
Member Reviews

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the e-arc of this book!
I really enjoyed the first book in this duology and I was ecstatic when I got approved for the e-arc.
Unfortunately, the follow up did not quite live up to the first book. It was still a good time and a decent conclusion, it just fell a bit flat compared to the first book. Part of what I loved so much about the first book was the relationship and chemistry between Io and Edei. They spend the majority of this book separated, so I was missing that element. Overall, the duology is a quick fun read and I do recommend it!
Rating: 3.5 stars

Starting right where the first book ends, Io and Bianca are on the search for the gods, and Io's sisters who look to be in league with them. I liked this book better because you get to see more of the world as they go searching, even if it seems like a nightmare with Great Tides, acid rain, and chimerean beasts attacking. And there are some big secrets revealed and harsh truths that must be dealt with. It was nice to get to know Bianca better too. And both her and Io grew as they journeyed to the fabled city of Nanzy. The twists were quite explosive and the climax was awesome and quite unexpected to me, though I did guess how Io was going to destroy, or save the world. It lead to a satisfactory ending which touched on the tenacity and stubborn survival of the human race, even when faced with cataclysmic disasters. This was a fun duology that mixed mostly greek mythology and modern day very well and though it ended well, it would be nice to see another story later on to see how Io's choice ended up affecting everything.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers group for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!!
what's it about? ⬇️
Five weeks after fleeing her home in Alante after the disaster that befell the sunken city, Io and her companion--former mob boss and current problem Bianca Rossi--are on the hunt for evidence of the Gods, previously believed dead, who have manipulated other born around their world into doing their bidding. But as the constantly shifting state of the weather and an unhinged new mystery falling at their feet turn their search ever more perilous, and as Io's attention is repeatedly pulled back in the direction of Alante, the horror of her sisters' betrayal, and the fate thread connecting her to Edei that seems to be fraying, can she and Bianca solve this case before any more lives are lost?
my thoughts? ⬇️
I was an *avid* lover of the first book and all of the lore woven into the history of each different type of other born, and while all of that was still present in the sequel, I felt like this one *dragged* in comparison with the first. There were so many new characters to meet and new settings to be introduced to and new mysteries to try and solve while also trying to keep the old ones at the forefront of the story, and in a lot of ways, this one just didn't measure up.
As far as character writing goes, Hearts That Cut was another huge success, in my opinion. Io is such a wonderfully flawed main character with such a distinctive and sometimes unreliable point of view, and the way both her powers and her mind work are so fun to read. Along with that, Bianca Rossi both as a character on her own and as a semi-friendly companion to Io was *hilarious* at times. Both new and returning characters from the first were full of so much heart and nuance and put together a gorgeous cast to help round out the story even when it was struggling to get where it needed to, and the *romances* had me so giggly and happy every time they came up.
But even with the beautiful character work, this book was far from perfect. Some chapters had he same amazing, snappy action and banter of the first, and that was even more refreshing this time around thanks to the other chapters that were really just an overload of information with what felt like way too much focus put on overexplaining a situation.
With half stars, I'd give this one a 3.5⭐, but I've rounded up because I have too much love for the duology as a whole to see it lower than that.

This is the second part of the duology. Kika has done a great job world building, especially evolving the world - and the enemies - in this continuation of the Threads that Bind. I really enjoyed this and highly recommend reading this but start with the first one!

I loved this book and the series. I wish there was a third because I love the characters and the world that much. I highly recommend this book to others any chance I get. The world building and character arcs were very well done.

