I receive this book as an ARC

A solid 4-star. I like it and find it compelling and refreshing in both the plot and the setting.
"The Crack at the Heart of Everything" is a simple story, almost quite cosy (if you ignore the apocalypse and the literal hell on earth), with a heavy emphasis on character development and their inner struggle. Or, well, our dear protagonist Orpheus’ inner struggle.
The story is presented as being the redemption arc of a villainous wizard, but that is what Orpheus thinks is happening while in reality, the story is about a traumatized man who made poor choices in his life and his growth now that is no longer in that abusive situation.

Now, I guess, one can find Oprheus a little whiny, but a man having a 200 pages mental breakdown while he’s re-evaluating all his life choices and realizing the multiple ways life traumatized him and how he had tried to not think about them (all of this while being touch-starved) is tailormade for me so I can’t be objective about it.
Fenrir’s characterization doesn’t always work for me (for example is very good at reading Fifi and at communicating but somehow he never noticed that Orpheus was convinced that he sincerely hated him? ) but he’s a big giant sunshine loyal and heroic man so, everything is forgiven.
In general, I found the entire cast well done and on the emotional side of the story, I have very little to complain.

The plot is, in a couple of situations, a little deus-ex-machina solved or with coincidences a little too coincident, but it works and does its job. There are some clever points and some well-done foreshadowings, so while it’s an emotional and character-driven story, it’s not a slow one.
The theme of redemption and the romance would have probably enjoyed some extra scenes in the pre-exile section, but for a standalone book, and one that, for once, isn’t 500 pages, I would say the pacing is ok.

Also, whoever is calling this Insta-love hasn’t read some really famous romantasy, those are insta-love. This is a romance about one of them thinking they’re in an enemies-to-enemies situation bc they don’t have a healthy relationship to compare or any knowledge about people, while the other is already thinking about naming their children yesterday.

Now let us talk about my favourite part: THE SETTING.
Without spoilers, the setting is so interesting and refreshing, and the book is quite good at not showing all its cards right away. You start to pick the weirdness at the start but only after some time, you get the full picture. My only is that the ending of the book makes it very difficult to have more of the setting and I WANTED MORE (XD)

So yeah, I liked it and if you’re in for some hurt/comfort, you’ll be into “The Crack at the Heart of Everything" too.

Thank you to the author and Tiny Fox Press for the ARC!!! This is my honest review!

Rating: 3.75 rounded up

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the world building we got to see and the fact that it was dystopian fiction really helped me to get hooked from page one.

As far as writing goes, I really liked the interludes we got to see in between the chapters, that showcased the relationship between Orpheus and Lore. I love the writing that just gives smidges of events and has build up over time. One of the things I found a bit confusing though was that at times the writing of the sequence of events became a bit "choppy", like the author would be aware of certain events but we, as readers, would not get the same depth in the description of them, and that took away from the immersion for me a bit, without however having a big negative impact overall.

When it comes to characters, I loved Orpheus and Fenrir. Their relationship bloomed naturally and it was so good to see them getting closer. I adored the fact that Fenrir fell first and saw Orpheus as he was and also took time to get him to see that too. And Orpheus, poor man, he was so broken, but seeing him interact with Fenrir and getting to love him and himself was everything.

I did not like Lore's character though. I felt that she lacked some depth that would make her a compelling villain. Maybe if there were some more interactions with her, outside of the flashbacks, so we could see her more in action, justifying the climax of the book (but again this is my opinion entirely 😅)

Overall, it was a very enjoyable book (I literally finished it in a day) and a great debut!! Looking forward to seeing more of the author's work in the future!

this book landed somewhere around the 3 star mark for me.

this was just wasn't the book i thought i was going to be reading based on the premise that was sold. orpheus, for as much as he was marketed as a villain, was never really that much of one. yes, he had done some things that were bad, but they were done with an odd sense of naivety wherein he just wasn't aware of the true effects of his actions. orpheus was marketed as a evil sorcerer in need of redemption, but was never really actively villainous in any way and as such the redemption arc never really felt like much of one as we sympathise with orpheus very early on.

much of this book was also orpheus being emotional and weepy over the same issues over and over again. like ok, i love to see men in fantasy be emotionally vulnerable but seeing orpheus angst over the same things we had just seen him spiral over got very repetitive, very fast. fenrir was also just a little too ,,, for lack of a better word, good. we don't really get to see much of why he ticks, and why he has such an unerringly strong belief in orpheus being a good person. he just lacked a bit of nuance for me. their romance was sweet, but we miss a lot of its development. why did fenrir like orpheus in the first place? why was orpheus convinced fenrir hated him?

