I saw the blurb for A Harvest of Hearts and was SO EXCITED! Howl's Moving Castle!? SIGN. ME. UP. The first half delivered heavyyyyyy HMC vibes in a good way, but also it felt too similar and then it took a unique turn that was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the setting, the characters, the set up and a bit of a twist towards the end. It almost ended up being Howl's Moving Castle mixed with Spirited Away?
I gave 3 stars because I really struggled with the main characters. Foss called herself ugly and really spoke down about herself for about 80% of the book. That is hard to continue to read for me, and it felt like it took too long for her character arc and growth.
Sylvester had so much potential!!!! I never felt he fully came out of his shell so when it turned around it didn't feel organic, it felt forced.
Cornelius the cat was hands down the star of the show though. Maybe all 3 stars because of him. King Cornelius.

This was the first audiobook I’ve ever listened to, and I genuinely loved it. A Harvest of Hearts is such a cosy and whimsical story with just the right amount of magic and darkness to keep things interesting. It gave me the same comforting feeling as Howl’s Moving Castle, so if you enjoy that kind of magical atmosphere, this is definitely worth picking up.

The main character, Foss, is down-to-earth and easy to root for. I liked how determined she was, even when she doubted herself. Her journey was heartwarming, and the magical house and talking cat added so much charm to the story. Sylvester, the sorcerer, is mysterious and a little grumpy at first, but I liked how their relationship developed slowly and naturally.

The heart magic was really unique and gave the story a slightly eerie twist, but it still managed to feel warm and light overall. Some parts were slower, especially in the middle, and I would’ve liked a bit more detail about how the magic worked, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment.

*3 stars*

This was a little disappointing. While the premise of an adult Howl’s Moving Castle sounds good, it felt like the story didn’t stand on its own enough to be interesting. The main characters insecurity in her looks was brought up so often it made her a little insufferable. The ending was kind of anticlimactic.

The audiobook was well done and easy to listen to. The narrator was excellent.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

Boy did I want to love this book. However, my favorite thing was Cornelius.
The villain felt like prince Humperdinck but if he was serious.
I wanted the whimsy of Kevin Hearne or Scott Lynch and I got some fantasy version of dad jokes.

An excellent read for lovers of whimsical and unique fantasy! The premise follows sorceresses who take pieces of people's hearts to do magic, but our MC, Foss, isn't willing to let her heart go so easily. She heads to the capital to demand her heart back from the petty wizard, Sylvester. Definitely gives Howl's Moving Castle, but more the book than movie, which I love!
Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I did have trouble with the characters at times; they felt a bit flat or cliche, and I felt that they would have benefited from stepping a bit away from the standard tropes for romantic fantasy characters.

I absolutely loved this audio! I enjoyed it so much, I immediately bought a physical copy of the story for a shelf trophy! The narrator was enjoyable. I was entertained from start to finish!

Unfortunately, this was a quick DNF for me. I think the market positioning for this one may have been a miss. The descriptors of “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “whimsical” had me thinking it would be a different vibe than it was.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advanced audio copy!

Fantasy readers, I have a great book for you that's available now. A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames was very enjoyable.

In order to keep the kingdom running smoothly and safely, sorceresses harvest pieces of commoners' hearts to work their magics. This is a fact of life, much like a tax. It is how it is. Until Foss Butcher finds herself snagged. A sorcerer, the only male one the village has ever seen, visits her village and accidentally takes a piece of her heart. She follows him to the capital, looking to ease the heartsickness this spell has created in her, and when she finds his home, the best cover she can come up with is that she's there to be his housekeeper (did I mention this is some sort of Howl's Moving Castle AU?). So she moves in and starts looking for a way to make her heart whole again, all while pining for the sorcerer, Sylvester, and uncovering the kingdom's dark dark secrets.
This book wasn't bad. I didn't love it, either, but it wasn't bad. Here are the cons: The love interest is named Sylvester (not awesome). It drags slightly and Foss oscillated between decent main character and pretty annoying. Sylvester is pretty flat, in part because we don't get much of his perspective whatsoever. The magic system is not super interesting; it doesn't detract from the story, and obviously it is the basis of the story, but like, it's not very interesting. The pros: There is a surprising amount of knife murder for a book touted as "cozy." Foss was good in her every-day-basicness in opposition to the opulence of the magic workers. Her dad was an MVP. And the real star, who knocked this book up to four stars, Cornelius the talking cat. I think that he should have been the main character.

3.5 stars. This story was interesting, but I would prefer to read Howl’s Moving Castle. I liked the messages and themes this dealt with concerning body image and confidence as well as others. But I didn’t feel myself getting sucked in like I enjoy with more magical and whimsical stories. This was more of a sinister undertone. I liked the magic and the magical house but something about it didn’t wow me.

If you like Sorcery of Thorns, you'll probably like this!

The dynamic between Foss and Sylvester is very similar to the one between Elizabeth and Nathaniel. Their relationship was nicely built up and it was believable. A slow-burn for sure though, so be prepared for that. There was very minimal spice for one scene towards the end.

The magic system was unique and interested me a lot. I liked that we got to know how the magic worked as Foss discovered it as well. One of my biggest problems with 3rd-person books is that there isn't enough mystery, but Eames did a good job holding information back until it was revealed to Foss.

