About the Book:
Author: Kate Elliott
Release Date: July 25, 2017
Pages: 448
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | TBD
Synopsis: The explosive finale to World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's captivating, New York Times bestselling young adult series
In this third book in the epic Court of Fives series, Jessamy is the crux of a revolution forged by the Commoner class hoping to overthrow their longtime Patron overlords. But enemies from foreign lands have attacked the kingdom, and Jes must find a way to unite the Commoners and Patrons to defend their home and all the people she loves. Will her status as a prominent champion athlete be enough to bring together those who have despised one another since long before her birth? Will she be able to keep her family out of the clutches of the evil Lord Gargaron? And will her relationship with Prince Kalliarkos remain strong when they find themselves on opposite sides of a war? Find all the answers in this beautifully written and exciting conclusion to World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's debut New York Times bestselling young adult trilogy!
My Review:
**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****
I am so excited to be on the blog tour of this book. Especially because I really enjoyed the first two books in this series. It's an incredibly engrossing dystopian book with subtle fantasy elements, and amazing world building. And Buried Heart was a good conclusion to the series.
My favorite thing about this book, and the series of in general, is the world building. This is a series with such a rich world. It's not uncommon to find a fantasy or dystopian series with influences from Greek and Rome, but somehow the author makes it feel unique. Perhaps it's the fact that there such an elaborate and intriguing history and mythology to this series. In the course of three books we have learned so much about this world and the magic and mystery that influence. Here we learned more about Efea and everything we learned was amazing. There's and incredible amount of depth here. So much so that I think we've only just begun to explore it. But Kate Elliott's writing pulls you in and makes it all come alive.
I also really like the characters in this series. In the course of three books I have become quite attached to these characters. First of all, I adore Jessamy, our protagonist. She's such a great hero. She's tough and resourceful, but also fiercely loyal. She cares so much about her family and the people that she loves me that she will do anything for them. There's something so likable about her for those reasons. You want her to succeed and save the day. But she doesn't always get to do that. She's not perfect. There is a subtle vulnerability to Jess that makes her even more complex and likable. She's a great main character and I love her voice.
This is also a series with fantastic secondary characters. There is a pretty big cast of characters here, many of whom you have had three books to connect with them. In particular I really like Jes's family. Her mother, who gets some great development and a really interesting storyline here, and her sisters are great and complex characters. But I think her father might be the most complex and interesting of her family members. There's so much depth to to him. He has some really great development and his daughter is so much like him that everything I love about her, I love about him. Speaking of love, I have to talk about Kal. Their relationship develops further in this book and some of the most emotional moment here come at the hands of Kal. And yet it was still a subtle relationship. The romance didn't take the focus, it just added depth to a book already full of depth.
The focus of this book was on the political intrigue. Seriously, there was so much political intrigue in this book. I love when the plot of final books focus on the politics and these kind of elements. So much of it was about the relationship between to Saroese and the Efeans. There's the war, the court intrigue, who's going to rule, why, and those who have long been oppressed throwing off the shackles of their oppressors. This series has long explored the mistreatment of the people who have been viewed as inferior and it was great to see their rebellion in full effect as this book developed. This is one of the things I like about dystopia and it is was a great part of this book as well. It was a hugely satisfying ending and I loved the way it developed.
However, I didn't totally love the pacing of this book. It is on the longer side for YA, which is totally fine. I love a long book. But I like a book that doesn't feel long. This book however felt long. It dragged in parts even though there was a lot of action. But I think it just didn't have a good flow to it. It felt a little bit like two different stories. There was one in the first half just about the affects of he first book and the court intrigue, then the second half was more about the rebellion. They were both really interesting but only loosely connected. I just would have liked there to be a little bit of a better flow to it.
On the whole, Buried Heart was a really engaging read. It was good ending to a great dystopian series, it has a brilliant and creative world, likable and complex characters, and a plot full of intrigue and action.
I give Buried Heart by Kate Elliot 8.5 out of 10 stars
Have you read Buried Heart? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. And if you haven't read the book and want to, there is a giveaway as part of the tour. Scroll down for more info and become one of 3 people to win a copy of the book. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!
About Kate:
Kate Elliott has been writing stories since she was nine years old, which has led her to believe that writing, like breathing, keeps her alive. As a child in rural Oregon, she made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, science fiction, and YA, including recent works Black Wolves, Court of Fives, and Cold Magic.
It should come as no surprise that she met her future husband in a sword fight. When he gave up police work to study archaeology, they and their three children fell into an entirely new set of adventures amid dusty Mexican ruins and mouthwatering European pastry shops. Eventually her spouse’s work forced them to move to Hawaii, where she took up outrigger canoe paddling. With the three children out of the house, they now spoil the schnauzer.
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Giveaway Details:
Tour Schedule:
Week One: 7/17/2017- YA Books Central - Interview
7/18/2017- The Eater of Books! - Review
7/19/2017- Novel Novice - Guest Post
7/20/2017- Just Commonly - Review
7/21/2017- Two Chicks on Books - Interview
Week Two:
7/24/2017- My Thoughts Literally - Review
7/25/2017- Sarcasm & Lemons - Review
7/26/2017- Stephanie Plotkin - Review
7/27/2017- PaperTrailYA - Excerpt
7/28/2017- Seeing Double In Neverland - Review
Thanks again to Rockstar Book Tours for having me on the tour for this book. I really enjoyed this series. Have you read The Buried Heart? What did you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!
I'm glad you enjoyed this book so much! :)
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