i also had a bone to pick with the setting of this world— once i realised it was set in a post-apocalyptic version of our own, a lot of questions were raised. where did the knowledge of industry and technology go? why use swords if guns were still an option? where did orpheus learn his magic and sigils from? why was ohm even summoned in the first place? what war was fought, and against what? as readers we are just dropped in the middle of the action, which isn't an inherently bad thing, but it made character's references to past events and the motivations and reasonings for certain actions difficult to understand.

a couple more little things that i'll admit are nit-picky— some turns of phrase were used excessively in this. in the first 20% of the book orpheus sneered in what seemed like every sentence. rim-pale was another descriptor that was used too much, as i honestly don't think fenrir's eyes were described as being anything else. i also picked up the comparison of fire being anathema to ice being used a little heavy-handedly throughout the book. and my last little thing— the epilogue was not an epilogue!

in short, a lot of aspects in this book from the characters to the setting to the events of the war, felt like they needed a little more context and a little more background to really build a sense of immersion and investment in the story. in saying all this though, this book did have some moments of amazing prose and character moments that really stood out. fenrir and orpheus' romance was really sweet, and i loved red as a side character as well. the pacing of the last half of the novel was also really well done, and had me turning the pages to see where the story would take me.ultimately this is a cosy, fantasy read and a pretty solid debut novel!

thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I feel awful, but this one is a DNF for me - I just couldn't get into the story. I enjoyed the prose and I still find the concept intriguing so I am going to class this as a 'it's not you, it's me' for now and I would like to come back to it! I struggled following the worldbuilding a bit though and that paired with not being totally invested in the characters had me put the book down and not pick it back up.

Thank you to Tiny Fox Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

In theory, I liked The Crack at the Heart of Everything. It was well executed, with some really fascinating worldbuilding and some lovable characters.
That said, there were a few things that keep me from giving it five stars, This might be personal preference, but I really just think Orpheus should have been... worse. I don't know, for a book that's supposedly about "a former villain finding redemption", Orpheus just felt incredibly easy to sympathise with basically from chapter 2 onwards, and even a lot of his bad actions from before the book took place, are framed in a way that makes the reader sympathise with him right away, which I think made the redemption arc not hit as well as it could have.
I am going to get vaguely spoilery from here onwards, not so much about things that happen in the books but about things that don't!
To illustrate my point, let's take Fenrir. Fenrir is clearly a Good Boy Extraordinaire, and he is convinced right away that Orpheus is good, and never falters in his belief. I think having Orpheus prove that he's really a villain, to have done something bad enough that even Fenrir has a moment of doubt, only to reach the conclusion that actually Orpheus has the potential to be good, would probably make the whole redemption theme hit harder.
By contrast, Lore, who seems like a very interesting character, comes off as almost cartoonishly evil by the end, which makes you empathise even more with Orpheus. If every bad thing Orpheus has done was done to please his only friend, who was actually manipulating him and taking advantage of him all along only to then cast him aside, then I don't really think he even needs redemption, he just needs better taste in friends.
And I don't even think the story this book is telling is necessarily bad - realising that you can actually do good in the world despite what you've led yourself to believe, rising up to fix a world you were misled into breaking - but it is a slightly different story from what the book was advertising itself as, which threw me for a little bit of a loop.
Overall though, as you can guess from the four stars, I still liked this novel! The romance is sweet, the worldbuilding is really cool, and even the side characters feel fully fleshed out and developed. Just don't go in expecting the most dramatic redemption arc of all time, but rather an emotional story about recognising your own potential for good.

Provided by netgalley for a free and honest review.

I'm so sad about this but this didn't work for me. I requested this as soon as I saw it because the blurb sounded amazing. And it seems I'm in the minority, but I feel like this book didn't know what it wanted to be.

I think there were a lot of moments that felt very contrived. First of all, there didn't feel like there was a lot of depth. You have no real time to connect to the characters or their emotions before the initial catalyst of Orpheus being exiled from the palace. You're just dropped into it all with no explanation for anything. There's an attempt to make us understand the relationship between Lore and Orpheus through very boring flashbacks, but frankly, it didn't work. It just really pressed home the point of Lore bad! Without really adding anything to the story.

