Series: The Oremere Chronicles book 1
Author: Helen Scheuerer
Genre: YA, fantasy
In a realm where toxic mist sweeps the lands and magic is forbidden, all Bleak wants is a cure for her power.
Still grieving the death of her guardian and dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by the Commander of the King’s Army, and summoned to the capital. But the king isn’t the only one interested in Bleak's powers.
The leader of an infamous society of warriors, the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated.
Heart of Mist is the gripping first book in The Oremere Chronicles, a fantasy series of epic proportions. - Quoted from Goodreads
Rating: 5/5 STARS
My Review:
Heart of Mist is a book that took me completely by surprise. I'd heard hardly anyone talking about it so I was going back and forth on whether or not to read it but ultimately the blurb sounded too interesting to let it pass me by. And I am so glad I decided to read it.
Heart of Mist is a YA fantasy centred on Bleak (the mc) who can hear people's thoughts. And to cope with hearing people's thoughts all the time she turns to alcohol. Yes, this is a YA book with an alcoholic mc. It's a richly imagined world where people with magical abilities are rare to come by and are not looked on kindly by the king. At the start of the book a group of the king's soldiers come to take Bleak to the king.
I loved this book, it was written so well. The world was wonderfully set up and the characters were all so interesting and individual that I just wanted to read more about them.
Bleak was a fascinating mc, from her dependency on alcohol to her testing the limits of her powers. All of it made her an intriguing character. I also liked reading about the Valian, who are a race of female warriors, who take Bleak under their wings. Henri is the leader of the Valian and she is another intriguing character. She has a very tough exterior and her motives are always a bit unclear which adds a lot to the intrigue of her character. I liked reading about her relationship with Athene, her second in command, and would like to read more about their background with each other in further books.
Although Bleak is the mc, the book also has multiple povs that introduce other characters and I thought these povs really added a lot to the story and were so captivating to read and I loved how interwoven the povs were.
Overall I loved the richly imaginative world of Heart of Mist and the characters and their backstories are so interesting. The writing feels so seamless as it brings together a great plot. I don't like comparing books but while I was reading Heart of Mist, the writing and flow of the storyline reminded me of the earlier Throne of Glass books and the Poison Study series so I would highly recommend Heart of Mist if you liked these books. I can't wait to see where the story goes next.
