#Review - Soul of Cinder by Bree Barton #YA #Fantasy

Series: Heart of Thorns # 3
Format: Hardcover, 496 pages
Release Date:  January 12, 2021
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

In the dramatic conclusion to Bree Barton’s fiercely feminist teen fantasy trilogy, a trail of flames forces the sisters Mia, Pilar, and Angelyne to the river kingdom for a final homecoming as Prince Quin attempts to take back the throne.

The Twisted Sisters are coming home.

Prince Quin has returned to the river kingdom, ready to spearhead a rebellion and reclaim the throne. He vows to destroy Mia, Pilar, and Angelyne if they oppose him—even if he must use his newfound magic to set the world aflame.

Across the four kingdoms, the elements have been tipped askew. Volcanoes erupt, glaciers collapse, and cities sink into the western sands. After losing Angie, Mia and Pilar journey to the glass kingdom to seek help, though soon their fragile bonds of sisterhood begin to fray. Mia’s sensations are creeping back, and with them, a deep and searing grief. Pilar, terrified of being broken, once again seeks comfort in her fists. But when they hear rumors of a misty island that promises to erase all pain, they suddenly find themselves with an answer—if they are willing to pay the cost.

As tensions mount, the sisters are drawn back to the river kingdom for a final reckoning with the boy they each loved. The shattering conclusion to Bree Barton’s Heart of Thorns trilogy challenges why we grieve, whom we love—and how to mend a broken heart.

 

"Perhaps, in the end, the greatest love stories are not about our lovers. They are the stories of how we learned to love ourselves."

Soul of Cinder, by author Bree Barton, is the third and final installment in the authors' Heart of Thorns trilogy. This story revolves around three key characters: Mia Rose, Pilar d'Aqila, and Quin Killian. The final book brings readers to new worlds—the glass kingdom, the House of Shadows, an island called a “final resting place,” but after all the journeying, Mia, Pilar, and Quin, will return to the river kingdom, where it all began in Heart of Thorns, for a final showdown in home territory.

If you've read Tears of Frost, and I certainly hope you have, you know that events at the end of the book left questions as to whether or not Quin or Angelyne survived the destruction of the Ice Kingdom. Well, apparently I just spoiled it for you, since they did. But Mia and Pilar, who are not aware of that fact until much later in the book, are aching from the losses even though Angelyne went evil and caused a whole lot of harm to many, many people. In fact, thanks to her, across the four kingdoms, the elements have been tipped askew. Volcanoes erupt, glaciers collapse, and cities sink into the western sands.

Quin, who is very much alive and discovered that he has magic, truly believes that the Twisted Sisters (Mia, Pilar, and Angelyne) betrayed him. He is now on the war path wanting to get revenge on the sisters. He even sends them a letter demanding that they return to Kaer Killian so that a final resolution can be determined. Quin, who was been abused by Angelyne, fell for Mia, and in a moment of lust, had a moment with Pilar, has his own issues to deal with. First, his entire family is gone. Second, the people don't want Quin to return as King. 

Third, his former lover Tobias has joined with a rebellion group called the Embers who really would be happy if he never returned. Quin who was a weak boy, a scorned son, a manipulated lover and pawn, needs to step up and become a leading man or what's the point of staying alive? Meanwhile, while traveling with Nelladine to Pembuk, the glass kingdom, in order to speak with the Shadowess, Mia and Pilar are coming to grips with being half-sisters as well as the thought of losing both Angelyne and Quin as well as Mia's mother. 

Mia hopes she can regain her feelings and sensations, and for Pilar to come to terms with the horrific suffering she has faced, and the fact that Mia is her sister. Mia and Pilar's relationship is not one of comfort and happiness, but bitterness and blame. Mia has a whole lot of regrets and blames herself or not seeing Angelyne's plots even though they lived together for most of their lives. She failed to understand magic, she failed to understand why her mother left her behind for an entirely new family in the Ice Kingdom, she failed to understand why Angelyne wanted her dead so badly. 