I actually liked the romance dynamic but again it just felt as if we'd missed a lot of development. We don't get to see these people interact before the plot. Orpheus believes they dislike each other but we don't get to see it! We don't get to see the banter! We just get to see Fenrir saving Orpheus in the same way over and over again.

Also I feel like this would have worked better if it had been just a straight up fantasy. The constant mention of 'the incident' which, honestly, just reminded me of the show LOST, with literally no explanation whatsoever...this is what I mean when I say it felt contrived. It was like trying to find a reason for the plot to exist.

This book was well thought out! I enjoyed reading it, despite taking a bit of time to get hooked. I loved the setting and the two main characters. I wish we could have gotten to learn more about the other characters, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This book indulges my brooding storm cloud/sunshine ship trope and it is amazing.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Crack at the Heart of Everything was pretty well written, just not the right story for me.

I was expecting Orpheus to be more villainous from how this story is marketed, and was kind of disappointed to see that he never does anything truly evil with feeling: sometimes he does bad things, (including ripping a portal to hell into the earth) but he still feels more like a good person from the very beginning, internal monologue wise. I was hoping for something more compelling, I suppose.

Orpheus is almost immediately remorseful of his actions, which isn't a bad thing - only that there is less of a struggle between his urges to be good and his history of being evil than I hoped for. It doesn't really feel like we earn his redemption. He is 'evil' for ten percent of the book, and it leads to poignant moments of goood being less impactful to me.

His and Fenrir's relationship is very insta-love. There is some nice tension in the beginning, and it gets mostly resolved by the middle. I did enjoy their romance, but it felt very fast to me.

The ending was also fairly weak. I didn't really care about the very last chapter, honestly, and would have rather seen the future than the past.

All in all, I did enjoy moments though. There were several pieces I highlighted, because they were well written prose and dialogue. I did like the side characters, like Red, though I don't think they got enough fleshing out.

There was strong potential for this book; the story itself was interesting, but in the end it wasn't world-shattering for me. It felt more like a romance book with fantasy as a side, than a fantasy-romance.

4.5!

Initial thoughts:

I wasn’t quite sure what to think of this novel when I first began reading, but I have to say from the first line, I was intrigued by where this story was going. I did feel the start was a bit slow. Granted, there is a reason for this, but I remembered that this is primarily advertised as a character-driven story, thus removing all expectations for an out-of-this-world plot (although I was quite invested in what ended up being the plot of the story) I focused on the characters and truly enjoyed the journey.

Final thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. I found it fun to read and I was excited to keep reading it when I put it down. It’s not perfect by any means, but I do not regret my time at all. I thought the romance was nicely handled. For the non-spice readers, there is a sex scene that is written with a lot of grace and focuses more on feelings than explicit details. I thought that decision worked for the type of story this was. If you want a story that is focused solely on a character's journey, then this book is for you! I 100% recommend giving it a try!

This was a very enjoyable read for me. I love Orpheus, and I loved pretty much every interaction that he had with Fenrir. They're great examples of the grumpy x sunshine dynamic, and I would probably read a whole book that was just about the two of them, with no other conflict or plot needed. That being said, I did also enjoy the world building, the creatures, and the magic of the world that The Crack at the Heart of Everything takes place in. Fiona Fenn built a dynamic and captivating world.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

A beautifully crafted fantasy where those who conquered had to lose what they gained, to receive what they were missing. Filled with drama, romance, action and adventure!

The first few pages in this book start off confusing. We’re literally thrown into Orpheus’ world without any background or world building. And yet, this works because Orpheus had never left his residence until he’s banished by his one friend, Lore. As Orpheus enters the world with Fenrir at his side, he not only learns about himself but also the world he helped shape. Written beautifully through Orpheus’ eyes and ears, a futuristic world is created that is a wasteland filled with monsters, dragons, magic and death.

This story has a unique plot. A dark mage who helped raise the strongest army from hell, banished due to a curse, yet accompanied by the ex-general to break the curse. Although romance is a factor in this story, the story is driven by the plot and progresses at an even pace. There’s never a dull moment, with new information being relayed; unexpected twists and turns; and near death experiences. Also, I loved the concept of interludes which were little chapter flashbacks into the past. They supported the story and character profiles while also giving the present events more meaning and emotions.

