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.

This book seemed rushed and skewed towards a juvenile way of thinking. It was not easy to get to the good parts of the political intrigue because it was bogged down by the constant overly descriptive emotional moment by the main characters that made them seem like russian cartoons. It felt like a caricature of the original story it was based on.

This book is definitely not what I expected. I was looking for a Fantasy with a bit of Romance. I felt that this book didn’t live up to my romance goals. With that said it was a very fast decent read. There is a love triangle however, I felt like it was more of a war and political book then that of a love story. I’m not a huge fan of Vlad at first he came off as caring for Llona, but it didn’t seem genuine. I really did like Llona with Andrei. Llona was such a good character I liked her right way. I’m interested to see what Delacroix’s comes up with next. He isn’t a bad writer by any means I just felt that this book might not have been for me. I have to rate it as a 3 star read.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan for sending me an early copy of this book!
This book follows three main characters, Vlad Dracul, his cousin Andrei, and the love interest Ilona. Throughout the novel there is constant conflict within the setting in that Vlad's family is constantly under assassination attempts and thus putting the throne in peril. Vlad is quite young and he was such a complicated character to read about. He starts off like a normal young boy but given how he is treated and disregarded by his brother and father, this heavily makes him into a very cruel character. Andrei is the complete opposite of Vlad as he is kind and good and has a strong sense of humanity, everything that Vlad seems to lack. When Ilona comes into the picture, things get really complicated. This book tried to present a love triangle but it felt very...off. Vlad falls in "love" with her after very limited interactions and I would even say he gets obsessed. Andrei also falls for her quickly but in comparison to Vlad it is a bit slower. Ilona's character frustrated me to no end because at first she seems to fall for Vlad, again, far too fast and without much reason. Then when Vlad leaves the picture for a bit, she just as quickly falls for Andrei. The romance that was portrayed in this book was a bit too fast for my liking and I felt like it was hard to see the reasoning behind it. Nonetheless, I was happy with the "endgame". The last couple of chapters were really good and they had me flipping the pages, hoping the characters would be alright. I would recommend this book to people who like historical fiction, especially if you're interested in Vlad the Impaler. It was overall enjoyable to me but it lacked many things as well. As this is a debut novel, I am not being too harsh with it. This book could have the potential for a sequel if the author really wanted to, so that's quite exciting.

I wanted to like this, but ultimately the story fell flat for me and I think it largely has to do with our main characters. I thought the infusion of a historical setting was nicely done, but I couldn't get past how annoying Vlad and Ilona were. Andrei was the most likable of the three, but I still found myself rolling my eyes at some of the things he does.

And while I fully understand this was YA, the romance still felt a little too young and immature. The love triangle trope is one that can be done well, but I didn't enjoy it here.

I also have only surface level understanding/background of Vlad the Impaler and his history, so I wouldn't be able to speak to how this holds up against that.

Ilona Csáki's father has been invited to the voivode residence after a long absence. Ilona has no idea that the voivode's invitation comes with a heavy consequence for Ilona. In a political play, Dracul II, aligns Ilona's father to him through her betrothal to his eldest son, Mircea. Ilona is shocked at the news and Mircea is distant, seeing her as simply a pawn. However, Mircea's younger brother, Vlad and his cousin Andrei both give Ilona attention. As Wallachia enters the war, Ilona's life is endangered. Mircea and Vlad head to the warfront and Andrei attempts to protect Ilona. While at war, Vlad's true colors show and Ilona realizes the danger Vlad presents.

Heart of the Impaler is a young adult romance set during Vlad II Dracul's Ottoman crusade. This story is not historically accurate but does show the political upheaval of the region during the mid-15th century. I was probably most interested in the portrayal of how Vlad II maintained his power and ran his household. The point of view switches between Ilona, Vlad, and Andrei as they discover what love means. Ilona's character is sensible and caring. Andrei is loyal and brave; Vlad's character is power hungry and relentless. Vlad becomes more and more unhinged as he becomes closer to power and his violent temperament comes through. The writing did make some time jumps that glossed over important events and made me think I missed something. The ending does leave more to be discovered for Andrei, Vlad, and Ilona as they are left in a suspenseful state.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

I'm a huge fan of stories with dark natures, so I was drawn to Heart of the Impaler from the start. I found the premise especially interesting as it was written without the guise of the usual vampiric themes (though I love those too) and I felt a pre-throne story of Vlad would be interesting.