I loved this book immensely. The first book had a vibe that I don’t get from a lot of Greek mythology Retellings and I’m glad that Hearts That Cut didn’t lose it.
I’m excited to see what Kika Hatzapoulos writes next

Hearts that Cut is the sequel to Hatzopoulou's prior novel Threads that Bind and is conclusion of the duology. This one picks up 5 weeks after where its predecessor left off, with Io traversing across the land in vain to find the other end of the golden thread only to learn that somebody has snapped it. She is traveling with Bianca, and I liked how Hatzopoulou elaborates upon what we saw of their relationship in the first book. We see them truly beginning to work through their differences and even seeing glimmers of friendship in each other.
I felt like the relationships in this book were done really well overall, and all the loose threads (no pun intended) were wrapped up nicely. Hatzopoulou expounds upon Io's relationship with her sisters Ava and Thais by delving a bit more into Io's childhood, exploring how her sisters were there for her but also where they let Io down. Thais was also portrayed in a somewhat more sympathetic light here, which I thought was interesting. Hearts that Cut also continues to play with the idea of Io having a fate thread with Edei. We see the beginnings of their relationship in the first book, but here we get to see it progress into something truly romantic. The thriller element holds strong in this sequel too, with Io getting roped into PI-type work even as she's traveling. Now, teenagers and young adults are going missing in a peculiarly particular pattern, and Io gets roped into the investigation. I found the presented evidence relating to the disappearances puzzling, and Io's attempt to solve it intriguing.

Hearts That Cut is a powerful and evocative exploration of love, loss, and the emotional scars that shape our identities. The novel follows its protagonist through a series of poignant and often painful encounters, examining the complexities of relationships and the inner turmoil of the heart. The writing is raw, lyrical, and deeply introspective, pulling the reader into a world of emotional intensity and vulnerability. The author deftly balances moments of beauty and heartbreak, crafting a narrative that is as tender as it is brutal. Ultimately, the book is a reflection on how our hearts, though wounded, continue to yearn for connection. It's a reminder of the fragility of the human experience.

**Review of *Hearts That Cut* by Kika Hatzopoulou**
⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)
*Hearts That Cut* by Kika Hatzopoulou is a contemporary romance that delves into the complexities of love, healing, and personal growth. The novel tackles difficult themes of heartache and emotional scars, with a focus on the journey to finding love again after pain. Hatzopoulou’s writing is heartfelt and evocative, capturing the emotional turmoil of the characters.
However, while the story has depth and offers some poignant moments, the pacing can feel slow at times, with sections of the narrative dragging on a bit. The characters, though relatable, lacked some complexity that would have made me feel more invested in their emotional development. The romance, though touching, felt somewhat predictable and didn’t fully draw me in as I had hoped.
Overall, *Hearts That Cut* is a solid, emotional read for fans of contemporary romance, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of character development and pacing. It’s a nice story, but may not leave a lasting impression for readers seeking something more unique or gripping.

While this was a successful sequel, I would caution anybody reading this to read the first book. Otherwise, you will be lost and confused and feel this book will take a lot longer than you think it should be. That said, there were parts that could have been cut or smoothed out. There were also many parts that were unique and the new characters that were allies were great.
It is not for the faint of heart with being filled with death, violence, and war. However, a very satisfying read.

Thank you Penguin Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I will forever think of the magic system in this duology, I LOVED it. I wasn’t in the mood for a fantasy when I read this second book and I think that largely impacted my reading experience (rookie mistake).
In this second book the love thread between the main characters is cut and suddenly they’re don’t know if they have enough to keep them together without it. That bothered me. I know the love thread was a bit part of their reason they were in each other’s lives but when it was gone they just…gave up for a chunk of the book.
I also know that this book isn’t primarily a romance, it’s a fantasy first with a sprinkle of romance but I did find myself wanting more of the romance.
So when the ending came I found myself wanting just a bit more. Book 1 just totally rocked my world that it put a lot of pressure on book 2.
It’s still worth the read but go into it knowing romance is not center stage in this story.

3.25 stars! I really enjoyed this duology, but felt as though the beginning of this book was slow compared the first book. I love the main characters and enjoyed the timid, real love that Io and Edei shared. I wish I was more connected to the story, but I really liked the high stakes and how everything came together by the end.

