A bone witch like Tea can take a life and return it but they can not kill that which is already dead, and the game she is playing for revenge one whether she knows it or not, because there is always one stronger or more knowledgeable.

This is a great sequel to the first book The Bone Witch, action packed and even more twists and turns that will through you for more loops, and surprises. Each subsequent book brings us closer to the true Tea and what brought her to this point in her life, and I can't wait to be able to put all the pieces together at once.
This review will appear March 20 as that appears to be the pub date

Tea knows that as a Bone Witch, she is able to raise the dead. She can now take a life and then return life, but will she use this power for the greater good or for her own vengeance? She has the power to use the daeva for her own purposes; will she go after the royals who took away her true love? Of course, revenge is never easy and there are people who want to stop Tea and use her power for their own dark purposes. In the end, can anyone really come out on top?

The Heart Forger is the second book in The Bone Witch series. Chupeco’s story continues strong with many characters that readers will love to read about and maybe even love to hate. This is not a quick read, yet most will find themselves drawn back to this storyline over the days or weeks while they consume it. A strong second book and I will be looking forward to book three in the future.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and this one did not disappoint! I know a lot of people had issues with the slowness of the first, and the pacing was better in this one. There is still the two narratives going, Tea’s story from the past and then the Bard’s tale from the present, which in this book got a little confusing, mostly because the two stories are beginning to catch up with each other, which made it a little harder to keep separate, but I still like seeing the two parts and how they connect.

Tea is such an interesting character, and in this book we really begin to see how she becomes the bone witch in the Bard’s part of the story. There is a lot of growth in Tea this time around as she comes to realize what it means to be a bone witch and how to control, or not, her dark part of herself. It is interesting to see the two sides of her in both of the stories, the young woman struggling to do what is right and protect her friends and family and the dark asha side we see from the Bard’s point of view. Tea really comes into her own in this book, from the impulsive and bold young girl into the strong, yet still impulsive very powerful bone witch.

All of the characters we met in the first book are still around, plus some new ones. Fox, Tea’s brother is still my favorite revenant. He is the one person that always stands by Tea, and not because he has to, but because he is her brother first and her familiar second. Their bond deepens in this book and some of the conversations they have are priceless. Prince Kance is not as prominent in this story, but he is still a presence in Tea’s mind for most of it. All of her Aisha friends are still with us and it is fun to see their relationships with Tea and each other flesh out and develop. I would have liked to see a bit more of Likh, and his fight to become an asha. Perhaps next time.

We know by the end of The Bone Witch that Kalen and Tea are lovers, but this book shows the development of their love and it is very sweet and adorable. They end up being one of the best things in this dark and sad story and I loved watching them come together. I really like Kalen, and I think he is a better choice than Kance for Tea. He is stronger and understands her better than she even knows. He also helps to keep her grounded so that she does not totally loose herself to the dark and become a Faceless one.

Speaking of the Faceless, we meet another one in this book, and I must say as evil people go the Faceless are pretty merciless and ruthless in their fight to rule death and the kingdoms. Aenah, is a cold and heartless bitch that gets what is coming to her. But she does help Tea understand her darker side and in some ways helps her to become stronger and more powerful.

We see more of the world that the author has created in this story. Tea and her companions travel to other kingdoms we haven’t seen in the first book. But there is a lack of world building in this one. Granted there was a lot of world building in the first book, so perhaps there was nothing left to say, but more descriptions of the new places and how these kingdoms worked would have been appreciated. I still really like the magic system that is in this world and we do learn more about it, especially Khalad’s part in it as a heart forger. The purpose and necessity of the heartsglass is also developed and made a bit clearer. There is way more politics in this book as well which helped to keep the plot interesting.

Overall this was a stunning second book in a well developed world that is unlike any other fantasy I have read recently. I love the characters, the magical system and the romance in this series and am so looking forward to the next book to finally see how the two stories become one and how Tea completes her journey.