There's a lot of potential here.. conceptually. Though it reads a bit more like an extended beginning of an idea than a complete one, despite the progress that is made. Rather, it feels like the bulk of the story could take place in about 30% of the pages written.. without all the fluff.

Normally, in a story like this.. which is basically dark, young adult/historical romance.. I enjoy the fluff too. And it's fine here. The book moves at a reasonable pace and spends time building relationships and backstories. It's just got a lot of growing to do.

As it's Delacroix's debut novel, like his story.. the author has a lot of room to evolve. I feel like he has a clear understanding of story structure, likely do to his language arts background.. but like most with 'teaching' as a day job.. it's left very little room for developing that craft. The result is a light, quick read with no real issues.. but also, no real passion for the story or the characters within.

Vlad and Andrei have some great backstory details that could make them swoonworthy candidates for Ilona's heart, but I find a lot of authors mistake 'young adult' for 'immature'.. and the two just aren't the same.

Worth the read for a rainy day.. or if you've got to wait somewhere and want something easy to keep up with even with interruptions. Definitely keep an eye on Delacroix though. Like I said, there's a lot of possibility here.. the ideas are great.

Sadly this book had everything going for it but a good story. I seriously hated the characters and just could not get through this. I hated all the characters and the story just wasn't all that good.

This is a great fantasy read. I really enjoyed it and thought it was well written. Loved the characters and their development! Awesome story!

Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgalley for sending me an eARC of Heart of the Impaler to read and review on my platforms. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"That's the problem with kings and princes. Their promises are easily made, easily broken."

This is weirdly specific, but 3.5 stars. This is not a bad review from me - I just didn't enjoy this book so much to read it again (which is what I usually reserve for 4 stars and up), but also where I did enjoy it.

Here's the biggest problem with Heart of the Impaler: there is nearly NO plot. Based on the title alone, you would think this would be a retelling of Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula). When I read the synopsis and it said "for fans of Kiersten White's And I Darken" I was so excited for another Dracula retelling. However, the story has some VERY loose elements of this since Vlad is the main character, but he doesn't go off the deep end of insanity UNTIL the end.

You may be thinking, huh, then why is it titled "Heart of the Impaler"? This is because the whole story centers on the love triangle between Ilona (the female love interest), Vlad, and Andrei (Vlad's cousin, they are like brothers though). It tells the story of how Vlad became infamous for staking people due to an obsession with a girl, who loved his cousin instead of him.

While I was bummed that the story didn't focus more on a plot, the worldbuilding and history elements were AMAZING. In addition, I had FUN reading this book. I've been in a reading slump since March, and while I've still been reading books, every book I've read has been somewhat dull to me. This historical romance book has gotten me out of it finally (I think) because I enjoyed the romance. I will confirm this theory once I start reading "The Last She".

My other issue with this book was with the characters. Everyone, save Andrei, was SUPER boring and archetypal. For example, Ilona alone fit into several tropes, including "I'm-not-like-other-girls", "good-at-everything-she-tries", and the "I'm-prettier-than-everyone-but-don't-know-it". However, she had some redeeming qualities like being determined, independent, and headstrong (NOT smart though. She was very naive). I also found her unique in the fact that she loved studying birds. I've never read a book where the female MC did this. I HATED Vlad for the most part. For the brief time that he was sweet to Ilona, I liked him. But the rest of the time, I hated his egotistical, entitled butt. I did notice that Delacroix (whether purposely or not) made Andrei and Vlad character foils. What I mean by this is that they are opposites: Andrei is quiet and a follower, while Vlad is boastful and a leader. Andrei is cautious and strategic, while Vlad is impulsive.

I did like the fact that there were three different POVs. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish at first who was narrating because there weren't any headers for when it switched, but it was easy to figure out who once I got further into the sections.

Overall, Heart of the Impaler is the new release you should reach for if you want a book with a love triangle and a dash of history.

Actually star rating: 3 1/2 stars

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

At first glance, I was intrigued after reading the synopsis. The cover is also eye-catching. I found the idea of telling the story of young Vlad, before he became the notorious Vlad the Impaler, appealing. Heart of the Impaler is pretty much a "what if" story of a well-known historical figure. So, this reads as a young adult melodramatic romance with some kind of "love triangle." Yah... One of those... Haha!

