HEARTSEER: THE TALE OF ANISE STAR by Rowan Foxwood

Book Review

Elloise Hopkins

Anise Star works from her home in the White Woods, following closely in her mother’s footsteps, though it is a tall order. Anise is a Heartseer – one of the few remaining who can see daemons and deities and solve their problems – and she is sorely needed. For people have forgotten how to see them, and they risk disappearing forever.

Daemons have been stealing roses from the garden again. There are a dozen of them out there now, Anise knows, but they do not realise that this time, she has set a trap for them. The Heartseer knows she will be able to demand a favour for each stolen flower, and it seems she will need that favour sooner than she may realise.

A letter from the capital brings bad news. Her brother will not be returning home after all. Anise knows as well as anyone else that bad news rarely travels alone, and there is more. Her stiff, controlling guardian, responsible for her since her mother’s death, has threatened to sell her home and her beloved woods, destroying its daemons and deities forever. Anise has only 10 days to save both her brother and her home, or her future will forever be in another’s hands, and her world will change beyond recognition.

Heartseer is a whimsical adventure for older children, with its roots firmly set in traditional folklore. The story centres around Anise’s journey to the capital to save her brother and traces her personal growth as she faces her losses and discovers anew her place in the world. An element of wry comedy lifts the narrative in the form of Wolf, her trusty daemon-dog companion.

Anise’s story is comfortingly wrapped in the genre’s tropes and predictable in all the places it matters, leading the reader to a heart-warming ending, although it does not feel this will be the last we see of this determined young heroine. The characterisation, particularly of the various spirits and antagonists Anise encounters, is spot on, bringing the story to life through delicate magic and wonder.