Unfortunately, the writing style in this book just didn't work for me - I tried multiple times to read and couldn't get past the 100 page mark

The world building is strong and immersive and the characters were well-rounded. I did wish slightly more had happened in the plot, though. I would read a sequel because I want to know what will happen to Hope.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and Peter Higgins for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A hole between the worlds is destroying the land that Shay and Castrel live in. Terrible forces leak out of it, infecting the land and killing everyone in its stead. It comes like a shadow approaching, slow but inevitable and impossible to hide from.

Castrel is pregnant and desperate to protect her child. Together with Shay, they begin a long walk down the side of the road trying to reach some form of safety. They stumble upon the giant corpse of a powerful dead dragon and in doing so their daughter becomes ‘infected’ with the heart of a dragon. She will be more than human now.

Still they run for safety. Evil riders chase them. A ‘friend’ of sorts from another world emerges - a non-human visitor who cannot solve the problem either. But by and large they are alone, always walking forward, always hoping to find a better place for their daughter.

This is a long, bleak, hard read. It is essentially one long journey of despair. The author really captures a parent’s desperate need to protect their child, and of course their love. The writing very effectively portrays the grim world they live in. But I have to admit to liking rather more ‘hope’ in my fiction (it’s in quote marks as their daughter is called Hope - and naturally she’s in it rather a lot).

I liked the ideas behind the world building and all the way through I was hoping Shay and Cass could make it to a better place. That they would have the chance to make some decisions in their life other than merely forging on. That they wouldn’t spend almost the whole book near death. It was just a little much for me! But perhaps that is a failure of me as a reader more than that of the book.

This is a slow story, mainly focusing on a journey. I did enjoy it, however. The world building is strong and immersive and the characters were well-rounded. I did wish slightly more had happened in the plot, though. I would read a sequel because I want to know what will happen to Hope and her new form.

Having very much enjoyed the Wolfhound Century Trilogy I was excited to dive into Dragon Heart, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. This post-apocalyptic world is built magnificently, and the attempts residents made to get away from the dark force intent on following them are frightening. The characters are well drawn and relatable; I wouldn't want to be in their position. The fear and tension were palpable throughout, but Higgins isn't just a master of suspense he manages to make you feel for the characters too and there are a few scenes that I found profoundly emotive.

I appreciated that the author decided to include relatively few characters; I find that some writers tend to go overboard thinking there needs to be a certain number of people, but, here, the focus on the small cast means they are richly imagined, vivid and three-dimensional. Told from the points-of-view of Shay and Cass, we get to know them well; their motivations, their hopes; their grief. As with all books in the Grimdark sub-genre, there is lots of death, fear and absolute terror, and the reader feels every single bit a part of the plot rather than looking in as an outsider. It does start off quite slowly so the reader can immerse themselves in the world, but it soon picks up speed and carries on that way right up to the conclusion.

Many thanks to Gollancz for an ARC.

Overall I gave this book three stars, which translates in my rating system somewhere along the lines of 'I liked this but it was nothing to write home about'. There were some elements of the story that I enjoyed but there were some things that held me back from fully appreciating the story.

The Characters. This book is, for the most part, dual POV between Shay and Cass, both of whom were, on paper, quite interesting characters. Cass is a Hedgewitch and starts the book pregnant, not something I personally have read often in fantasy - getting pregnant? yes, starting pregnant? Less so - and Shay had some interesting characteristics too such as his knack for building and his protective nature that managed to not be creepy. But, at least for the first two thirds of this book, I didn't feel as though I really got to know these characters, their motivations are clear in that they want to protect their unborn child and they want to get away from the unknown force that is chasing them, but they still managed to feel quite aimless at times. I'm wondering if having a map, so that you could see where they were planning on going and how everything fit together, would have been beneficial? It may be that there is a map, my review copy was digital and did not have one. I will say that towards the end of the book I warmed to both these characters and their daughter Hope a lot more, what they wanted felt a lot more obvious and logical and by the end, I was absolutely sold on their story. But if you aren't entirely set on two characters and the entire book is mostly just the two of them and the occasional interlude from another character it does make for somewhat difficult reading.

Dragons. Those hoping for scores of winged beasts will alas be dissapointed by this book. There is only one dragon that ever appears on the page and you don't really get to encounter it fully (I'd explain why but...spoilers). What I will say is that I thought that this concept of dragons was truly inspired. I loved how the author handled the idea of a dragon and the shaping of a dragon. It's terrible that I can't explain it to you without spoilers, but if you read this book for one reason, read it for how it tackles 'dragonhood'.

Writing style. This was the biggest issue for me. This is an entirely personal thing, and I don't want to say that no-one will enjoy this book because I didn't, but I just couldn't get on board with the writing style. It felt simultaneously overwritten and also too simplistic? It felt dense, but it wasn't a long book to read so in hindsight it can't have been? It just felt like each sentence had one too many words in it, at least to me. I will add that I'm not opposed to wordy or flowery books per se, but something about this didn't quite sit right with me.

If you're at all interested in this kind of apocalyptic fantasy that tackles themes of parenthood and has a very sweet, very real romance threaded through it (is it a romance if they are already in love at the start of the book?) then I would certainly suggest you give this book a go. I would argue that it has quite a slow beginning, but give yourself time to get to the end and I think there's something special.

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Dragon Heart - thanks to Netgalley

This book really embodies the ‘epic’ tag. Most of the story is a road trip - Castrel. Shay and their baby, Hope desperately trying to stay one step ahead of a dark and unstoppable force that has broken through to their human world & is intent on destroying it. Sounds like a thousand other Grimdark stories, right? Well, yes and no. The beauty and class of Dragonheart are two-fold. A horrible, relentless application of menace that at times makes you breathless with empathy & horror (I’m not kidding) and extraordinary imagery that made my heart soar and then wither & flake into toxic ash.

Dragon Heart has few characters but the ones we encounter are vivid, credible and rich with humanity. Expect grief, terror, hope, anxiety, confusion, exhaustion, more hope, lots of death and all those good Grimdark elements.

I bloody loved it and I’m really stoked to have found a new author that I can rhapsodise about. It had everything I love in a GD novel and I hope there is some kind of Peter Higgins dynastic 100 series salty, epic goodness.

I shall now step away from the coffee & endeavour to calm down. Great job.