I kept wanting more from this sequel.
I quite enjoyed the first book in this duology, Threads That Bind. The unique use of mythology to establish a magic system drew me in immediately. So, I was exited to explore more additions to that system in this second book.
What I felt was missing in this sequel was the relationships. The story started off good as we follow the new relationship between unlikely pair, Io and Bianca, which seemed promising. However, by the end of the story I felt that that relationship had fizzled when it came to keeping my interest. And most of all, I found the relationship between Io and Edei quite lacking. This romantic relationship was quite a focus in the first book, but I felt that it lacked in depth or importance in this sequel.
The plot line itself felt fine to me, it gave quite a bit of excitement versus inner monologue and struggle. However, I just kept finding myself wanting more. More depth. More relationships. More intrigue.
Lastly, the ending. Personally it was not enough for my taste. It felt a bit rushed to be resolved for me and I hadn’t even realized it was the end of Io’s story - I thought there might have been another book coming. Now, I did enjoy this read overall, but I definitely could have used more exploration of characters to make it a stronger read for me.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

The sequel to THREADS THAT BIND, HEARTS THAT CUT follows Io as she searches for the god on the other end of the golden thread, which leads Io and Bianca to Nanzy, where they have to team up with their allies to uncover and stop a centuries-old plot.
After finishing THREADS THAT BIND, a book I found exhilarating and addicting from start to finish, I have to admit I found HEARTS THAT CUT a bit disappointing.
The pacing of this book wasn’t as well done as the previous book; I found the beginning dragging on a bit too long while the ending felt entirely too rushed.
The romance between Io and Edei stayed as sweet as it was in the previous book, so it was always a breath of fresh air to see those two interact.
The characterization that excelled in the first book was missing a bit here as well. I didn’t feel like we got as good of a sense of who our new characters were, especially compared to the excellent characterization in THREADS THAT BIND.
I felt the ending to THREADS THAT BIND was a bit rushed, and unfortunately, I felt that was the case in HEARTS THAT CUT as well. In the last 100 pages, the story exploded with revelations and fight scenes, which I enjoyed, but it felt like we were scrambling to keep up with everything that was going on. During the ending, I had a hard time keeping track of where the characters physically were in the scene and what was happening.
Everything wrapped up really quickly, and it all felt a bit convenient, which is always frustrating for me in a book (let alone a series) ending. We didn’t get much closure or even an epilogue to see what happened to the characters after the ending, which had me briefly wondering if this was truly a duology or if there was going to be a third book.
I can confirm there will not be a third book, but I do wish we’d had a more satisfying conclusion for these characters we’d come to know and love.
A bright spot in both novels was Hatzopoulou’s writing style. She has a very poetic and lyrical way of writing that sucks you in quickly and keeps you turning the pages, eager for more.
Overall, I would recommend reading this duology; I think the concept is unique, and I like Hatzopoulou’s twist on mythology; I just wish this sequel had lived up to the excitement of its predecessor.
Thank you to Netgalley and Razorbill for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book, but this second one didn't work for me as well as I wanted it too. I still enjoyed it, but I felt confused for way longer than I expected, and it wasn't that I had forgotten book one, there was just WAY too much going on and new random information. I did really enjoy the sweet romance, that was still one of the best parts of the book, but the sister relationship was just very strange and the whole plot twist at the end fell flat for me. The ending felt like there SHOULD be another book, but no, it is a duology, which is disappointing. It is still good, but just not great and not what I wanted I guess, but I will read more from this author.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want to read an entire 300+ page sequel that could’ve been two chapters tacked onto book one?
On my do not read list.
Pre-reading:
I thought the first book was a perfectly fine mediocre YA bucket fantasy so I was like fine, I’ll pick up the sequel and give myself closure. And now I’ve been putting it off for months. I don’t really remember anyone in the first book other than that chick I renamed Mafia Barbie, and so help me god, if she’s not a huge part of this, I’m gonna be pissed.
(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
What do you mean? The windows meowed. What the shit.
No, I give up. I literally have to reread book one. They're not recapping at all. That's so rude.
If you want a satirical play by play of book one, see my review for Threads That Bind. If you also need a quick tldr before starting book two, here you go. I’m such a giver, you're welcome.
TLDR//The wraiths supported YSL’s proposal for a magic detective squad before they were turned. The muses hired Horatio to kill the women who have now become wraiths years ago before the riots, but he didn't. The wraiths are killing people with magic who YSL tried and failed to prosecute for criminal activity. But plot twist, Io’s sister, Thais, was actually behind everything. An unnamed corrupt god told her to weave together all the life threads of people descended from the Furies to make their species come back after they were killed in a genocide masterminded by the muses and executed by Bianca. The wraiths/furies have actually been executing all the magic users who participated in the genocide. Thais turned Bianca into a Fury and let her kill the muses. Io and Bianca are going to follow the thread linking Thais to her god, so they can find the real big bad of this story. And like Io’s boyfriend’s got a boo boo, so he's staying behind, but he’ll just find her when it’s convenient for the plot thanks to their true love. The end.
