That ending.......

This book was full of great world building and character development. However, the pacing at the beginning was a bit slow do to this. Not that big of a deal once you get further into the story and you don't want to stop reading.

You have two female MC's and a bunch of quirky side characters and siblings which lead to a lot of fun banter and entertainment. I enjoyed the side characters the most.

It was a little confusing at times to keep track of the different im/mortals/magic and the time frames, but it did not deter me from the story too much. Just kept me on my toes and always thinking. This story does that a lot as you don't really ever know quite who you can trust.

I would definitely reccoment this book to others. It was a lot better than I had originally anticipated.

Thank you to Netgalley and Publishers for a chance to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fan ride. It was fast paced and characters actually acted as teenagers should! I liked the excerpts from various books/diaries thrown in between chapters. I think it was a nice way to incorporate more information about the virus, magic, characters and world building without too much info dumping.

This book was a quick and fun read but it was your typical YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy so although it was fun, it was predictable and full of cringe worthy lines like: “God, you’re… gorgeous … If you can’t remember your name, maybe I’ll just call you that.”

Some of the characters were frustrating. I found Carina to be incredibly annoying but it wasn’t surprising because she was your typical rebellious teenager. I appreciated the growth of Vivian’s character. Her proud nature was quite annoying as well, but she matured a lot as the story went on.

The other problem I had was that there was a lot of telling and not showing, especially in the beginning of the book, but even that became less of a problem the farther we got into the story.

I think this book is perfect for teens. Even though the twists were predictable, they were still interesting and exciting. I know my teen self would have enjoyed this book a lot.

I received an ARC from the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I picked up Sisters of the Perilous Heart on the strength of its attention grabbing premise, and I think there’s a lot of potential here. It’s a compelling and complex mix of dystopian, futuristic, and fantasy elements.

I enjoyed the two main characters, Vivian and Carina, the former in particular as she goes on a journey of trying to find a cure for the Immortality Virus, and I think it’s great that it gives her some complex motivations and a place to evolve from over the course of the story.

Carina’s story forms a great contrast, as she’s only growing into her powers, although I was a bit less invested in her story. She does have a cute romance that develops over the course of her arc though, so that’s a plus.

One of the aspects I really liked was the use of clippings from books to help illustrate the world building. As a history buff, I love when fictional worlds have as much depth put into their history, to the point of their being written records, and the way it feeds into slowly proving insight into the world building and the magic is great.

I really enjoyed this, and I can’t wait to see where this series goes from here. I recommend this to anyone who likes stories with a mix of sci-fi and fantasy.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free e-arc!

I was truly pleased with this book! Once I got through the first chapter or so it really drew me in. I did feel at times that the plot line was slow but it is worth it over all. Very well built world with plenty of back ground. I think the best part was getting to know the Royal siblings and loving them through their own eyes, and then meeting them through Carina's eyes and hating them.

I can't wait to see what comes next!

ARC from NetGalley

2.5 stars

I didn't like that there was so much sci-fi in this fantasy.

I spent a good portion of this book hating the characters.

The royals didn't get help when they demanded it like a bunch of assholes because they were acting like a bunch of assholes. As I read that portion, I thought to myself, "these people are assholes." Not only did they not deserve the help, I hoped they wouldn't get it. I didn't sympathize with them. They were really crappy people.

It's difficult for me to like a book if I hate the characters. It's difficult to sit through a book where the entire story is pretty much a tale of a sick person trying to find a cure for their sickness, and you hate that person and kind of hope they die.

Miguelina and Carina were okay. Miguelina spent most of the book being an insufferable child. She acted like she was about 10. That said, Carina just allowed herself to be led around by her idiot boyfriend, and I kind of sympathized with Miguelina on that point. I would have been pissed off at her too.

The ending was mostly predictable. It would have been nice to learn that information slightly earlier. I think it would have had more impact. The ending was cliff-hangery, but not really because I didn't GAF what happened to the characters and have no real interest in reading the next edition.

Did this book have a plot? I mean, sort of? It's very much the first book in a series, disappointingly so. Nothing really happens until the end, and it's just a set up for what comes next. A solid meh.

This book drew me in slowly and kept my attention. At first I did not fully understand what was fully going on; however, as the book went on I found questions that I had being answered. The way that the characters interacted with each other made them come to life for me. The world building was done well and makes the story come to life for me. Plan on recommending this book to my other book loving friends.

