I was not able to finish this book, but my library did purchase it. If I get a chance to read this I will update my goodreads with my review.

Don't be deceived into thinking this is a book about vampire / vampire themes. While it is a dark atmosphere it's more dark romance in the time you would think about Dracula.

Our main character Llona doesn't want to marry for politics and certainly isn't interested in the man she is betrothed to. Instead, she is drawn to another (and another!)

Certainly not my favorite young adult romance fantasy. I think a few people hit the nail on the head when they said the writing style is right for the genre you're reading just not executed in some ways and characters aren't boy favorite.

Based on the real Dracula family, this novel focuses on the people striving to make alliances with them and how that impacted their daughters. While it had a basis in history, the story was speculative. The book was solid intrigue and had decent characters. If you're looking for a good YA historical romp, this is it.

Heart of the Impaler is a young adult fantasy by Alexander Delacroix. I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t love it as much as I initially thought I would. The summary for Heart of the Impaler makes it seem like this is going to be a fantasy romance with an epic love triangle between two great friends. And then you throw in a betrothal to a third guy, and I was really pumped. I love some good love triangle action. And while all of that is true- there was a betrothal, and there was a love triangle between her Llona, her betrothed’s younger brother and the younger brother’s best friend, the story seemed much more focused on the political aspect of the warring factions than on the romance. And I wasn’t really invested in the love triangle aspect of the story. I liked one of the guys, barely saw the betrothed and strongly disliked the other guy from the very second meeting of him.

In Heart of the Impaler, my favorite character was our main character, Llona. I loved how strong she was and such an independent thinker. She was by far my favorite out of everyone. I also quite enjoyed Llona’s new friend Magda and the sweet Andrei. I was rooting for Andrei the entire time. Vlad creeped me out and seemed way too self centered for me to care about him as a love interest. I wasn’t connected to him at all. I was at their first encounter by by their second encounter it didn’t feel like he cared about who Llona was at all. (which might have been Alexander Delacroix’s point, I’m not really sure, but it did alienate me from enjoying Vlad’s side of the love triangle. Andrei was a winner for me though. He cared about Llona and getting to know her and her likes.

A large part of the story were the political tensions between Vlad and his family and between Vlad’s father and his enemies. That aspect of the plot kind of took over the story in my opinion, which leads me to believe that this book will resonate most with readers who enjoy political YA fantasy with action heavy plotlines. I think those readers will absolutely devour Heart of the Impaler. There are many darker themes of war and battle explored, and some of the characters are pretty grey/dark. I enjoyed those aspects of the story, but I did think they was a bit slow in parts. The book overall was an easy read that I finished in a couple of days. Overall, I thought Heart of the Impaler was a good read.

DNF'd at 16%. Writing felt superficial and one dimensional and I could NOT stand these characters. The love triangle was set up from the first chapter, and only one of those characters was bearable. Illona was very much "not like other girls" and Vlad was just annoying.

***Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

A unique take, great character arcs, and a perfect sense of pacing!

When I first saw the title for this book I got excited because I thought I was getting another Vlad the Impaler vampire book. It was a Vlad the Impaler book, but it was so disappointing to see there was absolutely no hint of vampirism anywhere in this book.

This book was more of a young adult telling of the royal court back during the time of Vald the Impaler. Most of this book is told from the perspective of Ilona, the daughter of an influential boyar. Her father is husband hunting for her when she is betrothed to Vlad's eldest brother. Vlad is completely infatuated with her.

This was probably the most average book I have read on every level. I didn't dislike it enough to stop reading it, but I didn't like it enough to rush through it. It took me forever to get through it and once I did, I neither loved nor hated this book.

Title: Heart of the Impaler
Author: Alexander Delacroix
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.8 out of 5

Vlad Dracula has long lived in the shadows cast by his bloodthirsty father, the voivode, and his older brother, Mircea. Despite their cruelty, Vlad has yearned to prove himself worthy of the throne his whole life. In the cold halls of the voivode's palace, Vlad can only rely on his cousin and closest friend, Andrei Musat.