First off, the author wrote a story of fiction with an abundance of history mixed in to give it a bit of depth to the setting and characters. With each turn of the page, reader(s) are taken through the young lives of these characters, as they maneuver through the cultural and political ways of life that they are thrust into. And, of course, the romance among these characters subtly grows as the story evolves.

However, being a fascinating read, the story fell flat for me. But, I did finish this read. The story throughout felt like scattered/haphazard writing, as if it jumps from an event to another without telling what happened to get to the next event. Does that make sense? It also seems like the story is being told from Vlad's point of view, then there are parts that seem like it's being told from Ilona's point of view. Argggh... It got a bit confusing who's point of view was being told. Anyways, I found myself losing interest in between chapters. I had to take many breaks while reading this. Bottom line... Vlad definitely read as a spoiled young "prince" vying for his father's attention, which he didn't get much of. As for the other characters... Eh, I didn't get much depth with them.

Either way, readers will either like it or not like it. I ended up in the middle. The synopsis was fascinating enough to get me reading. The blend of fiction with history was interesting. But, in the end, Heart of the Impaler will be either you love it or you hate it kind of book.

I was very intrigued by the premise. The story focused on the little known story about Vlad the Impaler’s wife. However, this was not well-written. The characters were very flat. In particular, Ilona seemed more like an object than a real woman. The story seemed very repetitive with a boring love triangle. The love triangle was instant with no romantic build up. I hated that the author turned the life of a fascinating historical figure into a teen soap opera. The only thing I liked about was the setting. Read this only if you are a Vlad the Impaler fan. If not, I find The Impaler’s Wife by Autumn Bardot to be better written.

Thoughts

Did you ever think, "We need a Vlad the Impaler love triangle romance?" Me, neither. I wanted to be here for it, but unfortunately, this just wasn't it. If you're going to take a dark figure from history, you've really got to lean into the darkness. But this book was half-measure after half-measure. It was decidedly not-great.


Pros
Unexplored History: Historical fiction and historical romance for the YA market are rare enough. It is even better to find them covering a bit of history that is not, well, World War 2. That market is oversaturated enough. As a fantasy lover myself, I was disappointed to find no vampires here, but it's still an interesting dive into unexplored history.

Multiple POV Love Triangle: For a bit, love triangle was the end-all-be-all of YA romance. It oversaturated the market to the point that books that didn't even really feature a romantic subplot still found a reason to include a love triangle. Luckily, that trend has died down, and so this book falls into a much more comfortable spot in the market. And this book does something that those other books rarely did--that is, it jumps perspectives to give the reader insight into each of the love triangle corners. And that insight does enough to set this book apart. Not just faceless males with their all-consuming female love interest, these boys have their own perspectives, and that's nice.

Antihero: It's nice to get an antihero in a multiple-perspective book who isn't just the antagonist working against the other (protagonist) perspectives. Vlad's an antihero for sure, and while I wish the author had indeed leaned more into his historical counterpart instead of essentially watering him down to teenage-love-triangle material, it was still nice to have his perspective as he worked against his enemies. His enemies who were decidedly outside of the love triangle itself.


Cons
Telling: I've said it before--said it this month, actually, in my review of You've Reached Sam--and I'll say it once again. I'm not a fan of the all-or-nothing writing rule "Show, Don't Tell." There's a time and a place to simply tell the reader something that happened. This book, however, leaned far too far into that "telling" territory. Everything was really just laid bare here. As a reader, I didn't get to experience any of it--not the setting, not the characters, not the tension or the growth. It was all just told to me, at face value, and that's an issue. That's not a fun way to read and experience.

Modern Sensibilities: One of the things I absolutely hate to find in historical fiction (and historical romance, where it is especially bad) is the seepage of modern sensibilities into character's observations about their world--especially female characters. It is such a trope to have women who hate their corsets, hate their restrictive lives, hate all of it--and want to be like us modern women, who don't have to follow all these rules. It's a trope, and I hate it. Because while some things were certainly annoying--and while women certainly had hopes and dreams that escaped the boundaries of their lives--they definitely didn't sit and wallow in self-pity all their lives about what they could be doing if only they weren't women. No, they were too busy living for all of that.