"The Heart Forger" continues Tea's story right where we left off in the first book. In this continuation, we still see the same double style with the present/future in italics told by a bard with the 'bone witch' and the brunt of the book in normal font of Tea's past, which leads up to the italicized present/future. It had been a while since I read the first book, and I quickly learned that I needed to remember more of the first book than I did, so I went back and reread it. These books definitely need to be read in sequence. We don't get any recaps of the last book for context of this one. That being said, it does leap right back into the plot, and it is extremely plot driven.

For a little bit of background, the book primarily follows Tea, a 'bone witch' or dark asha. Asha are like witches with some powers, but most of their lives are more like geisha, where they entertain and the like. Dark asha have power over death and can bring back some of the dead (if they are willing). Tea is accompanied by her brother Fox, who is a familiar that she has brought back. The primary job of a dark asha is to raise and put down daeva, magical creatures who can wreak havoc when controlled by a evil master.

"Bravery and courage are not passed down through blood."

The heart forger in the book is Khalad, Prince Kance's brother, who was designated as a heartsglass forger by his ability. Heartsglass is an extension of a person, almost like a soul, that is a stone worn by everyone, not just asha. Heartsglass can be exchanged as marriage and must be maintained or it will whither. It is complicated to create, so this rare gift is treasured over Khalad's ascension to the throne. We learn more about Khalad and his process in this book.

"Patience is the long pause between an action and its consequences."

The language is again very flowing and poetic, and while it seems like the overall plot moves slowly, it progresses in a lovely way that gives you plenty of time to think about each action. With the back and forth (past and present), there are a lot of questions raised that slowly reveal themselves throughout the book. We are also introduced to the other kingdoms, which fleshes out this unique alternate world. I found myself enthralled in the descriptive journey Tea and friends make throughout the book.

I think this will be a hit with fans of "The Bone Witch" and I look forward to reading the third book when it is released! Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Rin Chupeco has done it again. As we reenter the world of the Asha, we again are able to experience the beautiful scenery and culture Rin Chupeco has created. The mystery of Tea's predicament is revealed in this novel, but a new problem awaits her. If there is no one able to save the world, who will do so? Thus, Tea is left to determining her role in a world that despises and fears Dark Asha.

A solid second book in this series, but not better than the original. This self-comparison is always the struggle when looking at fantasy series. Chupeco built her world even more clealry here, defining many important relationships and deepening the examination of political intrigue. The "past perspective" of this book kept me intrigued and reading, but the "current storyline", told from the Bard's point of view, often lost my attention. Unlike the first book, where the Bard's portions were brief and mainly used to preview/gain attention for the past narrative, the balance of the Bard narrative action and the past action felt uneven, and often confusing.

Still, most of the book is still following Tea's perspective directly in the first person, where we track her transformation into a stronger witch and from girl to woman. Tea's questioning of what magic is and how to use it previews an exciting next book in the series, which I will still be sure to check out. While at points the thread of the narrative lost me a bit, I'm hooked on Tea's world and rooting for her.

This was even better than the first book. I love this story, and the only thing I hated was the cliffhanger ending!

Well, much like THE BONE WITCH, it was still a little too high sword and sorcery for me in a lot of ways. I was having a hard time following some of the political intrigue, and unfortunately with the ebook style it wasn't easy to flip to the glossary of places and terms from the world that Chupeco has built. But all that said, I am greatly enjoying Tea's character arc and her moral progression. It's said that dark ashas, or bone witches, are destined to be corrupted by the darkness inside of them, and the question of this series is whether or not that's ultimately going to happen for her. She has become more grey as the story goes on, but she has deep love and loyalty for those around her, especially her brother Fox, her love interest Kalen, and her mentor Mykkie. In the past points in the story we are still lacking answers in how the events played out to get to the present. We don't know what happened to Kalen, we don't know what happened to cause a schism between Tea and the kingdom she still loves. But we're slowly seeing the pieces being set to bring forth answers. I also really liked the introduction of Khalad, the Heart Forger (or someone who works with heart stones and creates magic through them), who is the song of the king who has been stripped of power because of his role as a Heart Forger. Among other things. The characters are what make these books for me.

