Monday, March 23, 2009

Review - Witch Heart




Title: Witch Heart
Author: Anya Bast
Publication Date: 2009
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: DNF
Sensuality: Hot

Witch Heart is book three of Anya Bast's Elemental Witch series. Claire is a human that has been living as a handmaiden to a demon in another world Eudae, since she was six years old. After Thomas, head of the Chicago witch coven accidentally went through the portal and found himself in Eudae, Claire helped him to escape back to Earth (Book 2, Witch Blood). Claire's demon gifts her with a powerful magical weapon, the Elium which is attached to her core magic. She goes through the portal to Earth because she is being hunted by other demons who will kill her to get the Elium. When Claire arrives on Earth she meets up with Thomas's coven. Thomas assigns Adam, a fire witch, to protect her while they work on a solution to detach the Elium from Claire without killing her.

Okay, Witch Heart was the book I was referring too that sparked the poll on whether or not I should review a book that I was unable to finish. Many of you expressed an interest in hearing why I was unable to finish it and so I will give it my best shot, even though it has been two weeks since I attempted to read it. I did manage to read 200 pages out of 300.

Basically, the problem I had with the book was that there was so much potential for intricate world building, by showing how Claire had to adapt from going from the culture on Eudae to Earth. Unfortunately, there were just brief snippets of information that barely scratched the surface. The book definitely would have benefited and would have been more interesting if this aspect would have been better developed.

Another thing that really bothered me, was that both Adam and Claire were constantly internalizing every thought they had. It wasn't so much what I would call mental lusting, but more of just an internal monologue of their thoughts about the other person and any issues they had - and they did have issues. Adam's issues ranged from dealing with his new feelings for Claire and his old feelings for his dead wife. Claire had issues with having the Elium inside her and not wanting other people around her to get hurt, plus she didn't know how to deal with her attraction to Adam either. All these issues, instead of moving the book forward, seemed to stall the momentum of the plot and it made for some very boring reading. I think the main problem for me was my own expectations and unfortunately, Witch Heart didn't live up to them.

Here is what others had to say:

The Good, The Bad, The Unread
Errant Dreams Reviews
Romance Reviews Today
Literary Escapism

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Every single Anya Bast book I have tried to read hsa been a DNF, including this one.

nath said...

Sigh for you, 2 DNF this month? Ouch.

Ugh, I bought this one T_T

Jill D. said...

Kati, yikes! That's not a good track record. I liked the first book of this series the best. It seems like they have all gone downhill from there.

Nath, I know! The last DNF I had was back over a year ago last January when I first started this blog. I can't remember the name of the book, but it was a historical. I hope this doesn't start a new trend in my reading. I hate it when I can't finish a book.

Tracy said...

There have been quite a few Bast books that I've enjoyed. I have to say that I do have the first of this series in my tbr but haven't gotten to it yet. Now I'm kind of anxious to see what I think of it. Did you like the first 2?

Christine said...

Oh no! A DNF! I loved the first book in this series, but then thought the second was just okay. I did buy this book, but now I'm worried! :/

Jill D. said...

Tracy, I did enjoy the first two. Witch Fire got a B+ from me and Witch Blood got a B-.

Christine, Don't mind me, maybe it was just me and not the book. Although, I will say I feel the same way as you did about the first two books.