She rediscovers her feelings, little by little, and wants to care for anyone and help those suffering, though this doesn't always turn out well for her. Mia realizes that she can't fix anyone but herself. She truly believes that everything she touches she destroys. Her journey to the House of Shadows doesn't lead her to happiness or answers to her lack of feeling. Instead, she ends up on an island where people who want to forget about everything. A surprise awaits her there. Can her surprise break her out of her funk in time to help Pilar and Quin? 

Pilar had no clue she had two sisters, if she did, things may have been different. She may have even found time to know her father the legendary hunter. Even though Mia saw what happened to Pilar in the Hall of Reflections and seems to want to fix everything, she can't. Pilar finds her own way in this story and it's not all that comfortable. There are elements who don't want her to succeed and others who absolutely think she makes a wonderful teacher to the children of the House of Shadows. For most of the story, the House of Shadows actually makes things worse for her before she and Mia have to face off against Quin.

In many ways, this story comes full circle from the first installment with Mia and Quin realizing there is a way forward and long as they can forgive themselves. One of the more interesting aspects of this story is Angelyne's own redemption on the Isle of Forgetting. Didn't see that coming. The sister bond was messy, complicated, and heartbreaking but it makes it more realistic that way. It was very intriguing to see Pilar & Mia Rose's relationship evolve throughout the entire trilogy. As you progress through the story, you feel the characters are finally resolving their deeply-rooted issues and getting some closure. The author managed to beautifully craft a conclusion. 

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#Review - Tears of Frost by Bree Barton #YA #Fantasy

Series: Heart of Thorns # 2
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Release Date: November 5, 2019
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

The follow-up novel to Bree Barton’s feminist fantasy, Heart of Thorns, follows Mia Rose as she travels to the snow kingdom to unearth the dark secrets of her mother’s past and fights against the persecution of women who have magic.

Mia Rose is back from the dead. Her memories are hazy, her body numb—but she won’t stop searching. Her only hope to save the boy she loves and the sister who destroyed her is to find the mother she can never forgive. Pilar is on a hunt of her own. Betrayed by her mother, and plagued by a painful secret, she’s determined to seek out the only person who can exact revenge. All goes according to plan . . . until she collides with Prince Quin, the boy whose sister she killed. 

As Mia, Pilar, and Quin forge dangerous new alliances, they are bewitched by the snow kingdom’s promise of freedom and opportunity. But with the winter solstice drawing near, they must confront the truth beneath the glimmering ice, as lines between friend, foe, and lover vanish like snowflakes on a flame.

Tears of Frost, by author Bree Barton, is the second installment in the authors Heart of Thorns series. The key characters in this book are Mia Rose, Pilar d'Aqila, and Quin Killian. Mia is being hunted by her own sister Angelyne after she stopped her own heart & was brought back to life. She is numb and no longer has an emotions. She hopes that if she can find the mother who betrayed her, she might find the answers to her condition as well as stopping her sister before she gets too powerful.

Pilar escaped Angelyne's enkindlement and is on a hunt of her own. Betrayed by her mother, Zaga, and plagued by a painful secret, she’s determined to seek out the only person who can exact revenge. The one called The Snow Wolf who also happens to be her father. Quin, who has lost his entire family, is one of those characters who is pretty discombobulated. Truly, except for finding a connection to Pilar, and his role at the end of this book, he's really an after thought.

Mia, as we discover, is something of a martyr. She was smuggled from the River Kingdom, betrayed by her sister, and now called Angel of Ashes in Luumia. Along her journey to find answers and her mother Wynna, she comes across some interesting characters like Zai, and Nelladine as well as Lord Kristoffin who has given Luumia a bright future no longer dependent on any other country to support them. They are the first to harvest self-replenishing source of power. But, at what cost? 