Ah! It's so nice watching everything fall into place. In my review of "The Bone Witch", I plainly stated that my problem with it was that the book was slow and held little action. Problem solved in "The Heart Forger"! YAY! As predicted, Rin and Sourcebooks pulled the story together in spectacular fashion. There are a few elements I'm still not "sold" on, but I tend to think that will be answered in the third book.
The storytelling format is very similar (past and present chapters from different points of view) and well done, but my favorite thing about this book is the growth of Tea's character. She's been through quite a bit since we first met her. This book gets to really showcase the struggle of knowing what is right and what feels right but isn't. Tea feels like she is constantly at the brink of choosing whether to be good or evil. While the real world isn't that black and white, she does a good deal of exploration in the grays. This is one of the things I really enjoy in a book, but Rin does it particularly well.
So, I hope she goes full on villain and doesn't turn from her ways. I love that. However, we shall see what happens to Tea in book 3 - next year!

After the slow start to The Bone Witch, I was a little leery about the second novel in the series, The Heart Forger. Once I plowed through the rough start, I really loved the first novel. It was imaginative, original, and enthralling. The Heart Forger picked up where The Bone Witch left off.

The story is told again in the two timeline formats which worked really well with this novel. We see Tea’s journey and how she fell in love with Kalen. I was drawn into her story, and I really enjoyed Chupeco’s writing this time around. Now I am just sad I will have to wait for the third installment in the series.

I would recommend this series to my students.

Thank you so much for the advanced copy!

I think this is one of those times the sequel outdoes the original. The use of a narrator who is listening and watching Tea but barely a part of the action himself creates this very interesting reading perspective. The imagery is fantastic and the characterization is layered and impressive. The representation of lgbtq characters feels natural to the story (unlike some contemporary fantasy) and the diverse cultural influences gives this novel another layer of...awesome. I’ll be pushing students to read Bone Witch so I can put this in their hands right after!

The Bone Witch blew my mind and when The Heart Forger came up for request I was beyond ecstatic. Even now I am already impatiently waiting for Shadowglass. Where sequels and second books can sometimes fall short, this novel takes an already strong work and makes it greater. It is just as captivating as its predecessor as we follow Tea and her cohorts on a journey to uncover secrets long since buried.

Rin Chupeco has created a magical world that is at once both historic and modern, realistic and mystical. Her descriptions bring colour, and sensation not just a static understanding. You see the spires of Daanoris, gleaming pearly white, the dirt floor and ramshackle lodgings of the Heart Forger, and hear the cries of the daeva as they take to the skies.

I've fallen in love with her characters, the good, the wicked, and those in between. I have felt their happiness and their sorrow, empathized with their desperation as they unraveled the schemes of those around them.

Chupeco handles two time lines brilliantly, and I cannot wait to see how Tea's story ends.

I was so excited to be given the opportunity to read Rin Chupekos next book in The Bone Witch series. This story goes back and forth between past and present showing Tea growing stronger as an asha in the past and the present where she and an army of daeva are on a path of destruction in order to get revenge on those who have wronged her. This book seemed much more intense as Tea struggles against the dark power growing within her. We also see her relationship with Kalen developing into something more than asha and protector. Overall the book was beautifully written and lushly descriptive. I felt that the story might be ending at the end of this book but at the very end there's a hint that Tea and Kalen's story is not over with yet!

This is an exciting second installment! I believe The Heart Forger is better than the first book. It has more action, character development, romance, and magic!! It has left me anxiously waiting for third book!!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC for an honest review.

I skimmed this one. I really enjoyed the first book, and was looking forward to this one but it missed the mark for me.

