This book was really fun to listen to. This book really dove into the magic system and the ethicality of taking from someone to "better" the society as a whole. I will say, I did get annoyed with the main character's choices sometimes (JUST LEAVE THE CASTLE DON'T LOOK AROUND DUMB DUMB). But the relationship between all the characters was very fun to read.

I feel bad that I didn’t LOVE this. It was just a smidge underwhelming. The story takes a while to gain momentum, and I struggled to stay entertained most time while listening.

While the book does capture a whimsical tone, it wasn’t as enchanting as I had hoped. The romance is a slow burn, which may appeal to some readers, but it didn’t fully hold my interest. The world-building was creative, and Cornelius the cat was undeniably the highlight of the story, bringing charm and personality.

However, I found the female main character occasionally frustrating due to her frequent self-deprecating remarks, which became repetitive. Meanwhile, the male main character, Sylvester, failed to leave much of an impression—his personality felt flat and uninspired.

The plot itself had potential, and the twist at the end added a bit of intrigue, but I couldn’t help but feel that more could have been done with the concept. Overall, while this wasn’t a bad read, it didn’t leave a lasting impression.

This was a perfect standalone fantasy. I know its marketed as cozy fantasy but it had more character depth and high stakes plot than i typically expect from a cozy fantasy which worked in its favor. I will say the presence of a sassy talking cat could be skewing my review. I thought the romance was really well played and the ending was perfection.

The talking cat stole the show!

The comparison's of A Harvest of Hearts to Howl's Moving Castle were spot on! This was a fun read with a great sense of atmosphere, which was only heightened by the audio narrator. I will say that I did find it a bit grating to hear Foss continually disparage herself for her supposed ugliness, but that was a minor gripe of mine. Overall, I found this a lovely little fantastical escape.

I was a little confused about the tone of this book? I was expecting a "whimsical" cozy fantasy read and this was kind of dark and serious. It just really through me off from the start. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the characters. They all felt one note and underdeveloped. The villain also had be rolling my eyes a bit. I just feel like there was no clear idea from the get go with this book sadly. I feel like marketing was a big part of the problem here.

2.5 stars rounded up. I went back and forth on my rating for this one a lot. I liked the idea of heart magic and was so excited to dive in after looking at the cover/reading the Howl's comparison. But this just wasn't for me. The magic system was cool, but I did not like either of our main characters. Unfortunately, the protagonist spent a lot of time talking about how they weren't pretty or special... and it didn't seem like the book really had much purpose for that. I almost DNF'ed multiple times, BUT there is an awesome talking cat, the idea of using hearts to power magic was fascinating (even if it wasn't developed deeply), and I liked the familial relationship of the main character and her father. There are definitely some things that work well and a great cat, so check this one out and see if you like it better than I did!

Thanks to NetGalley, Andrea Eames, and RBmedia for the chance to read and review. My opinions are my own.

Book review: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Genre: YA fantasy
📖 Read if you like: Immortality: a love story, Starling House, Within These Wicked Walls

As someone who will never have enough of witchy reads, I was very excited to receive this ARC from NetGalley and RBMedia. With hearts the primary source of magic it promised to be both dark and endearing. With an alluring premise and a heart wrenching love story it was a dark yet cozy fantasy.

Foss Butcher is plain and clumsy. Long known as cursed in beauty and birth she unexpectedly follows the first male sorcerer ever seen to the city after he accidentally snags her. With nothing to do but follow her heart’s desire and seek proximity to the sorcerer Sylvester she ends up working as a house girl. She uses the cover to seek means to undo the spell and regain her heart. Yet her heart is only part of the story, for there is much more to magic and the magic wielders than she ever imagined.

The sorcerers are part vampire, part frankensteins’s creature and part witch. Entirely ensnaring with otherworldly beauty they steal the hearts of humans and drain their lives slowly. These sorcerers are not born, but made to be this way by the king in order to wield magic that secures the kingdom. Yet this magic requires the high price of human hearts, one which the people are seemingly willing to pay.

They lived unquestioningly in a kingdom where magic workers came into villages to pluck hearts and never seemed to really wonder what “threats” the king claimed he was defending the people against. The characters themselves seem to come to this realization three quarters of the way through this novel after which the darker truth is revealed.

The characters: Foss’ plainness and insecurities was a refreshing change for an MC. Her self depreciation can be viewed as off putting, but I think this may be a more realistic narrative. The romance was rather banal, but I liked that it didn’t overtake the plot, and offered a nice complement in the later half of the book. Sylvester is petulant at first and then makes the change to self aware and selfless rather quickly. I really wish he was given a POV and more thoroughly developed so I could make out his character and experience his transformation. My impression of him is essentially a beautiful newly made robot. The best character in this book was hands down Cornelius the cat, who was somewhere between the Cheshire in Alice in Wonderland and Salem in Sabrina. He added some charm and quirkiness to this story along with the house.

The plot critque: The villains (besides Clarissa) lacked complexity so the wider story required hearsay. In a long book I expected the king and the other sorcerers to be given a little more time and personality. Now on to our leads. There is a fine line between goodness and stupidity, and Foss walks it. Her need to stand up for others and save all the ensnared children is admirable even if it came at the coat of common sense. Whenever she makes a plan to escape a dangerous situation and is moments away from success, she walks right back in and falls into an obvious trap. It makes you want to shake Foss and tell her to use her brain every once in a while and consider risk assessment. If she gets caught while attempting to save another that just means two hearts for the monsters, which she never seems to realize. I liked Sylvester and his house, but didn’t really understand his motivation if I am being honest and there were some conveniences in his story near the end that didn’t really make sense to me. I also didn’t understand how Foss could be snagged in the first place given her ability.

Overall I liked the story and the magical system was inventive even if there were some small holes. The mystery itself was dark and kept me reading. I was surprised with some of the revelations and the house and cat were brilliant. The first half was slow and repetitive in heart harvesting chatter and Foss’ deemed humiliation. Most of the plot happened in the second half, but at least we had a lot of atmosphere and background for this world.

🎧 This book had a slow pace, especially at the beginning, making it perfect for an audiobook. Jessie Elland is brilliant as a narrator giving voice and character to this story. Her evil drawl and northern English accent were just what I pictured for this book.

I liked elements of this book but felt the relationship between Foss and Silvester was a bit forced. I wish the two had more dialogue and interaction in the early novel. Cornelius was the best, and I loved his relationship and connection with Foss. I thought it was entertaining and would recommend it to a select group of readers.

This book is a lovely tale of fantastical adventure, personal growth and the triumph of love over all obstacles in the tradition of Howl’s Moving Castle. It feels like a fairytale retelling while wholly original.

If you've ever felt like the ugly duckling and looked over, as if life's pressures and privileges were set aside for the golden beautiful ones, this is the tale for you, about Foss Butcher, a plain butcher's daughter who has more skill than beauty but discovers her own kind of magic when she gets snagged by Sylvester, the only wizard in a kingdom where magic is wielded by stealing parts of people's hearts or the whole of them.

This is only the beginning of a wonderfully whimsical story and I urge you to pick it up.

Thank you Netgalley for this ALC.
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Like others I have to agree that the beginning of Harvest of Hearts was slow for me. It was not necessarily difficult to engage with the MC’s but the pacing of the first half of the book was sluggish. Additionally, there are some loose ends that I wish were fleshed out a bit more. After 50% though, the storyline & action picks up and this is where we immediately get tied in. I have to admit that the last hundred pages had me at the edge of my seat and I was really nervous for Foss, Sylvester & Cornelius. I knew that sacrifices would be made in order to save themselves and the kingdom, but I didn’t anticipate what would truly happen in the end.

As for the narration, I felt a slight disconnect and found myself wanting more emotion. The narrator does a great job with her accent variation and you can distinctly tell what kind of person Foss is interacting with and their title/station based on their dialect. However, there are some instances within the story where Foss is raising her voice or Sylvester is having a conversation and it feels flat. I believe that I would have had a better listening experience had there been more emphasis on the characters emotions or if it was a duet with a male narrator.

All-in-all, I loved that this story was about courage, bravery, and finding beauty within strength. It is unique but also feels like a classic fantasy book with a dash of Howl’s Moving Castle.

Thank you to Andrea Eams, the team at RB Media Recorded Books, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to A Harvest of Hearts audiobook before its release.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the audio of this book in exchange for an honest review. I decided to do an immersive read with my KU book since I didn’t finish it in time for the release.

This book gives serious Howl’s Moving Castle movie vibes. We follow Foss, a butcher’s daughter, from an outlier village ensnared by Sylvester’s failed magic as they discover the truth of their kingdom and heart magic. Cornelius the cat follows Coraline “inter-realm” walking magic. Honestly, I loved the nostalgia of this sweet book. I was immediately pulled into the story. There is a charming and honest love that forms between the characters. This book ends as a standalone and I am pleasantly surprised how well it wraps things up.

Warning, I listened to the audio at 1.75x and could never do it any lower.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

If Howl’s Moving Castle and Beauty and the Beast had a baby… and then that baby got eaten by a horrifying monster and spit back out, you’d get A Harvest of Hearts. Don’t let the fairy-tale vibes fool you—this book takes a dark turn, and I was hooked from the start.

The first half is rich with world-building, setting up a universe that feels both magical and unsettling. The story is far heavier than it appears at first glance, so go in with caution if you’re expecting a light fantasy.

As for the characters? Chef’s kiss. Foss and Sylvester are complex and engaging, even if their romance might feel rushed to some. Personally, I saw it as a slow burn—one where the main character needed to be absolutely sure before giving in to love. And while the book is low spice, the plot is so strong that I never felt like it needed more.

And we HAVE to talk about Cornelius, the talking cat—because what’s a fairy tale without a sassy, intelligent feline companion? Easily my favorite third main character! He provides some light comic relief, which is perfect in dark moments!