Title: Sisters of the Perilous Heart
Series: Mortal Inheritance #1
Author: Sandra L. Vasher
Length: 414 pages
Publisher: Mortal Ink Press, LLC
Release: May 5th, 2020
Rate & Recommend: 🌟🌟🌟✨ likely

Thank you so much to Xpresso Book Tours via NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own! Sisters of the Perilous Heart is a unique sci-fi / fantasy crossover novel that got delightfully dark for the genre. There is even a tad bit of romance, and half of it is actually.....cute.

Immortality is engineered by a virus strain in a future Earth. Ships with Immortals are sent out to colonize other planets, and the events of the novel take place some 4000 years later. Once we read through some boring-ish but important epidemiology stuff, this book became truly enjoyable. I will not say spoilers but the end of the book was BRAVE on the author’s part!

The world-building and history is extremely well done. It comes in bits and pieces. In the beginning things are a bit confusing, but by the end of the book the various Strains of Immortals and Mortals and mostly everything else makes sense. The world itself is very well constructed with terrain, geography, architecture, food and dress that is very Earthlike at times. We even get a glimpse into the Royal family, succession, and political maneuvering but the novel never felt info dumpy in the present-day chapters. My favorite bit was to see the native citizens and some animals too.

The two main characters are both sweet and pretty relatable. Carina the girl from the brewery and Vivian, the Queen, poisoned two minutes into her rule. I liked these two, and the funny thing was that every single side character was a huge wildcard while the main characters stayed their courses. The princes obviously have their own agendas, and who knows what’s going on with Carina’s travelling buddies. A lot of character development was built around angst and hiding things, but teens in books rarely have open communication and that would make it too easy, right? Poor Queen Vivian though I really liked her and everyone thinks she’s a monster because of her god-terrible mother. I did like the dynamic between the trio of siblings – ha ha usually. I repeat: pay attention to the side characters while reading!

The magic was pretty straightforward. Certain Mortals in the Cardinal families have strong abilities in telekinesis and either heat or cold, while most people have some mild telekinetic skill. They vary from the interpersonal threads similar to Truthwitch to moving objects, healing, sensing people’s where abouts, to being able to tear a building apart.

Quick note: once it got going the pacing is perfect. I promise the plot and character twists toward the end are worth the reader’s time. Some is foreshadowed, some really isn’t.

Last but not least, the OneReadingNurse medical rant©! As a medical professional I am not sure how I feel about HIV+Flu mixing to cause the Immortality virus. I feel like it would just … kill people. I did like how much thought Vasher put into the etiology and epidemiology of the virus, but caution readers not to take it as advice on any specific modern day viruses. I also think her magical healing makes sense – Danielle Jensen and Kristin Britain in the past have written similar magical healing elements – it takes ENERGY to heal! It would likely wipe out the healer, and I like how the energy transfer is acknowledged and realistic here!

Anyway! In summary: Miscommunication as a plot device is not always a bad thing. There is political intrigue, sibling banter, and a whole lot of ‘why murder me when you could have just asked’? I liked the mix of modern, medical, and fantastic elements. I definitely recommend this book to both sci-fi and fantasy readers. I rated 3.5 stars for the learning curve at the beginning and amount of time it took to clear up the different factions, and I didn’t like Carina’s group’s dynamic. I definitely have 100% respect for the author for doing what she did at the end of the book 😉 and definitely need to read the next installment!

Can be seen on my blog at https://onereadingnurse.com/2020/04/30/arc-review-sisters-of-the-perilous-heart-by-sandra-l-vasher/ also posted to GoodReads and will update to include Instagram link

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for and ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

”The queen is supposed to be a light of hope for the entire kingdom, Viv,” he admonished. “Where’s your faith?” “Completely in you for the moment,” she admitted. “That’s a start,”

This book was so much better than I expected! It was full of action and excitement and I found myself getting the jitters as I anxiously waited to find out what was happening haha

The book had two POV’s from Carina and Vivian, although I think I enjoyed Carina’s chapters a little more. The world building and magic was pretty good, but kind of confusing? I was confused on when it actually took place because they had things from let’s say the 1800s as well as modern day. Idk maybe I just didn’t catch on.

Have you ever read a book where you didn’t know who or what to trust so it completely frustrated you? Well this was the book for me haha I went from “omg I love them” to “wait can I even trust him/her?” It’s a rollercoaster in the best possible way. I definitely think everyone should grab a copy of this book once it’s released and I excited for book two.