When Vlad and Andrei meet Ilona Csáki, the daughter of an influential boyar, they each find themselves inextricably drawn to her. But then Ilona is betrothed to Mircea as part of a political alliance, and Vlad's resentfulness of his brother begins to seethe into something far darker.

Ilona has no desire to marry the voivode’s eldest son, but love and marriage are the least of her worries. The royal family’s enemies have already tried to put an arrow through her back—and if anyone discovers her blossoming feelings for Andrei and Vlad, she may just wish they’d succeeded.

Beneath the shadow of impending war, the only battle that will be deadlier than the one for Ilona’s life will be the one for her heart.

It’s not like I expected Vlad Dracula to be good…but I did expect him to be something more than a whiny, selfish brat. I mean, he was unlikable throughout the entire book, so I really had no idea why Ilona was attracted to him at all. I wish Ilona had been a bit more fully realized, too, as she felt very one-dimensional. I did like Andrei, though, and I cheered for him the whole time—especially hoping he’d realize the truth about his best friend and put some distance between them before it got him killed.

The Heart of the Impaler is Alexander Delacroix’s debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.)

The cover for Heart of the Impaler by Alexander Delacroix is amazing. The story itself is not. I have SO many issues with this butchering of Vlad Dracul II. First of all, the timing is wrong. Delacroix does not have Vlad and Radu becoming prisoners/wards of the Ottoman Empire until their teens. WRONG. Granted, the author does admit to playing with the timeline to prove his point that Vlad had issues before he was a prisoner. (I think there is a strong argument for the opposite, but it's not my novel.) Even worse, Delacroix does his best to create strong female characters but ends up using every single cliche and stereotype there is about such characters. Strong-willed but submissive to parental figures, chafing at the injustice, intelligent beyond the pale, skilled at something stereotypically unfeminine. His female characters end up being one-dimensional and weak. As for Vlad, I can't even talk about it. I usually can give a book the benefit of the doubt, but the liberties the author takes with one of my favorite historical personages leaves this firmly in the NO column for me.

A very interesting retelling of Vlad Dracul as a young man, focusing a historical romance that he was a part of. We all know him as The Impaler and how he was the inspiration behind Dracula., but Alexander Delacroix does a great job at telling part of his story through the eyes of Ilona Csaki.

The only problem I had was that this book primarily focused on the love triangle and the relationships between Vlad, Ilona, and Andrei. Vlad does not even get to sink into his notorious role until the end. It was still interesting to read about the complexities of these characters' relationships, but I wish there had been more events and plots happening in the background.

1 star

I've done a lot of reviews lately where I have talked about how the marketing for some books just does not match up with what is inside the book. This is a unique case of that, considering that I honestly couldn't even tell you what this book was trying to be in the first place.

Honestly, I'm baffled. Is this supposed to be action-packed? Everything that could be considered "action" happens off-page and ends up being glossed over. Is this supposed to be an origin story for Vlad the Impaler? He begins and ends the book as an angry and vengeful monster. Nothing about him, or any of the other characters for that matter, really changes. Is this supposed to be an angsty romance? We are basically just told that our female protagonist is in love with certain characters and then the story moves on. In fact, almost the entire book falls under the umbrella of telling and not showing.

The initial idea for the book was good and I really wanted to like this, but I unfortunately found the execution to have been botched in almost every aspect of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swoon Reads for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

It took me a few chapters to warm up to Heart of the Impaler by Alexander Delacroix but once I did I had a hard time to put the book down. It had a great blend of historical fiction, romance and intrigue. I really enjoyed it!

The story is about Ilona Csáki who has become the betrothed of Mircea, the eldest son of the Voivode (ruler) of Wallachia. But in reality it’s Mircea’s younger brother Vlad and their cousin Andrei she likes more and developes feelings for. Which makes court life even more dangerous than it already was.

