Surprisingly, I haven’t heard a lot about this book around the blogosphere and the booktube community… But when I saw the cover when I was browsing Audible, I was immediately intrigued, so I read the premise and just spontaneously bought it. It sounded like just the kind of book that I really enjoy.

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.

 

“No one deserved to feel unsafe in their own skin for someone else’s pleasure.”

― Helen Scheuerer, Heart of Mist

 

The beginning was so fast, which is the only negative that I have about this book. It was full-speed ahead and we were introduced to a lot of characters and given hardly any character background, so I was just like ‘whhattt?’ the whole way through the beginning. So, it was like that for the first few chapters, but then the pacing seemed to slow down and reach a ‘normal’ pace. The flow of the story was so much better, with the tension being built in just the right places, and introducing us to the characters a little bit more.

Speaking of characters, Bleak is our protagonist and she’s arrogant, stubborn and condescending… Oh, and she’s also an alcoholic, which I actually really enjoyed. Everyone thought that she was just a drunk who couldn’t do anything, but even when alcohol clouded her mind, she was such a strong character who went through amazing character development throughout the first book.

 

“The past has a way of showing us the right path. Inevitably, the same mistakes were made once before, and to know this is great power.”

― Helen Scheuerer, Heart of Mist

 

I think that one of the aspects that I really really loved about Heart of Mist was that there was no romance. Sure, there were some hints of it here and there between Bleak and Bren and then Bleak and Fiore, but it wasn’t built upon, it was just a hint and that’s it. I think it’s great that more and more fantasy books aren’t including romance in it. Sure, it’s always good to read about an amazing romance and ship them, but I find that when fantasy novels don’t include romance, the storyline is so much stronger. Does anyone else agree?

There were so many women in this story. SO MANY BADASS, FLAWED, HUMAN WOMEN, and I loved it. A big part of this was the Valia Kindred who are a community of women who live in the tops of the trees and train to be warriors (only if they want to though, they are not forced to fight.) I found their community so inspiring, and I instantly wanted to be a part of it and to be around people like Henri and Athene (who are an amazing f/f couple!) One of the major things that I loved about the Valia Kindred were that they took care of their own, meaning the Valians, but also women. They saw that Bleak was in danger, and even though they knew nothing about her, they saved her. I just find that so admirable.

 

“We have to play to the strengths we were given.”

― Helen Scheuerer, Heart of Mist

 

Finally, Helen Schuerer’s writing is gorgeous. That’s the only way to describe it. The lush description of Valia, the descriptions of the characters, the whole world… It’s amazing, without being too over-the-top and becoming the purple prose which isn’t really my favourite type of writing. Scheuerer is becoming one of my favourite fantasy authors and I can’t wait to read Reign of Mist! It comes out in a few days (10th September) and as soon as it does, I’m going to buy it and then read it straight away because I can’t get enough of this magical world and the GORGEOUS writing style.

I just want everyone to read this book/series because I have a feeling that A LOT of people are going to love it. At the moment on Goodreads, it has a 4.10 average rating and 227 reviews. I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO READ THIS BOOK so that I can fangirl about it and just gush all of the time.

Helen Scheuerer is going to be the new face of fantasy. Trust me on that.

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