Orpheus needs a hug and I’m glad Fenrir showered him with many hugs and kisses throughout because he deserves it. Their relationship was pure and enjoyable. It was easy to love both characters and their interactions. What started as friendly banter, became more intense and protective near the end, in a good way. They complemented each other and I loved seeing them relish in the comfort of each other. I wish we got to see them post the ending of this book and what became of their daily lives.

There are also many other characters in this story. Lore and Red are two main ones that are frequently mentioned. I have mixed feelings about Lore but it’s not as if I can’t understand where she comes from, though ruthless killing is not acceptable. Red, on the other hand, is a strong and smart character but also one who is brave and understanding. If this was a series, I personally would have loved to read their stories, from their perspectives. I think it would be interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and recommend everyone to give it a try! It’s beautifully written and well executed. The story has a unique plot and the romance is pure.

Really enjoyed the book thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this and have a chance to fall in love with the book

A cozy read?

What even qualifies as a cozy read anymore? Is it a low-stakes book that holds your attention, or one that gives you warm, fuzzy feelings? Now, I don’t think this book was necessarily meant to be a cozy read (or was it??), but the beginning felt slow—almost boring at times—yet still interesting enough to keep me going. It was definitely a slow read for me, though not necessarily a bad one. I had several issues with it, but they were the kind I could easily ignore and just keep going.

Without going into any spoilers, there are A LOT of things in this book that just don't make sense or leave you going, huh...did I read that right? This is mostly related to the world-building, as it's hard to pin down exactly what kind of world is being created.

Why so nice?

I went into this expecting an evil wizard, but instead, I got a moody, crying wizard. Sure, Orpheus has done some evil things, but rather than coming off as an all-powerful dark sorcerer, he gave more of a petulant child vibe. Even the evil things he did were done with this weird lack of awareness about just how bad they were. This really watered down the so-called "redemption arc" as well. I was promised an evil, dark wizard, and that is not what I got.

I struggled to like or care about any of the characters in this book. A lot of things were left unanswered, and many aspects felt like they needed more background. Because of that, I wasn’t really invested in the relationship between the two main characters either.

But would I still buy it?

Yes! For all the weirdness in this book, it's still a debut novel, and the author clearly has talent when it comes to writing. While this wasn’t an amazing read for me, I did enjoy the prose and would definitely pick up another series by this author. Also, I absolutely adore the cover of this book.

*Blog post scheduled for 9/13~

if you want a queer mm fantasy set from the villain’s pov with a grumpy/sunshine, more so adversaries than enemies to lovers, dark wizard x golden retriever warrior romance, magic battles and quests, a dragon, and one hell of a villain redemption arc then look no further!!!!

𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙊𝙧𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧—𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩.

this debut standalone fantasy has strong world building and a unique magic system. in the sole pov of the ‘villain’, we’re given interludes throughout with flashbacks that help further the main storyline. whilst it took me a little to get into it at the start—this was definitely a me thing and not due to the book—as i got further into the book i couldn’t put it down.

𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙.

we have a strong cast of characters throughout that i LOVED. but of course orpheus and fenrir have my entire heart. though i loved the epilogue, i would’ve loved to see a snippet of the couple in the months or years succeeding the conclusion of the story.

again, this is a DEBUT fantasy standalone!!! it was so well built and well written; i’m definitely looking forward to what comes next from the author.

thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this. this rating and review are voluntary, and all opinions are my own.

This was a fun read, focused more on the characters and their relations and how it all develops. The characters themselves are interesting, if limited in scope (there's only a few named characters and a handful that are actually discussed at length). Those that do get screen time however are fun and well developed. I did think the plot resolved too quickly and too neatly, and wished more time had been dedicated to world building, the glimpses we do see of how the setting came to be were really interesting and I wanted more.

I'm so glad I read this book! The cozy romance vibes and interesting world building made it really unique and enjoyable! The characters were loveable and interesting and I love the way Fenn layered a fantasy world over a version of our own.

This book is a delightfully snarky, heartwarming mix of magic, redemption, and unexpected romance. Orpheus, a cursed and exiled dark wizard, is such a lovable mess as he fumbles his way through redemption while falling for his charming ex-rival. The banter is fantastic, and the redemption arc feels truly earned. Plus, the romance between Orpheus and the ex-general is both swoon-worthy and full of great chemistry. If you're into character-driven fantasy with humor and heart, this is a great read to dive into!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for giving me the chance to read an arc of this book!

