Based on the description I thought I would enjoy this book a lot more than I did. It had elements I loved .. a unique magic, a talking cat, and an expressive and everchanging house. Add in the inflictions of the Snagged and this story had a lot going for it. However I found the disparaging thought of Foss as very off-putting. I get she has self esteem issues due to her looks but I felt like too much at times. Also the attraction to Sylvester is a bit questionable as she is very much under a spell for the majority of the story. I know the story was meant to have a HEA but I felt like so much was left unanswered to the state of the kingdom. I ended up with so many questions and as such it kind of left a bitter taste in my mouth, so to speak.

Rating 3 stars

I truly wish I could re-read this book again for the first time. I think we as a book community downplay the importance and artistry it takes to write a cozy novel, one that truly makes the reader feel a sense if comfort. Harvest of hearts was an absolute joy, I laughed out loud more than once and left with those warm fuzzies. All of that and a talking cat? Swoon. I need more of this world immediately.

The cozy fantasy genre has been super popular and I'm loving it. Harvest of Hearts seemed to fit right in with the rest of em. And it was!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book wanting to love it as it's described as having a similar whimsical feel as Howl's Moving Castle, but I was left a little underwhelmed. The book took a while to really take off, and I found it hard to keep my interest at times.

It is whimsical, but not as much as I would have liked. It is also a slow burn romance. The world building was interesting, and Cornelius the cat was the star of the show. However, the FMC could be rather frustrating at times with her self-deprecating remarks, and the MMC Sylvester did not interest me at all. His personality was just dull.

The overall plot idea was interesting, and the end did have a little twist to it, but I feel like they could have done so much more with it. All in all, it was not a bad read, but it is not one I will remember and want to come back to. Still check it out if it interests you as you may like it.

A Harvest of Hearts presents a promising concept with its magic system, which stands out as the book's most intriguing feature. The magic itself feels unique and well-conceived, offering an interesting twist that adds depth to the plot. However, the world-building overall is quite minimal, leaving much of the setting and its nuances underexplored. This lack of detail in the world left me wanting more in terms of immersion and context.

The protagonist, while compelling in some respects, is burdened with a heavy criticism that makes it difficult to connect with them on an emotional level. Their character arc feels somewhat stagnant, and their development is overshadowed by their pessimistic outlook. Additionally, the supporting characters also suffer from a lack of depth, contributing to a sense of emotional distance throughout the story.

While Harvest of Hearts delivers a fresh take on magic, its lack of world-building and flat characters may leave some readers feeling disconnected from the story. It's a promising idea, but one that doesn't quite live up to its potential.

Nope. There are so .any better versions of this story put there, that this was just not needed. Too.bad, it sounded so good from the blurb.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I see whimsical and I must read🧎🏼‍♀️ and this is a truly whimsical story. It's magical and quirky, the writing is fun and witty and the characters are likable and feel authentic. This is possibly blasphemy but it was compared to Howls Moving Castle and I actually might have preferred this

A Harvest of Hearts starts off in a small village where Foss Butcher lives. The imagery the writing of this books presents is brilliant. Everything written is so easily and vividly imagined.

While there is romance in this book it is minimal, this doesn't feel like a loss but if you are looking precisely for romantasy, this may not be what you're looking for.

The magic system is fun and unique and the characters believable.

If your a fan of Howls moving castle, then you HAVE to read this book! it's grim dark, intense, filled with horrifically beautiful settings that will give you chills, and leave you in awe. a dark telling of what really happens when a sorcerer steals your heart. it's very much an adult tale, filled with a morbid humor, and paired well with flawed and brilliant characters who you will adore, and in the case of the antagonists, hate. between the world building, the magic system, and the ending, this book is going to be an absolute obsession. an almost cozy horror blended with a dark fairy tale twist and heavy ghibli vibes, this is a definite must read!

Before we get started on the review portion I wanna give a big thank you to NetGalley & Kensington Publishing for an arc of this book. The thoughts and feelings are my own.

Yall I was so excited for this book. And I can’t believe the review I’m about to write is not going to be all that positive. This book was pitched as a cozy fantasy book version of Howls Moving Castle. Which for those that don’t know is one of my all time favorite piece of media. So with that pitch line I was sold, however the execution was not there at all. That plus the amount of times I almost DNFd is depressing.

