Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - A Heart So Fierce and Broken

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A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer

6 reviews

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

8/10. This book/series really continues to surprise me. It is one of those rare books where at no point am I sure where the plot is going (in a good way) but I am so enthralled the whole time. For reasons other than the book, I was having a hard time getting through the book but every time I opened it and actually started reading, I never wanted to stop. I am gonna be honest, I missed Harper and Rhen but I loved seeing things from Grey's POV. I also wasn't sure how I would feel about Lia Mara, but I ended up enjoying her perspective as well. I somewhat predicted/hoped for what ended up happening at the end of the book with Grey and Lia Mara about Karis Luran (no spoilers) but the very ending with Rhen almost blindsided me fr (again, no spoilers). I am very interested to see what in the world is going to happen in the next book because I genuinely have no idea.

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

I liked this book better than the first one, which is unusual because the first book had more magic, and I never really liked Grey in my first encounters with him because I thought he was too stubborn in his loyalty. But that was something that was played upon in this novel—both how and why he acts in that way—which I thought was far more interesting than his initial portrayal, especially since we get to hear his voice as a primary narrator in this book. I loved Lia Mara, and basically every other new important character that was introduced in this installment—Tycho and Iisak are great. Tycho is cute and endearing, and Iisak is funny, dry, and mysterious. But Lia Mara is so so determined yet so insecure

(and her toxic relationship with her mother Karis Luran brings out a lot of strong Amity Blight vibes)

and from the first chapters that we meet her and hear her views of her mother and sister, Nolla Verin, it’s clearly evident how passionate she is but also so vulnerable and apprehensive. Her role in the climax is epic! She and Grey are excellent foils for each other. I was so impressed by Brigid Kemmerer’s world-building, especially as the characters crossed into Syhl Shallow and they explained things like their matrilineal line of succession, but also the poignancy of the issues she’s depicting with these characters like the best way to achieve peace between two countries, or even mutual respect and civility within one’s own country. Brigid Kemmerer is herself a magesmith for how deftly she is both able to portray these issues as well develop realistic characters to grapple and grow with them. The only reason I rated this book below five stars was that it didn’t have as much magic as I craved, though I cannot remember enjoying a book that discussed diplomacy so much this much.

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qrschulte's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think I liked this one more than the last one. And again, I called the big reveals.

Things I liked:
- GREY!!!
- Iisak. More of him please
- Jake‘s redemption.
- The romance actually made sense and had some chemistry and a bit of steam.

Things I didn’t like:
- The Lia Mara narrator made the girls sound waaaay younger than they were supposed to be. She also was a bit melodramatic, either with a laugh in her voice or like a swoon teen, which was a little much for my tastes.
- The torture
- The 180 degree flip of characterizations of Harper and Rhen, which I guess is only slightly explained. Especially after Rhen’s character growth in the last book. And Harper being okay with Rhen’s behavior after giving her brother (warranted) shit in the first book? Makes no sense.

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