I will read literally any book that features the historical Vlad III Dracula who’s better known as Vlad the Impaler and I’ve read my fair share of books that have him as a character. I’m glad to say that this one, though, is one of those I will remember the most. Unlike Vlad, Ilona and Andrei are fictional characters created for this story but they had my heart anyways. Ilona was courageous, kind, artistic and the kinda main character that you just want the best for. She was really likable but also not a pushover, which I really appreciated.

I do feel like I have to say although it seems like a love triangle from the description of the book, it didn’t really feel like one because it gets clear who Ilona really loves. I’m not gonna reveal whether it’s Vlad or Andrei but I can say that I approved of her choice. In that way the romance was slightly predictable but I can’t say that I really minded that in the end.

I hope there will be a sequel to Heart of the Impaler because the story doesn’t seem to be quite done. Nonetheless this was a really well-written debut by Alexander Delacroix and I’ll be looking forward to his work in the future too.

I'm always interested in discovering new authors and Alexander Delacroix is definitely one to watch out for. His debut novel Heart of the Impaler sets out to explore the dark, dark world of Vlad Dracul's Wallachia and Transylvania before this notorius historical character came into power.

I loved the premise and really enjoyed delving into the emotional side of Vlad's descent into his madness. Some readers hate love triangles, but the truth is they do make excellent plots and allow the author explore the characters' complex feelings-jealousy, loyalty, gratitude, embarrassment, confusion...In Heart of the Impaler we're thrown into this emotional landscape from the word go, when we meet Ilona Csaki, the elder daughter of an impoverished Transylvanian noble, as she is observing an impromptu sword fight between Vlad,, the younger son of the great Vojvode, and his cousin Andrej, and the battle for Ilona's heart begins. Ilona might come across as slightly passive, limited in her autonomy and decision making, but this rings true to the historic reality of the role of women who were forced to stay behind the scenes.

It is obvious that the author did a lot of research and added lots of details to help the reader imagine what life was like in this historical period, but my favourite part is the evolution of Vlad's character (after all, wasn't this why I picked up the book?) from a confused second-in- the- line, 'a spare' to his elder brother Mircea into the power hungry, ruthless politician and ruler the whole world has heard about.

Overall, Heart of the Impaler is an interesting debut and I would really like to read more from this author in future.

HEART OF THE IMPALER was an absolutely phenomenal piece that mixes historical fiction, political intrigue, and romance. I find this era in history fascinating and I won't lie I don't know a ton about the real Vlad Dracula and the history of Romania during this time period. This book served as a really interesting foray into real world characters and stakes mixed with a fictional story that had my heart racing. Truly, Delacroix's worldbuilding is astoundingly good and all of his meticulous research really does show as the reader is effortlessly shoved into Illona, Vlad, and Andrei's world. I also really enjoyed Illona's journey as a character in this world as she finds herself in the position of being a pawn in the schemes of the House of the Dragon and how she chooses her own way despite the designs of the patriarchal political and familial structures that try and confine her. I also appreciated the clear dichotomy drawn between the personalities and characters of Vlad and Andrei and how different both boys' feelings are towards Illona even though they both want her. It seems love triangle-y but it really isn't, and it's written really well. Watching Illona and Andrei's relationship and forbidden romance blossom was also one of my favorite parts of this book. This book was a really great read for fans of historical fictions and political intrigue, and I deeply enjoyed it and hope for more books in this world with these characters.

This book is an interesting twist on Vlad the Impaler which I wasn't expecting. It's about a younger Vlad who falls in love with his brother's betrothed and is also competing with Vlad's best friend and cousin Andrei.
Ilona prefers the quiet life of studying birds and drawing them, but her father has other ideas. Mainly, to marry her off like a prized animal to Prince Mircea who is a self-absorbed bully who could care less. She has one year to become his bride, but not if Mircea's younger brother, Vlad, has anything to do with it. Ilona has noticed Vlad with his good sense of humor and reckless disregard for safety as well as his companion, Andrei who is respectable and has a quieter nature. Vlad has declared himself Ilona's protector and will stop at nothing to keep her safe from his enemies who are trying to harm her.