Sadly this book was not entirely for me. I actually struggled a little with how to review it, because I can see how this may REALLY appeal to someone else, and I don't think it deserves a low rating at all. It's full of great things, from a very grumpy/ sunshine pairing, an interesting world, a cool magic system, and much brooding and sad-boying and redemption.

I can't 100% pinpoint why I couldn't get into it. Sometimes there are just books that have everything you love, are well-written and neat, and they are still not for you. Perhaps it was me not meshing with the prose, or the characters not entirely hitting my vibe, or maybe the narration just swerved away from the way I prefer my narration to be. I simply struggled to get myself to pick it back up after I set it down and, after dragging my feet for a while, decided the book is just not right for me.

I will definitely still check out what else the author writes in the future, though, and am very sorry for not finishing this!

(Dnf at 30% ish)

I am finding myself so taken by this story that I’m going to have to read it again, and again and again.

Orpheus, the evil mage at the hand of Empress Lore suddenly finds himself banished as the curse he bares becomes a burden in Lore’s new peaceful court, a curse he bares as a side effect of helping his best friend come to power.

But when Lore’s General Fenrir escorts him into banishment he finds himself on a journey of enlightenment, redemption and love as he untangles the truth behind the Crack at the Heart of Everything.

This book is set 300 years after a massive incident has caused devastation right across the planet, and seamlessly brings together elements of sci-fi and fantasy.
Im not to sure if the world building was minimal, or if I was so wrapped up in the love story and the internal monologue of the mmc that I missed it, but I would have liked to see a bit more world building.

4.5 stars (rounded up for GR)
Thank you to NetGalley, Author Fiona Fenn and publisher Tiny Fox Press for access to this ARC

I picked up a digital ARC of this book based on the cover design, the title—and yes, the synopsis. Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Fox Press for giving me the opportunity to check this out early. I truly enjoyed my time with The Crack at the Heart of Everything!

The publisher's blurb describes the book as "charmingly swoon-worthy" and perfect for fans of "character-driven stories, snarky humor, and well-earned redemption arcs." I wholeheartedly agree with every single point and thought that author Fiona Fenn managed a perfect balance between plot and character development. The plot, the stakes, and the ending are so satisfying (for all characters!!). Once it gets going (chapter V), the plot moves at a steady medium pace that allows for plenty of sweet character moments but never loses its sense of urgency. The ending is snappy, impactful, and wraps up multiple story threads very nicely.

While The Crack at the Heart of Everything is not billed as a "cozy" fantasy, I would argue that the road trip, animal companion, research, and community elements in the book certainly evoked that sense in me as a reader (if you are comfortable juggling some heavier emotional themes). Also: reading glasses! For reference: I have read Legends & Lattes and Bookshops & Bonedust (higher stakes than L&L, but I still never felt any true urgency) by Travis Baldree and recently also read The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields. I enjoyed all of these titles but wanted more from them. The Crack at the Heart of Everything delivers on everything I was missing in these other books—now, that might just mean that "cozy" isn't quite the right fit for me. Cozy or not, this book gets a very enthusiastic recommendation for me, and I will make it a priority to seek out any future works by Fiona Fenn!

I'm only deducting 1 star because I felt a little bit lost in the beginning in terms of the court, the course, and the world at large. I also struggled with the interludes initially (they are very brief!). That said, the worldbuilding actually became one of the most intriguing aspects of the book for me later on, and I'd love to find out more about the Incident, the people of the Rim, the rebuilding of the Stacks, and any other settlements that might still be spread across the map somewhere in the distance!

***

Bonus quotes (no major spoilers):

"The girl shrugs, one boney shoulder rising up through long, dark hair. She can't be much younger than him but she is smaller, thinner, paler despite how wholly those descriptors suit him. All at once, he feels they're cut from the same cloth."

***

"'I don't know what to do, my friend,' he confessed. The fur under his palm bristled as he leaned in close—close enough to tip his forehead against Achates' neck, his mane a tickle across his cheeks. 'I feel like my time here is already borrowed. Who in their right mind would want to get to know a dead man?'
Achates didn't have an answer. He looked at Orpheus steadily, big brown, watery eyes reflecting back all the doubt Orpheus held—his cowardice to confront his limitless ability to deny himself every unnecessary pleasure in life all because it could get in the way of his higher purpose. And how he was still doing precisely that, while his 'higher purpose' had blown up in his face."

***

"What line could Orpheus possibly draw when in his trembling hands rested the fate of the whole planet, and he wasn't even sure that was enough to convince him to help?"