This was a cute and cozy autumn read. If anything, it took a bit too much inspiration from Howl’s Moving Castle, with many similar plot points, and spent too much time in exposition at certain points.

I was excited about the premise of Howl's Moving Castle but felt that this promise did not quite deliver.
I enjoyed the morally grey characters, and the idea of sorcerers and sorceresses taking hearts for their magic. The first three chapters set the scene perfectly, but then the story did not seem to go anywhere. The house felt like a pale imitation of Howl's house and lacked any originality for me. The magic was often told to us, rather than shown, which I was quite sad about. Overall, I felt the pacing could have been tighter and perhaps the book even shortened.

I tried so very hard to read this book. But after 2 months, I’m finally going to have to call it quits. I’m 24% through with the book, and not a single interesting thing has happened. That’s about 115 pages of absolute boredom. I tried to push through it. I’d take a break, read something else, and try to come back to it. But there is nothing about this story, nothing about the vague lore, nothing about the characters, that motivates me to continue.

I’d like to thank Net Galley for the Advanced Reader Copy.

The premise of A Harvest of Hearts really drew me in. Although I've never seen Howl's Moving Castle, I know the idea it. I'm just beginning my adventure into fantasy and this is an easy intro into the fantasy world without it having heavy world building.

Foss is a commoner from a village where female sorcerers come to visit from time to time. Those sorcerers come to snag bits and pieces of people's hearts to take back to their kingdom. No one really knows why they take their hearts, but those that are snagged eventually start feeling repercussions from it's magic and some eventually pass away. Foss does her best to avoid the sorcerers when they come to town, however, one day a male sorcerer comes and she is intrigued by him and he accidently snags a piece of hers.

Determined to find out why he took it, what he plans to do with it and get it back, Foss sets out to find him and demand answers. Along the way, she meets an adorably funny cat who can speak to her, a house that comes alive and can shape shift and a sorcerer, who might not be who she originally thought he was. All in all, it's a great story line and plot.

My issues with the book, however, are that the story line moves very slow in the first half of the book and then the 2nd half feels rushed. I believe there could have been a better balance to this and it would have helped with the relationship building between Foss and the sorcerer as that was also lacking in depth. I really wanted to see more of a romantic relationship develop between them and their interactions were minimal and not ones that would indicate an interest in one another. The writing itself was a bit lackluster for me. I felt a lot of words or phrases were being repeated over and over again and it became redundant. There was a lot of descriptions of things in the first quarter of the book that I feel were unnecessary and didn't add depth to the book and could have been left out as to help develop the plot instead. I honestly had a hard time continuing the story to the end because of the writing. Personally, it just didn't keep my interest enough and I almost DNF'd it several times, but I feel with the changes mentioned above, this could be a stellar book.

Thank you NetGalley, Andrea Eames and Erewhon Books for giving me an ARC copy to read and review. Best of luck to you and your book on release day!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For fans who love Howl’s moving castle.

I felt that the magic building was very easy to follow and I was engaged in the story right away.


Foss Butcher, a young woman who villagers never bat an eye to catches the eye of the first male sorcerer and is knocked off her feet, literally. She unfortunately, feels a pull to find the sorcerer. In their kingdom, female sorcerers steal the hearts of their people to use for magic. Foss knows this but still feels the pull to find the mysterious man.

Foss finds herself in a dark, magical house that will provide her with what she needs as long as she asks for it. With the help of a talking cat, she finally meets the dark sorcerer to discover how and why she feels the pull towards him.

This is a standalone fantasy.


Thank you to NetGalley and Andrea Eames for allowing me to read this ARC.

DNF - The plot seemed interesting when I first came across the book - it matched the many genres I was interested in, which led me to requesting for an arc. However, a few chapters in, I noticed the very slow pacing of this book - the narrative is filled with excruciatingly long dialogue between the characters and chapters, and the plot seems to be going in a direction I had no interest in. In addition to this, I feel as though there should be more paragraph breaks, as they seem very long and repetitive at times. Then again it could just be me and my particular taste in books - I think hardcore fantasy lovers would enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC copy of A Harvest Of Hearts.

The magic system of stealing hearts to use magic was quite intriguing. I absolutely loved Cornelius.

The story was a bit slow in the beginning but really picked up in the second half and had me completely hooked. I would have liked to see more POV's from Sylvester and to have seen the romance more flushed out.