Vlad is unlikeable with his arrogance and hot temper. His rash decisions are dangerous considering he has dark murderous moments that are many times thwarted by Andrei's level-headedness. Andrei is sweet, a good horseman, and he is basically Vlad's only friend and lackey. Vlad's indifference to how he treats Andrei is unwarranted and unkind. Ilona is a bit boring and not as strong as I would like her. However, she does show her bravery and kindness at the beginning when she is the only one to step up and help Andrei after the young men's foolhardy swordplay. Overall, I didn't feel invested in the characters and had a hard time staying engaged in the story.

The setting of Wallachia and Transylvania in the 1400s is a new experience for me as well as the political upheaval which took an unusual backseat to the love triangle between the teens. War is imminent in the region as well as between the characters and the book ended with a cliffhanger so I'm assuming there will be more to this story.

I believe this story is set in a time that has a lot of potential, but it moved slowly and I wanted more investment in the love story if that was what this book was going to be about. I don't know how to describe it, but I felt I wasn't really experiencing their connection. I wasn't immersed in it. Many moments were glossed over.
I have to admit I struggled with this book and almost skipped to the end just to be done with it. There are mixed reviews on the book so I suggest you give it a read if you like a blend of history and fiction.

Thank you to Mr. Delacroix for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

A historical fiction romance at its core, Heart of the Impaler is a newly released debut novel from Alexander Delacroix.

While I struggled with this novel, I could see some readers enjoying aspects of this story. I had a very hard time enjoying the characters. Vlad is definitely not my cup of tea. Yes, yes I know, Vlad the Impaler is not anyone's cup of tea from history but his depiction never started out in a way i could get into. He was instantly and perpetually unlikable and its made it impossible for me to see what Ilona saw in him. I really think if his persona was more fleshed out, less whiny and realistic with a growing downward spiral it would've heightened my reading enjoyment. Ilona was ok. I get the trope she portrayed and personally don't connect with it much but luckily Andrei was there to smooth out rough edges and brought home character appreciation.

I was saddened that a lot of the action scenes were not dove into. They all seemed to happen off script and though I enjoy a historical romance, I also like battle action that leads to plot depth and critical turning points. This is Vlad the Impaler, let's impale! However, for the audience group I can understand the hold back on violence and gore. It made the flow too choppy though.

The 1400s setting in Wallachia and the areas of research were some of my favorite parts. I loved seeing the historical attributes stand out and mold with the world building when it was present. I can see lovers of this era enjoying the story too the fullest. Of course I personally wanted more but I feel this was more focused on the romance (hence the title). Those looking for an action packed version of Vlad may not find this fully to their expectations.

Thank you MacMillan Childrens Publishing Group for the gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to diving into this one. The cover definitely caught my attention and the blurb had me more than a little excited to discover what adventure was in store. And this is a well written novel with wonderful world building.

Belonging to a once powerful but now weak family, Ilona lives with her parents and siblings under the care of the Voivode, who values her father despite whisperings. When her father is praised with a special honor by the Voivode, she's also given to the oldest prince as a wife. She has one year until she turns of marriage age and is determined to find a way to avoid becoming this heartless man's spouse. But she's not alone and finds herself aided by the younger prince, Vlad, who has plans of his own when it comes to his bloodthirsty father.

The world building in this one drew me right in. It's rich and inviting and well-constructed. The Voivode is wonderfully horrible and so easy to dislike. It's hard not to root for Vlad as he begins to conspire against his father and older brother. Ilona's situation is obviously difficult, and that does make her easy to sympathize with and, from the beginning, fever that she finds away to avoid everything. Then, as the intrigue, battles, and plots settle in, it has everything to become a fantastic read with a thick plot to get caught up in. So, I did enjoy many aspects of this novel in many ways.

