DNF Review – A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass (2/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 438 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: December 3, 2022
ASIN: B0BNZFTWCC
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley for review from NetGalley
Rating: 2/5 stars
“Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain.
Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, th e idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people.
But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.
Thoughts: I ended up setting this aside about 20% of the way through. Previous to this I had read Cass’s book “The Selection” and thought it was okay, I never read anymore of the series. I thought I would give her another shot since I enjoy fantasy adventure romance. This book was not okay.
This starts out super slow and you alternate between two POVs, a female (Annika) and a male one (Lennox). The writing style and the dialogue is super simple and immature. The story is very, very slow. The beginning felt like it was written for a young child and was just so simple it was awkward. I didn’t like either of the characters whose POV we read from; they were both very whiny, one dimensional and immature.
I just had an intense dislike for this book and the writing style after the first couple chapters. I tried to stick it out but decided I have better things to do with my time.
My Summary (2/5): Overall this was not for me. I thought it was slow and poorly written. I am not sure what audience this is intended for since the language, characters, and plot were incredibly simple. I think I can say that I am done with reading Cass. I don’t plan to pick up any of her future books.