Pilar ends up traveling with Quin for most of this story. She ends up at the Snow Queen's palace where she and Quin end up living their worst memories. For Pilar, her worst memory is killing a woman who would have been the Queen of the River Kingdom were it not for Angelyne and Zaga's machinations. What's most curious about this entire story is that nobody really asked Quin what his purpose was. Is he a puppet of Angelyne's? Is he attempting to take back power and his life at the expense of Mia and Pilar? 

The most shocking revelation of all finds that Mia and Pilar have more in common that they could ever believe. It will be curious as to how the finale plays out with Mia and Pilar being given a choice to either join with Angelyne, or fight her ever growing powers. The story begins with a letter from the author regarding abuse and depression. If for any reason you need to read this book, please don't skip over the beginning. 

This series focuses on a  society in which women's bodies and potential for magic are shunned and punished. The expansion of magic from oppressed women to all oppressed peoples. 

I liked how the Addi also possessed magic, regardless of gender, how their oppression worked similarly to the oppression of women. With Angelyne making moves that seem to encompass the rest of the world as well, it will be interesting to seeing the new societies and characters to come. Quin has been set up to become a villain in the next installment. Why? Because he's a man who doesn't have empathy for women? Not sure if that is what's going to happen, but Quin has all but been ignored and pushed around by almost everyone in this series.

 

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#Review - Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton #YA #Fantasy

Series: Heart of Thorns # 1
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Mia Rose wants only one thing: revenge against the Gwyrach—feared, reviled, and magical women—who killed her mother. After years training under her father’s infamous Hunters, Mia is ready. She will scour the four kingdoms, find her mother’s murderer, and enact the Hunters’ Creed: heart for a heart, life for a life.

But when Mia is thrust into the last role she ever wanted—promised wife to the future king—she plots a daring escape. On her wedding night, Mia discovers something she never imagined: She may be a Huntress, but she’s also a Gwyrach. As the truth comes to light, Mia must untangle the secrets of her own past. Now if she wants to survive, Mia must learn to trust her heart . . . even if it kills her.

"Heart for a heart, life for a life."

Heart of Thorns is the first installment in author Bree Barton's Heart of Thorns series. This is a world that is separated into four Kingdoms. River, Glass, Snow, and Fire. 17-year old Mia Rose lives in the River Kingdom. She wants one thing out life; she wants to be the one to kill the Gwyrach that killed her mother and set her on her own path to becoming a Circle of the Hunt Hunter like her own father who trained her for the past 3 years. However, in this world, women are rarely given any say in whom they marry. 

In this world, some women have powers where they can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood, and this has been turned into a way for men to view them as demons, which they call the Gwyrach. If a woman is even suspected of being a Gwyrach, they’re put to death and their amputated hand is hung in the King’s gruesome ‘Hall of Hands.’ All women are thus required to wear gloves at all times because any woman might be a Gwyrach. Mia doesn't want to marry the King's son. She wants to follow in her fathers footsteps and hunt Gwyrach. 

In fact, she yearns to escape the Royal Castle with her sister Angelyne where she is surveyed like a specimen instead of a human being. But, her father made an unbreakable promise to the King who isn't someone to mess around with and her sister isn't ready to leave. On the cusp of marrying Prince Quin, a brazen attack occurs which leads Mia in discovering that she's exactly the thing she's been taught to hate the most. A large portion of the book is her & Quin fleeing from the River Kingdom and finding out more about herself and her family along the way. 

Mia gets direction from a magical journal written by her mother that will lead them to a refuge. As Mia learns about herself and her mother, she finds herself lured back to the Castle where things really take a shocking twist. There is death, betrayal, her own sisters surprises, and Mia's choice which ends on a cliffhanger. Of course it does! Quin is one of the positive's for me in this story. He has his own ideas of how things should be done, and isn't a fan of what his own father has done to women. 

Will I read the sequel? Most likely yes due to the fact that I want to see where the rest of the series leads Mia, and Quin, as well as other characters who we meet along the way.

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