There is a love-triangle, and it puts interesting tension and twists into the plot, while the main theme does rotate around the building intrigue as well. Ilona tries her best to deal with everything, and it's a lot. So, it's not unbelievable when she's caught up between this tug-a-war, especially since she'd do anything to get away from a marriage she knows has chances to utterly destroy her in so many ways. The problem is simply that the Vlad doesn't carry quite enough positive attributes to make him likeable, but rather, often didn't seem much better than his older brother. His sidekick was sympathetic in so many ways but carried too weak a personality when it came to his relationship with Vlad. So, it makes a 'better than terrible' situation for Ilona. Still, it was fun to watch this relationship plot twist and turn.

While there is so much richness in this plot and so much to make it epic (it's really a great weave), the author skipped right over some of the most grabbing, major scenes and just filled the reader in through conversations in the 'after'. This, while still interesting, kept this book from becoming everything it should have been. Yet, I don't want to say this was a bad read because it isn't. It's grabbing and well constructed, and definitely would have hit my favorite list...and still, is one I enjoyed reading.

Real Rating: 3.5 Stars

I love historical fantasy, and I was especially intrigued in this one due to the Transylvanian and Wallachian settings. Any historical fantasy featuring Vlad Dracula not involving the folklore of vampires isn’t something you come across every day and is always going to interest me, so cheers to Delacroix for doing what obviously had to be a whole lot of research in order to bring this book to life.

Where this book let me down wasn’t in the world-building (because that was great), or the cast of characters (which was larger than necessary but it wasn’t too much of an issue), but in the execution of the plot and the pacing. The pacing was uneven and the plot was predictable. I’m also not a fan of love triangles, and this one was very poorly executed.

But for anyone looking for a solid YA historical fantasy, this one is a good bet and a good find.

Heart of the Impaler was a fascinating and refreshing twist of old Dracula tales. I enjoyed that it didn't focus entirely on romance, with politics, war, and the undercurrent of conflict taking precedence over blushes and stolen kisses. Though the premise does read as though it leans more romance than political intrigue, so be aware of that mismatch. Llona herself was instantly relatable, likable, and such an entertaining/fun character to follow. And I enjoyed exploring the world/plot/other characters through her perspective, though it could certainly be juvenile at times. Overall, I think this is a good book for someone just starting off in the genre or invested in a younger YA perspective; it doesn't strike me as a story for seasoned fantasy lovers with a thirst for a steamy side romance, so just be aware of that. It's a bit tame, but still entertaining!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A historical fiction novel centered on Vlad the Impaler, Heart of the Impaler tells the story of the beautiful Ilona Csáki, who has been promised in marriage to the voivode's eldest son, Mircea. As political tensions build, Ilona's heart is torn between the voivode's youngest son, Vlad, and Vlad's cousin, Andrei.

While I came in excited about the love triangle trope -- what can I say, I'm a sucker for inevitable heartbreak -- I also came into this book excited about the setting, the politics, the war. Unfortunately, for me, the book fell flat in both areas, albeit in different ways.

Regarding the love triangle, while I felt many of the building blocks of a good love triangle plot were there, I didn't quite feel like a lot of those plot elements were ultimately justified by the narrative or the characters. I'm not sure I understood what made Ilona so special, or truly believed in the effectiveness of at least half of the flirting that occurred on-page. I also found myself wanting a lot more from the conflict between Vlad and Andrei.

Regarding the war and political intrigue, I ended up feeling like all the things I wanted to see ultimately happened off-page. Instead of showing Vlad killing a particular character, we just ended up being told that Vlad had killed that character, etc. These kinds of choices made it seem like the political plot was all tertiary and not meant to be taken with any importance, despite this book being historical fiction.

Despite these shortcomings, I did have a pleasant time reading this book. It showed a lot of potential which I ultimately just wish it had better delivered on.