Our book follows our MFC Foss, the butcher’s daughter with massive self esteem issues. She’s noticed and has her heart snagged by our MMC Sylvester a sorcerer who practices heart magic. Feeling a void she decides to follow him home and become a housemaid. While she’s there she discovers a talking cat and something more sinister that can potentially threaten her entire village. of uncovering something sinister.

The only positive I have for this book remember that talking cat I mentioned. Yep that talking cat. Cornelius is literally the only good thing about this book. And if it wasn’t for him I would’ve DNFd this book.

Our MFC Foss is the most “pick me girl” energy I’ve read in a while. And that’s not a positive. The amount of times she says she’s ugly is atrocious. To make matters worse she isn’t even freaking ugly. And of course she doesn’t start to truly feel pretty until the hot sorcerer tells her she’s beautiful. I cannot stand characters like this and it honestly degrades women. And I wish authors would stop using this as a character personality trope.

We can’t forget our MMC, Sylvester. I’ve read some immature men in books in my life. But I think Sylvester took a new low for me. The amount of times mentioning being so hot and perfect made me want to barf.

Character issues aren’t the only problem. The book is extremely slow and way too drawn out. The magic system definitely had potential but unfortunately fell completely flat. ,


Overall, this book had so much potential but lacked execution. I honestly can’t recommend this to everyone. However, if you do decide to brave it. Just remember Cornelius is where it’s at. I would ride or die for that cat.

Final Rating: 3.5

I enjoyed reading A Harvest of Hearts, but I think it probably could've been a little bit shorter because it felt a little too slow for me, and it felt like there was not really a lot happening for a lot of the book. I also struggled a bit with Foss constantly calling herself ugly for having red hair, large hands and being "sturdy" (meaning fat), but like, that doesn't make you ugly? And I know it's all in her image of herself because she was bullied when she was younger, but it felt a little unnecessary to point it out as often as it was. As someone who has struggled with feeling insecure, I get it - but at the same time she would bring it up CONSTANTLY. Other than that, I did really like Foss as a character. She's kind and thoughtful and often goes out of her way to help others even when it puts her in danger.

I adored Cornelius the cat, he was definitely my favorite character by far! And Sylvester was interesting, although I don't really feel like I got to know him as much as the others, and I'm not quite sure if the chemistry between him and Foss was really there, and the real romance only came in in the last maybe 20% of the book, so in that sense I felt like it only just got started seeing the two of them starting to fall in love.

I do think the last third was the most interesting of the entire book, as that's really where things got going and we learned more about the magic and all the politics, which was the most interesting part of the story to me.

I'm a big fan of whimsical stories with darker aspects (like T Kingfisher) and while I liked those aspects of this story, it felt kind of...superficial? In fact, the entire book kind of felt just surface level, and we never really got deeper into the characters or the plot.

This wasn't a bad book by any means, it just wasn't for me. I hope it finds its audience because I know there are going to be people who absolutely love this one!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I felt this story fell flat from my expectations. I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't do it for me.

In theory this book should have had everything to be an absolute showstopper it had everything I love mystical setting, gothic fairytale vibes, a talking cat, love a whimsical but sinister vibes book but unfortunately thats not enough for it to be a good book.

The pacing was so off, incredibly slow and so boring at the beginning I almost Did not finish. It then sped up and felt rushed towards the end.

I also felt the characters were so bland, especially the king, like he was just a villian for the sake of being the villian there was no substance. I hated that the only thing we really learnt about Foss was that she was "ugly" like how does being sturdy make you ugly... I will tell you what, it doesn't like I don't understand that! What fat phobic bs is that.

I truly appreciate what the author tried to do with this book, but it just wasn't as well executed as I would have liked.

2⭐️ Strictly for the cat.
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The story follows Foss, a butcher’s daughter with incredible self-esteem issues who has been “snagged” by a perfect sorcerer who practices heart magic. She follows him to his magical home and meets the most wonderful talking cat Cornelius. Cornelius is the only character in the book with a good personality and any sort of sense. Foss spends most of her narration time lamenting about how ugly she is (newsflash: she is not actually ugly!). The incredibly hot sorcerer eventually falls in love with her and he makes her realize that she is not ugly. If there’s one trope I hate in a book, it’s the “I’m ugly until a beautiful man tells me I’m not” trope.

