The Heart of The World by Amie Kaufman Review

Title: The Heart of The World

Author: Amie Kaufman

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Rock The Boat

Pages: 432

Release Date: 19 September 2024

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Hello fellow booklovers, Today I’m sharing my review of The Heart of The World by Amie Kaufman. A gorgeously immersive and intricately woven high stakes sequel, that had me under its thrall for days.

Synopsis

When Selly and Leander began their treacherous voyage to the Isles of the Gods, they never expected to fall in love. Now, Leander is imbued the deadly magic of goddess, Barrica, and only Selly’s presence can stop it from consuming him.

But Barrica wasn’t the only immortal roused from sleep. The God of Risk, Macean, was awakened by an enemy, and he’s calling for war. The fight to save their world will take Selly and Leander from the gilded ballroom of the royal palace to the hallowed halls of an ancient library. Battle lines will be drawn, and bonds will break.

With the wrath of gods and the machinations of power-hungry rulers straining their loyalties, can their love withstand the trials that await them?

Review

I loved every second of it!

The first book, The Isles of The Gods literally blew me away when I read it last year, so I literally jumped at the chance to read the sequel. And I’m glad to report it didn’t disappoint!

I was once again obsessed with the prose, which was just as free flowing, evocative and heart poundingly pacy as the first book. And I adored the effortless way Kaufman weaves nuance and complexity through the entire narrative — for me, it really brought all five of our POV characters (Selly, Leander, Keegan, Jude and Laskia) to life.

The depth we explore in each of them, through their insecurities, traumatic experiences (both on and off the page) and the emotions that motivate and guide them was really interesting. And actually contributed to making some of the more morally grey characters (like Jude) feel more relatable. That train scene between Tom and Jude actually had me choking up with emotion, it was that good.

Selly, was still my fave character though! And I loved exploring a more vulnerable side of her. Especially when she realises how out of depth she is in Leander’s world of privilege, and watches her perceptions of the people she holds most dear begin to shatter.

In fact, the depth and intimacy of all the characters (caught in their God’s unrelenting thirst for war) was what really drove the plot along and kept me utterly hooked. With the themes of love, sacrifice and destiny batting for dominance in each of them —readers are certain to find themselves on an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.

Overall, a really satisfying conclusion but I do hope we get to see more of these characters (even if only in a cameo) in future works.

Also, a huge thank you to Rock The Boat for the wonderful proof!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

About The Author 

Amie Kaufman is a NYT and internationally bestselling author, whose multi-award winning work is published in nearly thirty languages. Her latest book is The Heart of The World

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