Overall, this book is a wild, emotional ride—a dark fairy tale with real stakes, a fascinating plot, and a unique twist on familiar tropes. Highly recommend!

A Harvest of Hearts is a tale about an ordinary girl, Foss Butcher, who has her heart accidentally snagged by a passing Sorcerer. In her quest to retrieve her heart we meet a talking cat, a sentient house and a tempestuous sorcerer. And this is where the similarity to Howl's Moving castle ends.

Luckily, the plot stands on its own two feet, and Jesse Eland does a fabulous job bringing it to life with her narration. The story is well paced and I was always invested in finding out what happens next . It is not as whimsy as I had anticipated, but instead felt very grounded. Foss helped to make it feel very grounded. The chemistry between Foss and Sylvester wasn't quite it for me. I enjoyed their partnership, but the romance didn't quite feel right's

Thank you to NetGalley for the an advance copy of the audiobook.

Thank you to RB media and net galley for this audio. I loved this world and the fantasy elements of this story. It was really addicting and easy to follow.

I really enjoyed this cosy unique fantasy!

With unique magic elements that were so captivating, a charming magical house with its own personality, magic carriage & horses, and my favorite, a talking cat, to name a few.

A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Aemes is a charming and whimsical fantasy with an engaging premise, but it didn’t fully connect with me on a character level. The story offers a delightful mix of magic, adventure, and an unconventional heroine, drawing clear inspiration from Howl’s Moving Castle. The worldbuilding is creative, and Foss’s journey from an ordinary village girl to someone entangled in powerful magic is compelling. However, while the plot kept me intrigued, I found it difficult to form a strong emotional bond with the characters, which left some of the story’s more heartfelt moments feeling distant. Overall, it’s an enjoyable read with a unique magical atmosphere, but it didn’t leave a deep impression.

It was good! A fun witty read with some heavy moments and good romance! The characters were interesting and the plot was original, it's a fun cozy fantasy with good banter. If you're looking for an easy fun fantasy to read this is for you!

I’ve upgraded my review from 2 to 3, due to getting an ARC of the audio. The narrator, Jessie Elland, did an amazing job bringing the story to life. She had a great voice for the tone of the story. Overall, I still think the book could have used some more editing but the overall story was much more enjoyable as an audiobook in my opinion.

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, RBMedia, 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!

Thank you for net galley and the author for approving my request for this Audio ARC 🫶

This book is for lovers of The Night Circus! the detail and writing style was so whimsical. but unfortunately it was a DNF for me at 15%. I loved how detailed it was but at times it was too detailed. im so sad that I couldn't connect to it, but hopefully other readers who like that style love this book because it is so unique and I actually love the plot concept. I absolutely LOVED the narrator, her voice was so smooth 🫶🫶

Hopefully, if I pick this one up later on, I will fall in love with the characters!

A Harvest of Hearts was a joy to listen to (audiobook). This book brought the whimsy and magic.

Plot: Foss Butcher, a clumsy, self proclaimed “ugly” girl, is snagged into the sorcerers home in the area. She never cared about magic users and where she lives, to use magic you need at least part of a heart. She became the sorcerers son’s personal “heart.” Foss learns more about the magical world which she didn’t have a care about before being taken, Sylvester the son to which she belongs, is rather distant. She befriends the talking cat which increases her knowledge of the enchanted house that she now must live in, and learns more about the magical world herself while she searches for her heart.

The narrator did a great job conveying the beautiful writing style that the author had. The world was beautifully crafted but without needing excessive world-building as many fantasy stories encompass. It was enchanting but not overbearing.

The beginning of the story took a bit for me to get into, likely due to the necessity of world building and understanding “heart magic.” But the descriptions from Foss are wonderful. Also I really enjoyed her character. She is rather smart and doesn’t care what other thinks so she gets to the point pretty quickly. Her interactions with Sylvester is a bit limited at the beginning which does limit the romance that could have been built better, but it’s a represented in the second half of the book (but it felt as though the romance needed to be built up more earlier through learning more about Sylvester and their interactions). This was my slight let-down but I feel the second half included this better but felt rushed. As the story is told from Foss’s viewpoint, it would have been interesting to hear some items from Sylvester’s viewpoint. I feel there is a lot more we could have learned about the magic and villains in this realm if we had more of his side.

Cornelius the cat was such a delightful character to throw in there. Cornelius tries to pick up on the “magic lessons” with Foss where we don’t get to hear from Sylvester’s side. I think he was like a magical guide for her and the bond made this story feel cozy with him in it.

I think the second half of the book felt rushed between explaining and understanding the villains and the relationship between Foss and Sylvester. But ultimately, I found this story to be highly enjoyable, with minimal world-building for a fantasy (which is a plus for me), and enjoyable characters. I would recommend it to fantasy lovers, YA, and others who like a bit of cozy magic. I’ll be interested to see what this author writes next.

I’d like to thank the author Andrea Eames, NetGalley, and the publisher Kensington publishing as well as the wonderful narrator for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy of the story in exchange for an honest review.