Faultless Female: If Ilona isn't a Mary Sue, I've never read a book with one. Ilona can do no wrong. She can also do nothing. This book is built on the backs of one dimensional characters (ultimately awaiting imminent collapse), and female-caricature Ilona is by far the worst.


Rating
⭐⭐⭐
3/10

Those who like a plucky cast of characters like those found in Brandon Sanderson's Elantris will appreciate this casts of historical archetypes. Those looking for more non-Regency, non-World-War-2 historical fiction like June Hur's The Forest of Stolen Girls will like this dive into the world of Vlad the Impaler.

I was so excited to read Heart of the Impaler. It had a great deal of promise, but didn't quite live up to it for me.

I did enjoy reading about the time period and location. I found the basic storyline to be a good one. Also, I'm a reader that enjoys a good love triangle. Unfortunately, to enjoy love triangles, you nees to feel invested in all three. characters. I had a difficult time feeling that way about these characters. In my opinion, the only one with any redeeming qualities was Andrei. But even he could be frustrating when he allowed himself to be Vlad's sidekick through most of the book and was often led into bad situations because of it. Sadly, I completely disliked Vlad. I found him to be selfish, entitled and arrogant. I'm sure this personality was intended because he was strongly written that way. It just didn't appeal to be in this scenario. Lastly, Ilona was difficult for me to connect with as well. I didn't dislike her character, but I didn't really feel much about her at all. She was just kind of "there" in my opinion.

Even though this book looked to be something special. It moved slowly for me and didn't keep me engaged. It was too easy o put this book down. It didn't feel as if a great deal of action took place. A large portion of this story ended up being events we we were being told about, instead of "experiencing." To truly connect to a storyline, you need to be pulled into a lot of the action so you can see how the characters are impacted by it. For me, this left a gap in my ability to enjoy the book.. I'm bummed because I really wanted to love it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review this book and the opinions contained within are my own.

Great read that blends historical fiction and nonfiction! Highly recommend it to fans of the genres and those looking to expand their reading circle. Purchasing for library.

4/5 stars, that was a great retelling of Vlad the impaler, but not as intense as some

Thank you Macmillan for the arc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

I'm seeing a lot of mixed reviews for this book, but I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I can see how it would be boring for some people, as the plot didn't have a TON going on. But the main reason that I really enjoyed this was the nostalgic feeling I got reading about Wallachia and Transylvania again. I first read about this era in 'And I Darken' by Kiersten White, and fell in love as I had never read about it before. This felt the same, and I knew a lot of the vocabulary in advance so it was easy to understand what was going on. I feel like this is one of the main reasons people didn't enjoy it.

This story follows Illona when she becomes betrothed to the voivode's eldest son, but knows that love and marriage are the least of her worries. There has already been an assassination attempt against her and tensions are rising among the boyers, as a possible war looms on the horizon. If anyone finds out about her growing affection for the younger Dracul brother Vlad or his cousin Andrei, the battle for her heart will be deadlier than the war.

That is a very vague synopsis, to say the least, but really that is the entire plot. I can see how some people would get bored with this very quickly, and I think that's totally valid. It took me a while to get into it, but that often happens with e-books for me as well. I honestly didn't mind the love triangle, but I think that was because I know what to expect from Vlad. It wasn't my favorite love triangle ever done but I didn't hate it. I did enjoy the war aspects of this book as well, not much was seen as all of the main characters are a bit younger, but it was still interesting. It wasn't as bloody as other Vlad the Impaler retellings I have read, but it almost got there. There was lots of betrayal in this book as well, just what I was hoping for from it!

Like I said before I really loved being back in the environment of Wallachia and Transylvania. It is a really unique place with a really unique time period. That combined makes a really interesting story. It was helpful even for me who knew some of the terms that the author included a glossary at the back of the book. I think this time period is one of my favorites, despite me only reading a few books from it. I highly recommend this book for that reason!

Vlad was nothing short of fearless and relentlessly brutal in this novel, but that's honestly how he is supposed to be. I went into this story expecting this, and so I felt fine with his character. It was accurate to what I expected, but I can totally see how some people would hate this. He wasn't likeable in the slightest, and wasn't even unlikeable in a good sense. The reader is supposed to hate his character and I think the author did a good job of this.

