Reviews

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer

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jillian_000's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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

cbuck26's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.5

hsecen's review against another edition

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3.0

This book definitely took a turn away from the retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and into some new territory. It was a solid book. There were plot points that I didn’t like and some parts that I really enjoyed seeing. Some of this book confused me.
My confusion in particular focuses around my perception of the different kingdoms. At one point they seem oppressed, at another they seem violent and loyal, and it really made it hard for me to throw some support behind one cause. And maybe that was the author’s intent, so showcase a grey area (hah) but it felt like being untethered, and I couldn’t connect to the story as much as I’d like. And now that I think back on some of the characters, like Lia Mara’a sister, it was a similar case, and because I couldn’t tell whether I should like her or hate her, there was just zero connection to the sisterly bond that played a role throughout the book.
Despite all my complaints, there were things I did enjoy about the book. The relationship between Grey and Lia Mara was so cute. The pacing was a little slower, there weren’t many action beats, but in those slower scenes, their relationship had the chance to grow and I enjoyed reading that. I also liked the way the first book focused on Rhen and Harper while in this one we get more Grey and Lia Mara. It really plays into understanding that there’s more sides to a story, and it’s interesting to see more perspectives on the dynamics between all the kingdoms. The turn this Beauty and the Beast retelling took is very original. There was one conversation that made it very obvious (to me at least) how the end of this book would play out. But the overarching conflict between Grey and Rhen - I couldn’t tell you how things will be resolved, which is a good thing. I’m ready to start the next book and get more answers because there were so many questions I had by the end of this book.