4/5 🌟’s

This book kept up the pace all the way through. There wasn't one moment I felt like putting it down. It was absolutely brilliant 5 stars for Sisters of a Perilous Heart can't wait to read the next one. Recommended!

*eARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I was so confused the first like 10% of this book, and I don't know why - but I kept mixing up the main characters all the time. It felt like both Vivian and Carina was some sort of the same person in so many aspects. The magic system in this was just ... WOW, I adored it. I really enjoyed the small pieces of information that was like mixed media type of, and to get more knowledge of small pieces to piece the story together more. I did not enjoy the world building, and found it difficult to visualize how it looked for the most part of the story. Like, if you're going to build up this entirely new planet I want some world building and details about how it looks like.

I kept on reading thinking that it would become a different story than it was, and I think that is because of the synopsis. It let us believe that Carina and Vivian will meet within like the first 10% of the book, but no, they meet for the first time like 50% in. This book is so much about traveling and in some aspects I had a hard time understanding where the plot was going.

But, those last 20% of this book got me caught in the story totally. I devoured those chapters and couldn't put the book down and when I finished it I felt that I only wanted more more more more. I need to now what's going to happen next, and can't wait for the next installment in this series!

Interesting premise, but I kept waiting for something more. Also, despite the steampunk cover vibe and the magic mentioned in the synopsis, this book is primarily sci-fi.

Queen Vivian flees the palace with her two brothers after being fatally wounded in an assassination attempt. Infected with a strain of the Immortality Virus, Vivian searches for a cure no one thinks can exist. During this upheaval, on the opposite side of the kingdom, magically gifted Carina starts on her own journey to learn more about her powers and the red-eyed Immortals chasing her and her sister. When Vivian and Carina’s worlds collide, they both hope for answers, but secrets surrounding the origins of their world threaten to raise even more questions.

This book felt like a very long introduction to the coming sequels. It followed two perspectives, Vivian and Carina, and I wish both had been condensed into half as many pages. Vivian swung between passive and vapid, making it hard to invest in her character. She was very much an observer in her own story, focused on mediating between her polarizing brothers rather than asserting herself as a decision maker. Carina was more enjoyable, but her journey suffered from building toward an Extremely Obvious Plot Twist.

I enjoyed the stronger personalities of the two girls’ friends and family. Vivian’s brothers share a unique and dynamic relationship, it’s hard to go wrong with a bodyguard-type love interest, and Miguela is a petulant, yet loving younger sister.

Maybe it’ll all come together in the next book, but this first installment struggled as a self-contained story just because Vivian’s plotline was so boring.

**Thanks to Netgalley and Mortal Ink Press for the ARC**

This was a really interesting book with some very neat and original ideas. It’s a mashup of a few different themes and although I wasn’t sure how that would play out, I did end up enjoying it.

First, I’ll start with the things I did like. I really liked one of the two MC’s, Queen Vivian. She was easily the most relatable and genuine person of the entire book. I liked how magic was used and described in the books and I thought the world building was well-done, albeit there’s still a lot I didn’t fully grasp. Sometimes I’m not a fan of books that switch of points of view, but it worked for me in this one. I liked the relationship that was building between Queen Vivian and Captain Thurlow and wish we’d have gotten more of that. I liked the complexity of the relationships between many of the characters as well. This book really started picking up towards the end with more pieces falling into place that definitely made the book better.

Now for what I didn’t like. First and foremost, Carina. I just really didn’t like this girl, at all. Maybe the last 10 pages or so of the book she starts to redeem herself but honestly I’m afraid it may already be too late for me to change my POV about her. She’s incredibly selfish, naive, immature and I cringed at a lot of her scenes. Overall, the entire book has a lot more of a “teenager” vibe to it that made it hard to get through at times. Especially considering the nature of the book and the complexity of it all. I have questions about a lot of things too but seeing as this is the first book in a series, I understand that’s probably done on purpose.

All in all, I did enjoy the book and after the cliffhanger of an ending, I absolutely must read the next one when it comes out.

I was provided an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Planet Kepler - Two young protagonists - Vivian, new Queen to the throne, who needs magic to save herself from the Immortal Virus and Carina, an orphan girl forbidden to use magic and bought up hidden in a convent! Their paths are bound to cross and unforgettable things will happen along the way...

