in history and just expansive enough to feel real, just as the villains are truly cruel and entirely commonplace. Queerness is treated as normal though not without its dangers—but thankfully this takes place about 200 years before The Buggery Act of 1533, so things are not so dire. There are references to physical and emotional abuse of a character by their parent, which is heartbreaking and may be triggering to some. There are also depictions of loving, accepting family.
All in all I absolutely recommend this MM historical fantasy. Open door spice, lots of active consent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Confinement, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
There is one animal death near the beginning:booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ONE NIGHT IN HARTSWOOD is everything I hoped for, and more; a gay romance which mostly takes place during a several week journey by horse, as one man returns home and the other flees an oppressive household. I love romances that are built on communication, which is somewhat ironic, given that both Raff and Penn are keeping major parts of their identities secret, even if they talk about everything else. Normally, lying in relationships stresses me out, but the symmetry of the fact that both of them are keeping the same level of secret and don’t know if the other one is safe to trust with it helped it be less stressful for me.
This is set up to have at least one sequel, though its particular story is self-contained. Rather than leave an obvious story hook open, it ends with the characters in new situations which grant the possibility of future events without demanding any particular follow up.
I love Penn and Raff, I like them as individual characters and I enjoy how well they work together. They each have very different relationships with their families. Penn seems to be close with two of his several siblings, despite neither showing up for very long. His father is terrible, rather unambiguously playing the villain. Raff has close and mostly loving relationships with his sister and brother, and, despite their differences, they seem to understand each other fairly well. Not much is shown of Raff's relationship with his father, but what is there seems to be filled with respect and care.
Other things I love, in no particular order: how much of the time is spent just traveling and sleeping in the woods and dealing with inns; the wound care towards the end of the book; the way Penn obviously grows as a person; the more subtle ways that Raff starts to trust in other peoples' competence.
This was great, I want more, and I'm eager for the sequel.
This is set up to have at least one sequel, though its particular story is self-contained. Rather than leave an obvious story hook open, it ends with the characters in new situations which grant the possibility of future events without demanding any particular follow up.
I love Penn and Raff, I like them as individual characters and I enjoy how well they work together. They each have very different relationships with their families. Penn seems to be close with two of his several siblings, despite neither showing up for very long. His father is terrible, rather unambiguously playing the villain. Raff has close and mostly loving relationships with his sister and brother, and, despite their differences, they seem to understand each other fairly well. Not much is shown of Raff's relationship with his father, but what is there seems to be filled with respect and care.
Other things I love, in no particular order: how much of the time is spent just traveling and sleeping in the woods and dealing with inns; the wound care towards the end of the book; the way Penn obviously grows as a person; the more subtle ways that Raff starts to trust in other peoples' competence.
This was great, I want more, and I'm eager for the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
ezwolf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Okay, so, by all rights I should have loved this book. It's queer, it's historical fiction, it's got angsty backstories. But I could not get in to this for the life of me.
This is one of those cases where I think it's just not for me. I cannot exactly explain why this didn't grab me, the best I can say is that I found it boring. I wasn't drawn to either Penn or Raff and so it made it hard to be interested in either point of view. By the time the story got to plot points I would have been interested in (like Penn's scars) I was 50% of the way through and I was already just reading for the sake of finishing the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
This is one of those cases where I think it's just not for me. I cannot exactly explain why this didn't grab me, the best I can say is that I found it boring. I wasn't drawn to either Penn or Raff and so it made it hard to be interested in either point of view. By the time the story got to plot points I would have been interested in (like Penn's scars) I was 50% of the way through and I was already just reading for the sake of finishing the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Grief
Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
clairew97's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
wilybooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
4.0
Most of this, I adored. How tender and caring the romance was; how charming the two leads and their siblings were. The characters were well fleshed out with distinct personalities and I loved the delicious pining in the first half of the book. I thought the author dealt with the topic of abuse thoughtfully, especially in regards to the intimate scenes. Raff's family dynamics were great; I'd love to read more about Ash or Cecily in a sequel or two.
However, the pacing felt a bit off. There was virtually no plot for the first three quarters of the book (which I actually loved, as a big fan of 'no plot just vibes' books) and then a lot of action and drama crammed into a final act that was drawn out far too long. At times the dialogue felt a bit clunky and there were some jarring POV switches, which I'm attributing to this being a debut.
I also wish the early mediaeval setting had been explored a little more in depth. It was really just scenery for the most part and could have been set at any time pre-18th century given how little detail there is. There wasn't even a mention of the plague!
However, the pacing felt a bit off. There was virtually no plot for the first three quarters of the book (which I actually loved, as a big fan of 'no plot just vibes' books) and then a lot of action and drama crammed into a final act that was drawn out far too long. At times the dialogue felt a bit clunky and there were some jarring POV switches, which I'm attributing to this being a debut.
I also wish the early mediaeval setting had been explored a little more in depth. It was really just scenery for the most part and could have been set at any time pre-18th century given how little detail there is. There wasn't even a mention of the plague!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
llyfrauginger's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I devoured this book. Beautifully written and so easy to get lost in. The romance is well paced and the characters are loveable; you can tell the author herself really loves the characters, which gives everything such warmth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and War