"But you are wrong about some things too," he said. "I do not think you are ugly. I do not know what you mean by that. I must see things differently from you, I think. Perhaps it is because I am not quite human, as you have said. I don't see the incredible beauty that you describe in me and my sisters, because I can also see the wrongness in us that you have talked about. I see it in myself like a sickness, moving under the skin. And I see the rightness in you. You belong in the world, Foss. You are right to take up space in it, and move through it, and leave your mark on it. There is nothing about you that should be other than it is."

Maybe it's just me, but it is the first time I see a fantasy book with such bright red color on the cover, and it instantly draws me in. Although marketed as YA cozy fantasy, it seems that high-stake romantasy is more suitable and the YA part is obviously upper YA to New Adult. I haven't read nor watched <i>Howl's Moving Castle</i> so I don't know where the resemblance is, and I think it helps me enjoy and see the story as a breath of fresh air to be inhaled.

And the story is, indeed, a breath of fresh air. I like the unique magic system, the pairing of bold common person FMC and clueless magic person MMC, the worldbuilding, the snarky first point of view, the vivid description. Foss and Sylvester (and Cornelius)'s life inside The House feels manhwa-esque and is fun to follow. Maybe it's where the term "cozy" is taken, even though the overall experience is not, since it also has quite gruesome, graphic details (content/trigger warning is needed for this). The revelation is nicely done; I personally didn't see it coming.

I enjoyed the romance between Foss and Sylvester, however it's too late to start from sixty-seventy percent mark—I need the good parts to last longer and not end in a rush! The long introduction to the world makes some conversations or explanations feel repetitive. I am also not comfortable with the innuendo, like mentioning Cornelius' butthole that has nothing to do with the story or Foss telling us she's fantasizing Sylvester in her bed. To my surprise, Foss' self-loathing (or her view that she's ugly) doesn't bother me, and it is quite sweet when she realizes someone looks at her differently and she finally can see herself through his eyes.

A Harvest of Hearts offers a unique take on magic and opposites attract love adventure perfect for witchy fantasy lovers. Despite the pacing issue, it's an entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Andrea Eames, and the publisher for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

This is the kind of cozy fantasy I prefer. There is a coziness and intriguing plot that kept me wanting to read. The magic system was interesting. I have never read anything like it. The romance was really sweet. I can’t forget to mention the adorable cat and the sentient castle. The perfect book for the fall season.

I highly recommend it!

I enjoyed this book for sure a lot. I do have some small marks though.

The world building is absolutely great and i love the setting behind this story! It was easy to get into this story and I absolutely adore this magical world. The plot was kinda good but as i said maybe slightly confusing sometimes. As far as it comes to the slow burn we are promised, its kinda there , but is it a slowburn when she technically has no choice over her feelings? Im still deciding how i feel about that. Also Foss (the FMC) Kinda annoyed me somewhat with her constant critique on herself and her looks.

The cat was absolutely my favorite character in this entire book and he just brought the whole story together. I would die for Cornelius any day.

I did absolutely enjoy reading this book a lot and the story was refreshing and definitely gave me Howl's Moving Castle vibes!

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an arc -copy in exchange of an honest review.

This was a unique experience, the entire concept of a heroine who is not typically pretty or charismatic, awkward and disinterested hero, magic with a cots of life stealing and rotting away.

This was just the right balance of cozy fantasy and adventure! I think Eames did a great job setting up the world and had a really steady pace!

I could not connect with the slow paced story or main character and the decsions they made. I felt it was reminiscent of other stories.

Ugh. I finished A Harvest of Hearts. Finally. It wasn't bad... I get that the author was trying to do an old school fairy tale thing. It's just that the main character was so ugh. She had all these great qualities- she was smart, and loyal, and hardworking, and brave... but all she talked about what how ugly she was. I thought she'd eventually move past it, but 400 pages in she's all "and he loves me even though I'm still really ugly". 😖 She had other character growth. It's just that one thing she couldn't let go of and it ruined the entire story for me. I liked the world building, the magic house, the talking cat, the creepy sorceresses with heart magic. I even liked Foss (the MC). It's just that one thing that kept getting brought up that soured the book for me.

