The Heart Forger

, #2

by

Hardcover, 528 pages

Published Oct. 29, 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire.

ISBN:
978-1-4926-3585-7
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3 stars (1 review)

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.

3 editions

reviewed The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco (The Bone Witch, #2)

OK, but didn't really connect.

3 stars

I didn't read the first book in the series, so that might explain why I had a hard time connecting with the characters.

I found the early romance between the protagonist Tea and her undead lover somewhat cringeworthy (not because of the undead thing, just the breathy internal dialog). Perhaps I'm being what @lapis@bookwyrm.social described as an "adult reader mad at kids for being kids".

The book does deal with "coming of age" issues of gender and sexual identity in a positive way.

There are a few twists that I did not see coming.

I did like the narrative structure of the two halves of the story interleaved, more or less converging (although not quite) at the end of the book.

It is definitely the middle book of a trilogy (or longer) series and some important questions are unresolved at the end.