Also, I didn't hate rereading this. The book’s messy and not super accessible for a YA audience, but the plot and politicking is good. Thais is a great villain. I love Bianca. I could just give a shit about the romance. Book two commencing now:
What’s up with the leopard brat hats haha?
As always once I bitch a sequel doesn't have a recap and resign myself to rereading the first book, it recaps a few pages later.
Wow, this chapter is so annoying. I’m like can we just get to the point? I don’t even know if any of this information is useful. It doesn’t seem like it. I don’t care what they did on the road.
Like what’s the point of this scene? This has nothing to do with the plot. Like OK, there’s hybrid monsters in the world. We done been knew.
Hot topic bartender should’ve been cut.
Oh great, another random, irrelevant city. Why didn’t we just START there?
The way I’ve been calling him lover boy for my summary, and now even the book just called him that.
Here’s the thing, I want closure, and I’m incapable of DNFing anything, but we’re 25% in, and nothing has happened. We could’ve skipped all of this. I don’t wanna read this.
How did they make Bianca boring? She was such a badass in the first book. Now she just seems incompetent and whiny.
You had your chance to world build in book one. None of this is relevant to the plot. I don’t care what random dystopian environment you’ve imagined for your post apocalyptic world if it’s not directly relevant. (We don’t even stay in that city. There is literally no point!)
Eros mobsters? I’m listening.
Wow, so we could’ve cut all of part one and lost absolutely no content.
‘She left out unnecessary details’ and then proceeds to summarize all of part one that we just fucking read that we didn’t need because we also could’ve just been given this summary.
Camaraderie-I mean🎶
This is unbelievably slow.
How many fucking times are they gonna re-summarize book one for us?
She really said flash mob. For the plot. I hate it here.
Title drop
That was the least useful conversation. They’ve had all book and I’m still of the opinion that literally no plot has gone on that we didn’t know about from book one. Raise a single stake. Give me a single new plot thread to resolve. I am begging you.
Bianca deserves so much better than Ava, be so for real. I’m so tired of her libra bullshit.
I’m nine out of three hours in, and I’m still like this could’ve been two additional chapters to book one. We are completely spinning our wheels plot wise. We have not learned anything new. We keep restating the same things over and over.
Can you look like a radio show?? I feel like that would be more like you sound like a radio show.
Smooch sounds ridiculous in a fantasy.
You know what we don’t need at 90%? New, irrelevant characters.
Moccasins are asinine. Also, does she just mean loafers???
I don’t believe for a second that Bianca’s actually evil.
Dude, this is so bad.
Post-reading:
This could’ve been two chapters tacked onto book one. What a colossal waste of time.
After the first book genuinely had twists, I was looking forward to the conclusion. It’s exactly what you think it will be. Like every other YA fantasy, our chosen one teenage girlypop Mary Sue and her ragtag group of besties naively overthrow the government, and like they can just totally lead it now and everything will be fixed. Grow up.
The family drama and nuanced emotional abuse in book one? Ditch it, we’re getting no payoff.
The writing is gratingly repetitive. We summarize book one, and the “events” of book two for what has to constitute at least 50 pages.
And what fucking events? Nothing happens in this book except for its obvious conclusion. We traveled around a few irrelevant cities and learned nothing new about the world that we hadn’t already been told about in book one. Not a single character developed. In fact, I’d argue characters got worse and flatter.
What did we get? A handful of names and powers that, you guessed it, weren’t even necessary to solve book one’s remaining problem.
There’s really nothing here. Don’t bother picking this up. Make your formulaic assumptions about book one’s ending, stop there, and save yourself a few hours of your life that you’ll never get back.
Who should read this:
People who need closure from book one
Ideal reading time:
Anytime
Do I want to reread this:
Nope.
Would I buy this:
Nope.
Similar books:
* Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross-tone deaf, series ruining sequel
* Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool-generic YA fantasy romance with a whodunnit
* Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton-YA fantasy romance with a whodunnit
* Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker-YA urban fantasy, politicking
* Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torz-urban fantasy, family drama
* The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo-generic fantasy romance, gods and monsters
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a harder time getting into this one than the first. The first half was slow and hard to keep focused on what the actual plot was. Then the second half seem rushed with all the plot piece needed to finish the story.
I did enjoy watching Io character arc grow and she becomes more self aware and independent. Her choices to not let fate rule her life and the wrap up of the story was well done.