I admit, when I read the blurb that it was like Howl's Moving Castle, I was excited for this book. I mean I can see a bit of resemblance, though Foss was not really cursed per say, just hooked, with no change of appearance, to feel like she should follow the sorcerer who spotted her in the village. This book is a lot more adult though (with Foss's longings) and I did get a bit tired of her thinking all the time how ugly she is. That being said, I absolutely love Cornelius! He is so awesome and I love his thoughts and antics which really lighten up the situation of all three in also what I consider a cool house (not a moving one but fun rooms and things appearing as needed).

It does pick up to be more interesting around 50 percent. You finally get to see what is going on with the harvested hearts and more history about Sylvester and his sisters. Sylvester also gets a bit more of a personality (because he actually starts interacting with Foss) and I do like how they solve the whole harvesting hearts issue and the ending is sweet.

So, not as cute cozy as Howl's Moving Castle but a sweet story in the end. And I would love to have a talking cat like Cornelius!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

I feel a bit conflicted about my feelings of this book. The first half was very slow and I felt like I kept reading the same thing without moving anywhere in the story. The second half of the book had me hooked (or snagged might be more appropriate) and I flew through it and really enjoyed it.

It was a little disheartening how often Foss says she’s ugly (or some version of it), comparing herself to the beauty of the magic workers. While I understand that is a major part of the story because it was in her POV, it still felt redundant. I would have liked to see more of Sylvester’s perspective, because I think it would have offset a bit.

The world building was good, very descriptive and immersive. It is a very unique concept, and a great standalone fantasy.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

"A Harvest of Hearts" by Eames is a very obvious "Howl's Moving Castle" (Diana Wynne Jones) rip-off in terms of characters, plot and even world building. Our protagonist Foss is a butcher (Sophie is a hatmaker) whose ugliness singles her out from all the pretty girls in her small hamlet. In their kingdom, people are 'snatched' by beautiful sorceresses. These magic-workers take their hearts and leave the men (or sometimes women) they take as broken people. When Foss is then snatched by the only male magic-worker (who is as terrifyingly beautiful as his sisters), she leaves home to find him. Like Sophie Foss joins his household as the housekeeper and befriends the magic house as well as the magic cat (Calcifer was cooler). Sylvester (the sorcerer) is whiny and useless (Howl) but she falls in love with him anyhow even when the spell from her is lifted (yaaaay). Where Jones's prose and writing is fun and has hidden depth, the majority of this book just profits from the pacing and the fondness created through it's closeness to "Howl's Moving Castle". While it is more explicit with feminist topics and sex (not explicit, explicit, but female desire is mentioned etc.), I was overall disappointed. The ending was predictable, I would have wished that Foss had not fallen in love with her sorcerer after the spell had ended because he lacked characterisation and memorability. The world building did not make a lot of sense either and was left unexplored. I enjoyed reading the book nevertheless. It was easy to read, the pacing was alright and the tone was very close to the whimsical tone of "Howl's Moving Castle". 3 stars

So I was a little concerned about the Howl’s comp because it’s a common comp for books that are nothing like Howl’s… But this was really good! Definitely had a LOT of Howl’s vibes, both in the story and the characters, but I think Andrea Eames managed to make them her own. I really liked this!

Despite a bit of a slow start with quite a bit of exposition I ending up really enjoying this. It definitely takes inspiration from Howl’s Moving Castle and there are some nods to that story, but there are also fae vibes and really interesting world building that is uniquely its own.

I really loved the otherworldliness of the magic workers, their ability to enthrall and the horror adjacent side to their magic and identity. Our main characters are lovable, especially a certain cat familiar (honestly Cornelius was my favorite part). The magic wielders and their actions are horrific but their circumstances are complex. At the same time however there was a lot of repetitiveness; the story’s heroine Foss’s self doubt and the reasons for it were tiring and a bit overdone. The layers to this world were interesting to explore, both seen and unseen, as well as how the characters interacted and moved between those layers. The vibe is very fairytale-esque both fanciful and not straying from the darker elements of fairytales.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher. I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Another book that clearly surfaced from tropes and inspiration (Howl's Moving Castle) without actually delving much more past that. Lowkey, I'm tired of fantasy authors giving us the same recycled storylines and characters, slapping other names on it that they clearly got from the internet, and calling it a day. What has happened to originality, to writing because you actually want to create something unique and beautiful, instead of writing in the hope of you're gonna be popular with the romance readers of booktok. sigh. i just don't know man.