I've seen some people saying that this is a cozy fantasy, but I've got to disagree. The stakes were high, as in the was the threat of death or worse present for the majority of the plot, and it was pretty fast-paced. I'm not a fan of cozy fantasy myself, so I was more than fine with this.

Also, I'd die for Cornelius.

3.5 ⭐️
I love the magic system used in this story, it has so much potential! "Heart Magic" was so creative and I'd read another story with this premise.

I did enjoy the world the author created and wish she would have brought more to the table. I needed more!

It took me a long while to become invested and the romance/characters fell flat for me but overall I enjoyed the story!

Loved this book, there’s some brilliant world building and feels so cosy yet has plenty of action. Foss is a wonderful heroine echoes of Jones’ Sophie and Pratchett’s Tiffany, a refreshing no nonsense attitude in a magical world.
Amazing narration by Jessie Elland really brought the characters to life. This book also made me realise there’s not nearly enough talking cats in fantasy today.
Would love another book that revisited these characters or that explored the history that was touched on.
Thank you NetGalley for the eArc

Foss Butcher is a plain girl who is the daughter of - you guessed it - a butcher. Every so often sorceress' visit the village they live in and they are extremely beautiful and glamourous - but they also steal the hearts of epople they take a liking to. One day a sorceror appears and snags a piece of Foss' heart. Don't forget that she is plain though, and by virtue of being a sorceror this guy is GORGEOUS. Anyway she falls immediately in love with him and decides to go to his house to be a housekeeper because it causes physical pain to be apart from him. So she cleans and cooks for him, all the while he never really pays her any attention because she is so goddamn plain. There is a talking cat called Cornelius who is a delight.

I foudn the writing really repetitive - the book was a lot longer than it needed to be, there was so much hanging around doing nothing (except complaining about being plain 10,000 times). Sick of hearing the words sprouts, Da and several others - grab a thesaurus for the love of god.

It just wasn't great. Comparing it to Howl's Moving Castle is a bit much just as they both contain a wizard and a magic house.

A Harvest of Heart by Andrea Eames

Foss knows what happens when the sorcerers come… They harvest hearts… She is angry when a sorcerer accidentally takes part of hers and she follows him home. She hopes he will fix her but she finds something very different behind his front door.

I started out not really liking the book but I stayed the course and it got brilliant! The narrator did a really good job and I enjoyed the unique story. It's a really whimsical tale and I enjoyed watching Foss not only figure out who she is but trusting herself… That was magic for me. Foss… Now don’t get me wrong, the talking cat was epic but I really felt the magic was in Foss. I felt her and Slyvester had some weird conversations that didn’t make sense but all in all… Enjoyable book

4 stars

I really wanted to love this but I found myself losing interest. I just couldn't get through it. I had to DNF.

A super cute whimsical fantasy book! Definitely loved it. Perfectly paced. At times the narrators voice drove me crazy.

Thank you to RBmedia | Recorded Books and Netgalley for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames is an atmospheric and whimsical story about an ordinary girl whose heart was stolen, quite literally, by a sorcerer. Any book that is said to be in the tradition of Howl's Moving Castle is a book I'll try. And I'm so glad I did, because while This did have some similarities, it was unique and entirely its own. The world building was wonderful. I really felt like I could see and hear and smell every little detail. I fell in love with this world and would love to go back sometime. I admired the focus on adventure over romance which is harder to find now a days. The slower pace really gave the chance to get to know the characters, their good sides and their bad. And oh course, who doesn't love a talking cat!? The audiobook narration was amazing. I think the narrator's voice was perfect for bringing this whimsical story to life.

Domestic fantasy romance is soooooooooooooooo cozy. The tone of A Harvest of Hearts surprised me with how intense and darkly it resonated right from the beginning, unlike other representatives of the genre that start out light and YA(-ish), only to end with grimdark undertones. This book, instead, doesn't hide the viscerality at its heart (pun intended), nor its grown-up themes.

Foss makes an amazing protagonist, as ressourceful as she is helpless under a visiting sorcerer's insultingly accidental spell. Once she is bound to him through magic that imitates a desperate crush, she resolves to abandon her unfulfilling village life and follow him back to his city abode, hoping to find a remedy for the enchantment that causes her physical pain during his absence.

Soon, though, she discovers that she isn't the only one suffering after a failed heart-taking, in the capital that looks benevolently upon the beautiful sorceresses' exploitations. But if Foss doesn't want to succumb to her curse, she must team up with the barely-human and frustratingly clueless Sylvester and his magic mansion. And by doing so, she will uncover the price of all those stolen hearts.

Okay, up until that point in the story I was more than content with the direction Eames took in her writing, offering up some of the most inspiring similes I heard all year. Unfortunately, as is often the case, and somehow contradictingly, the story loses momentum for me as soon as the domestic setting is left behind for a more action-based plot. Listen... I don't want this. Let's stay inside the house.

But I get that we need to raise the stakes and move the characters, so I want to make it clear that this is entirely due to my own taste. I also didn't find Sylvester all that compelling as a love interest - perhaps because of the unflattering voice acting the otherwise brilliant narrator gave him.

Even so, the change of vibes didn't deter me from finding the story and ending still overall very satisfying. I just love an incompetent man.

Whimsical refreshing fantasy! This book was so fun! It had a unique magic system and overall I really enjoyed it!