I wasn't so sure about The Bone Witch, I really did try to like it and I thought with the second one I would be able to like it more. But I just can't seem to find my footing with this series. I know some people love it and others don't, but I gave it a shot and to me it's just meh. Tea is a likeable enough main character, but this plot for me is too slow. Sure there are some action sequences, but it's still not enough to really catch my attention. I think maybe later closer to the release of The Heart Forger, I'll give the whole series another chance. As for right now. I'd give The Heart Forger 2.5/5 leaning closer to a 3/5

Unfortunately this second instalment in The Bone Witch series was such a disappointment for me when compared with the first book.

Which is such a shame as I absolutely LOVED the first one with a passion, wrote it a glowing review, have been recommending it to everyone, and have been eagerly waiting to see what would happen next for about year and a half.

Now I wouldn’t say this was a BAD book.
It’s perfectly fine.
It’s alright.
It just didn’t at all match up to my fierce love of the first book.

I’ve seen in a few other reviews that people much preferred this book over the first in the series due to it having more action.
I know a lot of people didn’t seem to like The Bone Witch and struggled to get through it saying it was “dull” and contained far too much world building and descriptions.
But I think that was what I loved most about it.
The world was so fleshed out and real.
I loved getting to experience all the locations and events in a way that made me feel as though I could actually have been there.
And The Heart Forger just seemed very rushed and superficial in comparison.

It felt much more like every other generic YA fantasy novel out there.

The Bone Witch felt different, new, fascinating, and exciting.
The Heart Forger feels much more stale and familiar.

The sections of the book with Bard (the present day parts of the story) were definitely the highlight for me.
These parts remained true to the first book, were more interesting to me, and kept you guessing as to what was going to happen next with sneaky little cliffhangers at the end of each section.
I still love that the whole story is told with a mixture of past and present day. I think it works really well for this story and looked forward to these chapters the most.
Especially when we got to meet certain characters again!

I will definitely carry on with this series to see what else is in store for Tea, I just hope that the next book feels more like the first one again and manages to rekindle my love.

I feel quite deflated after finishing this one unfortunately.

Author Rin Chupeco is back with the second book in The Bone Witch series. Lady Tea is now bound mentally to a dragon-like creature called an azi. Afraid to tell anyone, she continues life at the palace with the hope of finding a cure for her teacher Mykaela. She is also still in love with the crown prince, though she knows that hope of him loving her back is pretty slim. After the King surprises the kingdom by announcing his son's betrothal to a neighboring princess, Tea is heartbroken but more angered that no one warned her of the impending engagement. She and the kingdom are surprised when the prince falls into a "sleeping sickness" and all eyes are turned to Tea and her entourage.  The group must find the Master Heart Forger to see if he can cure the prince, all while trying to clear their names.

The Heart Forger is a complicated book, but entirely worth the ride. If you haven't read The Bone Witch, start there first. Otherwise, Tea's capabilities and her relationships with other major characters are going to make little to no sense. In fact, if you've read The Bone Witch, but it's been a while, I'd suggest rereading it so you have a great place to start. Coming into The Heart Forger is a bit like coming back into Game of Thrones after a few seasons when you're not caught up. The subtleties of Tea's culture and the surrounding kingdoms are more than enough to give HBO a run for it's money, and with the flair of multiple Asian cultures, it's a nice change from fantasy rooted in medieval European cultures.  The book is told by both a Bard and Tea herself, so if you are a reader who likes to read four or five books at a time, The Heart Forger is going to be a book you'll want to direct your attention to alone. I tend to read multiple books at a time, reaching for what I feel like at the moment. The Heart Forger made that a bit difficult for me.

The Heart Forger thrives as a second book and promises more to come. While the first book was Tea learning her skills and finding out who she is, the second book is her breaking the boundaries around her and finding out why so many people fear Bone Witches and their skills.

The Heart Forger is available March 20th from Sourcebooks Fire