Heartless Heirs

by MarcyKate Connolly

2 out of 5

Synopsis

Now torn between two worlds, Aissa must decide who she can trust. Especially when it comes to her twin.

Now without a home and on the run, Aissa has never felt so trapped and alone even with her sister and friend by her side. Zandria—once her other half—has become cold and inflexible after her time in the Technocrat’s dungeon and is bent on revenge Aissa no longer feels. Their friend Remy may still side with his father, a Magi leader who refuses to believe his spy, Darian Azul, has turned traitor. And Aissa herself is now an enemy of her Magi people after falling in love with—and binding her heart to—Aro, a Techno prince who puts all their lives at stake.

Using clues her parents and others left behind, Aissa is determined to uncover the secrets of the Alchemist Alliance that helped create her and Zandria’s unique magical powers … as well as learn whether the Alliance’s research holds the key to healing the rift between the Magi and Technocrats after centuries of war. But with her people preparing for battle, and Darian poised to use the Technocrats’ might for his own ends, it will take more than lost spells and hidden secrets to accomplish her goal. Especially as the dangerous bond between her Aro grows deeper and threatens everything Aissa has ever believed.

Review

Magi sisters Aissa and Zandria have escaped the Technocrats; but have to work with their natural enemy to save everyone. Lost Magi knowledge will help them find a new future.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This picks up immediately after the end of Twin Daggers. Aro (the Technocrat prince) helped them escape; and now Aissa and Zandria are running to warn the rest of the Magi that they are in grave danger.

Unfortunately, none of the other Magi believe that their spymaster Darian has betrayed them, and assume his behaviour is part of keeping up his pretense.

Along with their friend Remy, the girls are banished for breaking Magi rules, and disobeying their elders.

They now have to follow instructions written by their murdered parents, to find an old Sanctuary, and hunt for new allies of their own.

I thought this series had so much potential, with the magic and the science that make up the two opposing factions. The mechanical hearts that poison the user, but are the only way to keep Heartless children alive; so it's like the families have been cursed twice over.

The Magi that have been persecuted by Technocrats, but are far from golden heroes. They've had to resort to spying and assassinations, to try and destabilise their enemies...

All of that is still in this second part of the duology, but it didn't feel as fresh and interesting as the first book.

I couldn't connect with this sequel, as I found everything lacking the passion and intrigue that made the first book so fun. It wasn't just the change in Aissa's career as a spy, or the loss of the will-they-won't-they aspect of the relationship. It was everything. I missed Aissa's passion for her work with technology, how she (mostly) enjoyed working for the master mechanic.

I miss the passion her and Zandria had for uncovering the Magi library in the first book.

Instead, I found the second book flat. They talk about a lot of stuff, but there's no emotion to it.

They talk about learning. They talk about gaining allies, and starting a revolution. They talk about magic, and break everything down for a scientific analysis.

They talk about Owen joining them, and Owen joins them and talks.

It felt like nothing was happening, because all the potentially-exciting stuff was talked to death.

Oh, and when they went to rescue Aro from the palace... I just lost a lot of patience.

(Mild spoiler)

 They are on the way to the highly fortified palace to break out Aissa's sweetheart, but stumble across the hidden Magi camp, discover that Aro is their prisoner.

Aissa requests that they release him, but gets refused. So they break him out and leave. No drama. I know it's explained later on, but it just felt like the author wanted to skip the tricky bits and get her pawns in the right place. (/spoiler)

I quite liked the romance level in the first book. It wasn't the main focus, but it was still quite sweet to see it developing.

The good news is that the second book has a similar level of romance - yes, Aissa and Aro are together, but it's not pushed to the front of the story.

The bad news, along with several other aspects, I felt this too was lacking emotion and was just flat.

Overall, I found it a fairly predictable and dull finish to a very creative story.

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