Publisher: Little Whimsey Press
Release date: June 21, 2018
Genre(s): Medieval Fantasy
Pages: 67
The mysterious Cheval triplets live a peaceful life in a secluded cottage on the edge of the Mystic Wood. Yet when their mother’s illness creeps her closer to death, the three sisters, Morganne, Amara, and Fae must leave their quiet sanctuary in search of a rare cure within the darkened forest.
But they are not the only ones lurking in the midnight shadows, so when fiendish witch hunters capture the sisters, their search for a cure turns into a desperate escape attempt. Their only hope rests with the exhausted, worn out horses pulling the cart to the witch trial, and the secrets the sisters keep locked in the deepest chambers of their hearts.
When they unleash the truth will it set them free, or send them closer to the burning witch pyres?
MY REVIEW:
As a fan of both witches and horses, I was disappointed by this novella. At just 67 pages, it didn’t exactly drag on, which was nice. Within just a few pages, we are thrust into the center of the action—the sisters being captured by witch hunters.
“Got’cha!” growled a gruff voice.
A net whipped through the air, bundling the three sisters together and catapulting them high into the trees.
“We’ve gor’em, Boris! We’ve captured them witches!” cried a hunchbacked man. He giggled and dribbled beneath the trap filled with the struggling sisters, rubbing his hands together with greed and mirth.
Okay. Let’s dissect that, shall we? The scene is cartoonish in its artlessness. The sisters are all three entangled in a net that, in all likelihood, was only meant to capture one witch at a time. There they are, swaying from the limb of a tree, the way we have seen many animated unfortunates do so many times. The Russian name Boris—because no one in the English-speaking world has ever encountered a Russian villain. Also, of course the lowly lackey is hunchbacked. And there he stands—er, hunches—rubbing his hands together “with greed and mirth,” just like the stereotype that he is.
As for writing style, it seems that Rees’s favorite method of description is to use similes and metaphors. Fae’s voice, for example, is described in numerous ways. First, it is “a threatening summer storm,” her eyes “wide as the low full moon.” Later, she whispers “as sadly as a late autumn breeze stripping the last leaf from a tree.” Finally, her voice is “as soft as wind from a butterfly wing.”
Rees’s writing is often less than subtle. At one point, Amara thinks “of the witch trials and all the innocent women and children who came before her, just to line the pockets of the infamous Witch Hunter General. The witch trial had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with power; the power of gold coins.”
Later, one of the witches is asked, “Should you be judged just because you are different? Should our differences not be celebrated?”
Not exactly any hidden meanings there…
As I said, Rees does a great job of dropping us right into a sense of urgency with the sisters. Their mother is deathly ill, and they venture into the woods near their home in order to find a cure to save her life. The story quickly builds to the climax, after which we are granted a few pages of falling action.
Warning: the end of this novella is a cliffhanger! This was another reason that this book just wasn’t for me. I’m not generally a fan of any series in which the individual novels cannot stand alone.
For many fans of witches and horses, this would probably be a great read. In fact, that statement is proven true based on all the four- and five-star reviews that Witch Hearts has received on Amazon. It just wasn’t for me.
P.S. I received a free copy of this book from Hidden Gems in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links.
My rating: 3 out of 4 tiaras
About the author:
Angharad Thompson Rees is a comic scriptwriter, author, and emerging scriptwriter of all things magical. When Angharad is not lost in enchanted forests searching for tree fairies or unicorns, you’ll find her on the sunny shores of Sydney, Australia with a notepad, a coffee, and a curious expression on her face as she images unseen worlds for her next story. Visit her website, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Goodreads!
Have you had a chance to read Witch Hearts? Reading anything else right now? Let me know what you thought in the comments!
Elizabeth May 