A stunning way to end a duology!! I loved seeing all the characters reunite once more. While it took me a while to remember everything again, I was a little taken back by the ending. I've had both good and bad experiences with duology's before. This ending was abrupt, and the actions they took seemed far too risky for my taste. I would've really liked some additional closure, if that was even possible. Overall, a good way to end but not the best. I look forward to Hatzopoulu's other future works.

Hearts That Cut picks up seamlessly right where Threads That Bind left off, plunging readers back into the action with Io and Bianca as they traverse the Wastelands, following a divine gold thread with no clear destination in sight. The story continues its gripping, fast-paced momentum, maintaining the blend of crime noir with fantastical elements drawn from Ancient Greek mythology and a touch of dystopia. This unique fusion keeps the narrative fresh and engaging.
What truly stands out in Hearts That Cut is the worldbuilding. As we venture beyond Alante, it’s evident that the author has crafted a rich and well-thought-out world. Each city-state and region has its own distinct feel, complete with unique societal rules. While some of these rules might echo one another, they’re deeply rooted in the cultures and landscapes of their respective areas, adding depth and complexity to the world.
In terms of action, book two steps it up a notch. The story never slows down, with a constant sense of urgency and tension as Io and Bianca are caught in an ongoing investigation. The stakes are high, and the sense of danger and discovery keeps readers on edge throughout. The romantic tension between Io and Edei, while still present, takes a back seat in this installment. However, the emotional depth remains, and the angst from the first book continues to simmer without relying on overused tropes like amnesia.
The conclusion of Hearts That Cut is satisfying and well-earned, offering a resolution that feels true to the journey the characters have been on. Overall, this book builds upon the strong foundation of the first, raising the stakes and delivering an unforgettable adventure with complex characters, rich world-building, and a captivating plot.

Thanks NetGalley for the arc! I enjoyed the end of this duology, but not as much as the first one, so it's a 3.5 that I'm willing to round up because the prose is really fun. The first third was a little slow, though I enjoyed Bianca and Io as a duo, then things pick up until ending rather suddenly at the end. I feel like we didn't delve enough into the world and all the interesting concepts. the idea of the otherborn is so good!!! But I feel like I didn't learn much about any of them. It would have been nice to know what happened after the final conflict as well - we really don't any of the consequences of their actions. Overall still a fun book, love the concepts and most of the writing.