I really liked the history of planet Kepler and the forgoing rival between Kepler Mortals and the Immortals. The world building is a fine mix of virus, immortality, dystopia, sci-fi, space travel and fantasy, it doesn’t stop and develops with the story. For first few chapters, the story was slow paced and the characters other than Vivian and Carina were often morally confusing in whom to trust. But as a reader I stuck with it and honestly I got more involved in the twists, betrayals and adventures!! I think I’ll read the next book just to confirm my thoughts about the characters.
Thank you Netgalley, Sandra L Vasher, Mortal Ink Press for the ARC!

I loved this book!!! I was hooked from the very first “entry.” I can’t wait for the sequel. I took so many notes along the way, let’s see what I can share without spoilers...
The story follows two families of siblings. First is Vivian and her two brothers, Bastian and Nate. She has just been crowned Queen. The other two are Carina and Miguela who are orphans raised by sisters (but not nuns). Only Royals have strong magic. The immortals have no magic and no empathy/emotions, and they’re hunting both families.
This world is intriguing. It’s over 3000 years in the future but they still use horse drawn carriages and bow and arrows. One thing I enjoyed was that the story wasn’t drawn out. At one point they take a few day journey in a vehicle and the author didn’t waste our time with filler story documenting all three days. Just gave us what we needed to know and moved on.
Very early on I did make some predictions that came true in the end but it didn’t deter me from enjoying the story and the journey.
Definitely recommend!

This book was received as an ARC from Mortal Ink Press, LLC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

My heart was beating out of my chest throughout the entire book. The descriptors and imagery expressed throughout the book was so brilliantly done that you could feel the struggle of magic between Carina and Vivian. Vivian needs magic to survive and Carina must harness and control her magic so she can't be tracked and watched by the immortals. I needed a five minute breather after finishing this book and this is how I should feel after YA Fantasy books like this. I can not wait to share this book with our teen book club and hear the discussions.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Sisters of the Perilous Heart follows our main characters, Queen Vivian of South Kepler, and Carina, an orphaned girl living in a rural town where she is always getting into trouble. Their two worlds are very different, with Vivian fighting for her life against the Immortal Virus that someone tried assassinating her with, and Carina just trying to find her place among the Sisters of Novi Dupree. Both are magic wielders, though both have very different understandings on how to use that magic. In Vivian's race against time to find a cure, her path crosses Carina's after Carina is forced to flee her home with her sister. What happens when these two meet, and can Carina find her place in the world?

Okay first off, this is a sci-fi/fantasy cross over. WHAT!? I was epically confused when I read the first page, but didn't let that deter me. I wanted to know more right off the bat. As a sci-fi and fantasy lover, the two being my favorite genres, I was so stoked to see where this would go. It's a pretty character driven story with a few events that happen along the way, which is usually what I enjoy in a book. I found myself wanting to continue reading instead of finding something else to do, which is something that hasn't happened with the last couple of books I have read and listened to. I feel like I connected more with Carina than Vivian in this story, though my favorite character of the lot was Nate, one of Vivian's brothers.

I did have a couple of issues though. I felt like the touch on the sci-fi element was cool, I just wanted more of it. I love me a good villain, which I didn't feel like there really was one here besides the Immortal virus raging through Vivian's veins. I think it would have been interesting for there to be more of a promising threat of the Immortals than there was. It almost felt like they were just thrown in there for funsies sometimes. I honestly really just wanted more from the world, I felt like there wasn't a lot of back story thoroughly explained to really immerse me into the story. I get that there was a flu-like virus that turned people into immortals on Earth and then they were sent off into space to find other life, but that had been thousands of years ago, and there was a perfect part in the story where we could have gotten more of that back story and it just wasn't taken.

I was honestly also kind of let down by the interactions between Carina and the Southern Royals, but in looking back at it, I am also kind of happy that it never went the way that I expected. It feels like a more true to life story since it's not all fluffy and wholesome when they interact. There are real human flaws and distrust when it comes to these interactions, but sometimes it felt a little more beefed up to be bad than I think was necessary. So this is kind of a neutral point for me I guess.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and how it explored both sci-fi and fantasy elements. I will definitely be impatiently waiting for the second book because that ending did not disappoint in being a bit of a cliffhanger. I would highly recommend for anyone who enjoys both sci-fi and fantasy, and looks for more character driven plots and arcs. It was a fun read and definitely one I will be picking up a finished copy of!