Foss’ issues aside, the story itself is very drawn out for something that lacked a lot of depth. The magic system had a lot of potential to be interesting but fell flat with the wandering prose. The world was very immersive, but with no explanation of the magic system or greater motives of our villains, it felt like a giant echo chamber.

Our sorcerer, Sylvester, is incredibly immature and lacking depth but that doesn’t matter because did I mention before: he’s just so beautiful and perfect and hot!?

Overall, for a book with so much potential I am quite disappointed

I was given an advanced copy to read by Netgalley. All opinions in this review are completely my own. I am thankful for the opportunity to read A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames.

Comparing A Harvest of Hearts to Howl's Moving Castle is right on the money. While there are many similarities between the two books, the whimsy and magic that is created in Howl's Moving Castle is very much present throughout A Harvest of Hearts. However, Eames' book stands on its own spine for having a unique, magical, and intriguing story of its own that is different in many ways. Fans of Howl's Moving Castle will enjoy A Harvest of Hearts. Eames did wonderfully building her world of magic-workers, the snagged, the harvested, and the mysteries surrounding a king and his kingdom built on stolen hearts.

My favorite character was hands down, Cornelius the cat. He was a supportive companion for Foss throughout the book. I often enjoy sidekick animal characters. I found myself rooting for Foss to overcome her self doubt and insecurities. I enjoyed the character development of Foss, Cornelius, and Slylvester. I do wish Sylvester's character development delved even deeper perhaps into his creation or even more into the person he was becoming as the story unfolded. I am not unhappy with his development or in his ending, I just feel he had much potiential that could have been explored further.

While having Foss as our main point of view worked well given that this is her story to tell, I feel it would have been intriguing to have Sylvester tell his perspective in addition. I believe A Harvest of Hearts is a stand alone novel, but dual point of views would be nice for future books if Eames decided to expand on this world she has created.

The overall pace is good. At the beginning I was really intrigued and could not put the book down. Somewhere after reading the middle, I felt the pace slowed greatly. The pace did not affect my overall enjoyment.

My only complaint with A Harvest of Hearts is the ending. I found it predictable and the solution too easy of a fix for such a large problem, especially a problem that has been ongoing for centuries. It wasn't a terrible ending, but it wasn't great either; it did fit the storyline.

I highly recommend reading A Harvest of Hearts. It was an enjoyable, whimsical, and well written story. I look forward to reading more from Andrea Eames.

This book gave me the perfect Howl and Sophie vibes! I won't lie, about 13-16% in I really thought about DNFing. The writing style was hard for me, and it felt very info-dumpy. However, I'm glad I gave it until 20%. The book really picked up, and I became interested in what was going on. I love Cornelius SO MUCH, 10/10 would give him all of my bacon. Honestly, this ended up being a perfectly fun, cozy read.

I would say this book is for lovers of cozy fantasy. It definitely relies heavily on vibes and is atmospheric. I was interested from the start but it takes a bit to get moving. The magic kingdom is intriguing. I think younger readers would definitely connect most with the main character. I think if you want a magical escape that isn’t crazy high stakes, this is a win.

I loooove the cover and especially the version with pretty sprayed edges. The publisher did a great job with this, it certainly stands out amidst a sea of similar looking fantasy books.

3.5 ⭐️

This is a cute cozy fantasy story with slow burn romance and a main character that has a lot of self esteem issues. Foss, our main girl, has a sidekick called Cornelius. And he's a cat!! I loved him, Foss and Sylvester, what a great trio.

A lot happens, but this story never feels complicated. Maybe the book could've been shorter, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Now, I was a little scared this book only had 24 chapters, meaning they would be looooong and I do not vibe with that. However, Andrea's writing style is very easygoing and smooth, I flew through this one!

This was an original and unexpected gem of a book. I found myself rooting hard for Foss. Loved her. I liked how she opened the sorcerer's eyes to what he was blind to. A very good book and I am excited to read what the author puts out next.

First of all I would like to say thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

After finishing this book I can say that if you are a fan of Howl's moving castle then this is the right story for you. Its a cross between a romance and cozy fantasy with a well written slowburn romance included, however there was some deeper emotional level than I was expecting from the blurb.

Also the biggest bonus is Cornelius the talking cat who is the ultimate snarky companion to the main characters.

Really enjoyed this book and will be waiting to see what the author produces next.

I really wanted to like this more but there was no connection with the main characters and the only one I enjoyed was the talking cat.