A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames

Book Review

Melody Bowles

A Harvest of Hearts is set in a fantastical kingdom where magic is fuelled by people’s hearts. These are stolen from helpless citizens who fall head over heels in lust with an ethereal group of women called ‘the Sorceresses’, ‘magic-workers’ or ‘the king’s daughters’. Anyone ‘snagged’ finds themselves unable to think of anything but following the sorceress and catering to their every whim.

The concept of heart-stealing is vague, though the hearts do seem to have physical form. Our heroine, Foss, wonders if it’s metaphorical. As a butcher’s daughter, she knows no living being can survive without a physical heart. The rules of this magic and how it works are a little fuzzy, but work for the purposes of the story.

Foss is snagged by the only male magic-worker, an eccentric, supernaturally beautiful young man who can barely remember his own name is Sylvester. Unable to resist the pull of his spell, she follows him back to his house and becomes his housekeeper.

The House has a personality all its own. It can produce its own food and make Foss her own rooms when called for. It also works against her at times, playing with the length of the corridors and what door leads where. It’s an interesting setting and adds plenty of whimsy to each scene. The House is also home to a talking cat called Cornelius, who becomes Foss’s most steadfast companion. He is, in the way of all cats, delightfully sassy. 

Foss feels she is helplessly ugly, especially compared to the supernatural beauty of Sylvester. The book comes back to this time and time again. As every young girl thinks she is ugly, I’m sure many will relate to her. The book wants to make a point of how the Sorceresses are unnaturally beautiful in contrast to Foss’s normalcy, mirroring the modern girl’s tendency to compare herself with carefully filtered and angled Instagram models.

Foss’s humorous voice brings this tale of a greedy king harvesting hearts warmth and wit. Read this if you’d like a gently romantic tale where both parties work to save their own hearts and those of their kingdom.