Andrei was my favorite character in this novel, he was so sweet and caring. I think he was a nice foil character for Vlad, and that was what he was intended to be. It was very fun to see his mind work out a problem compared to Vlad, as it as often better thought out. I wish there was a bit more from his perspective, but I'm glad the second part of the book tried to rectify that. He found the bravery in himself at the end and I was very happy for him.

Illona has been described in various reviews as plain, but I thought she was just fine. She wasn't completely "not like other girls" trope, as she never shamed other girls for what they enjoyed. She was just interested in birds and sciences, and knew how to defend herself. As well, she was a good character to be in the middle of the love traingle. It actually made sense why she would feel that way, especially coming to a new country. I did enjoy her character and was content with her ending.

Overall this book was a really fun time for me because of the nostalgia for me, but I can see how it wouldn't be as fun for some people. However if you want a quick historical fiction with a unique time period I highly recommend this book. It was fun and I finished it pretty fast once I got into it.

[TW: death of a family member, blood, depiction of war, injuries, death, torture (mentioned), animal injury]

Great premise. Not so great execution. And I understand that this is a debut novel, so I'm trying to not judge so harshly, but there's so much I would change about this.

I'm personally not a fan of love triangles, but I do know they can be effective if done right. And this love triangle was doomed from the beginning. The characters are pretty unlikable. Vlad is just a whiny brat and Ilona is boring as dirt. Andrei is really the only character I didn't find completely lacking. But even then I don't know why any of them liked each other because so much of their crucial interactions happen OFF PAGE. Which is a common occurrence for this story.

I was really looking forward to a story about Vlad the Impaler. But this isn't a story about him, it's a story about him vying for a girl's attention. And again, so much happens off page. I have no problem with this being a romance novel with a historic setting, rather than a historical fiction with a little side romance. Totally fine. But either way, the reader needs to experience the key events that support the overall plot. You can't just allude to it and expect the reader to get on board with the story you are trying to sell.

I do think the setting is cool, and there is some evidence of strong research, but the poorly developed characters (I honestly think if Vlad had been written differently, the entire story could have been turned around) and weak narrative make this hard to like. There's a lot of potential, but it's just sadly missing the mark in the areas that matter.

Thank you for this early e-arc. I really enjoy books with Dracula and so I was really excited to read this one. It was an easy read with fast pacing. Sadly, I never really got attached to any of the characters and didn't really feel that pulled to either love interest. I was so excited about the idea of a love triangle and this one had all the elements I just struggled liking Vlad. He really didn't have many redeeming qualities (if any). I struggled to understand why anyone wanted to be close with him. Some of the really pivotal scenes of the book took place off the page which was disappointing.

I think the author wanted to show the descent of Vlad into going mad and ruthless but his start point wasn't overly relatable or likeable so the transition of his character fell a bit flat. I think I'd have had a much more emotional response if I had seen something good about him. Some little seed of something.

I like Andrea more and he was probably the strongest character in the book for me. Ilonna wasn't overly likeable and she seemed sort of 2d. I wish there had just been a lot more depth to the characters.

Since the majority of this book was character and love story based it didn't overly work with me because I didn't' feel connected to them.

Heart of the Impaler is more of a Dracula love story vs a book with a lot of death and action. There was a bit of those, but not a lot. It's mostly a love triangle and seeing Vlad slowly become the person we know he is as he gets older. In this book, Vlad is a teenager and he's not the heir. He has an older brother, Mircea, that is the heir and a pretty horrible person. Mircea is definitely abusive and probably plays a big role in why Vlad becomes horrible.

You're nothing, Vlad. A mere speck. A name that history will forget. The sooner you learn that lesson and accept your insignificant place in Wallachia's royal hierarchy, the happier you'll be.

Vlad's father is also abusive and there are rumors that he has another child, also named Vlad. Vlad does have one ally. His cousin, Andrei, is Vlad's best friend and they get along well. Or they did before Ilona happened. Illona's family is new and her father surprised her by announcing her engagement to Mircea. Vlad finds that he's very attracted to her and almost becomes obsessed. Andrei also ends up with feelings for her, but that's after talking to her often. Vlad is confident that he can remove Mircea from the picture to get the girl and power, but he underestimated Andrei and his kindness.

I did actually enjoy the love triangle for this one and there were parts of the book that were exciting. But I wanted more and found myself not caring at times. Overall, I did like this one though.

I gave this book 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4 on Goodreads. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

Warnings for whipping/beatings/abuse, attacks, killing and death.