"Sisters of the Perilous Heart" ist eines dieser Bücher, bei denen ich absolut nicht wusste, was mich erwarten wird. Der Klappentext ist sehr vielversprechend gewesen und doch ging die Geschichte in eine vollkommen andere Richtung, als ich zunächst noch gedacht hatte. Es fängt schon damit an, dass es schwer ist, das Buch einem konkreten Genre zuzuordnen, da es im Grunde eine Mischung aus Fantasy, Science-Fiction und Dystopie ist.
Das Setting der Geschichte ist der Planet Kepler, den die Menschen vor vielen vielen Jahren entdeckt und sich darauf niedergelassen haben. Die Protagonistin ist die 18-jährige Vivian, die gerade frisch zur Königin ernannt wurde. Die zweite Protagonistin ist das Waisenmädchen Carina, die ihre Familie bei einem Angriff verloren hat. Beide Mädchen stehen im direkten Kontrast zueinander und sind völlig gegensätzlich.
Natürlich werden sich die Wege der beiden im Laufe der Geschichte kreuzen und dann passiert alles Schlag auf Schlag und man wird durch das Buch getrieben. Dabei kommt man so einigen Geheimnissen und Intrigen auf die Schliche und wird so oft hinters Licht geführt, dass man nicht mehr weiß, wo einem der Kopf steht.
Einzig die Sprünge haben mich an manchen Stellen etwas verwirrt zurückgelassen, sodass ich kurz überlegen musste, was das nun zu bedeuten hat. Ich habe mich mehr als einmal dabei erwischt, noch einmal zurückzugehen und die vorherigen Seiten erneut zu lesen, um der Story folgen zu können. Das war zwar etwas konfus, aber nicht sooo schlimm.
Ansonsten eine großartige Geschichte mit einem atemberaubenden Worldbuilding und facettenreichen Charakteren!

Mortals, immortals, magic, non-magic, quite a few different “types of people”, and somehow it took me a long time to figure out which combinations were possible. Who has the power? Who is dangerous? Which people can be trusted? When I did get a feel for the world and its inhabitants I felt much more connected to the story, and I enjoyed it so much more too.

The story is set on a completely different planet called Kepler. Earthians have sent a group of people who were injected with the immortality virus to a new planet to colonise it. That’s when life on Kepler changed forever. I loved the premise of that, especially since space travel is such a hot topic right now. Add to that the fear of being infected by a virus and it’s a very relevant story.

It was very obvious to me, though, that this was the first part in a series. None of the conflicts are resolved towards the end, and it really lacked closure for me. I would have liked at least part of the story to be wrapped up somehow.

I liked this book, but I’m not sure I’ll be reading the next part in the series. Overall it just didn’t really leave an impression on me and it just wasn’t too memorable.

The story is set in a planet named Kepler, where people from Earth traveled to many years ago. The world building and character building was excellent. The two main protagonists of the novel are - Vivian, an 18 year old newly coronation queen, who was attacked by immortal assassins, which resulted her being infected by the immortality; and Carina an orphan girl who was brought up by the sisters in a convent.

Truthfully, the premise was interesting and intriguing which is why I picked it up in the first place. Although, reading it, I wasn't exactly hooked and I only got about 40% through the novel. The characters were definitely interesting and likable. I was partly invested in Vivian's story. I still hope she makes it out okay, however, I'm just thinking that this was not the book for me.

I was provided a copy of this from NetGalley in response for an honest review.

This book began and I thought it was going to be sci-fi. But after the prologue I realized it was going to be a fantasy. And oh man, this had so much potential. I really, really thought the premise sounded super original. Set on a planet called Kepler, humans have been sent there in our future. There is also this Immortality Virus that has made the people immortal, but all their emotions have been stripped away so they are "evil". The story centers on a magical princess from one of kingdoms on Kepler, and an orphan girl living in what I can only describe as a commune.

That all sounds super interesting, but I think it fell flat. About a quarter of the way in, it turned into every other YA fantasy. What sounded so original started to sound like something I've read before. The magic system was never fully explained. Where it came from is still sort of a mystery. Why it's disappearing is the same. The 'romance' was super cheesy as well.

Now, there were still things that I liked. The world was super interesting. It felt both futuristic but old-fashioned at the same time. There were things that were obviously inspired by our current world, like branding and clothing and even food. But then there were things that were very foreign. I really wish the native species were explained a bit more because it honestly just soft of seemed like Earth in the future. It was a really quick read and I sort of wished it was longer so that everything could be fleshed out a bit more. Overall not bad, but definitely reminiscent of things I've read before.