Heartborn (Heartborn, #1)

by Terry Maggert

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I’ve been intrigued with the idea behind Heartborn for quite awhile. The beautiful cover and intriguing synopsis pulled me in. I just had to know more and when I found the book on NetGalley, I decided to give it a shot.

Unfortunately, Heartborn fell short for me. Just be warned, that in order to explain WHY the book fell short of me, there may be spoilers in this review.

Heartborn is told from two different points of view: 1) Livvy’s point of view on “Earth” and 2) Keiron’s family’s point of view in Sliver which I kept reading as silver.

My favorite part of the book is Sliver. The world is beautifully imagined. I could see myself among the clouds with Vasa, Saiinov, Cressa and Habira. Everything from the clothes that the angels wore to the hierarchy of the angels is well thought out. The power of the angels seeped through my iPad and I wanted more time in Sliver each time I came to one of these chapters.

My least favorite part of Heartborn is Livvy, our main character. These chapters read like a young adult contemporary romance novel—my least favorite genre. Any chapters from Livvy’s point of view are syrupy sweet especially after Keiron shows up because, despite Livvy’s hesitance to do anything that might risk her health, there is this instant connection that doesn’t fit with her character.

The chapters on “Earth” also seem to be choppier as if something is missing. Perhaps because Livvy’s chapters take place in the reader’s “known” world not enough time is spent describing the people, places and things that exist. I did not feel part of Livvy’s world. This leads to a disappointing reveal towards the end of the book regarding Livvy’s world. As a result, the reveal is jarring and confusing. Keeping the reader at arms length and assuming they know everything about Livvy’s world is a mistake. There needs to MORE subtle connections shared throughout the novel for the reader to buy the reveal.

While I had high hopes for Heartborn, ultimately, in the end, I was left disappointed and disconnected and I do not have plans to read book 2, Moonborn, in this series.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews