The story is incredibly magical and full of wonderful fantasy elements, but it is completely overshadowed by the plain narrative. The characters come across bland and static because of this. There is a lack of description that the book so desperately needs to be able to plunge the reader into the world of Linden. It makes the whole story fall so flat.
I enjoyed the book overall and the story that was being told, but I just wish that the descriptions had been developed much. It left me feeling disconnected to the characters to the point where I just did not find myself liking or hating them, they had no liveliness or spirit that I feel like they could have had if just a little bit more had been done. I also feel like it oftentimes felt disjointed and not enough was explained, or if it ever was explained it just wasn't explained in a strong way. I also felt like the main body of the novel, where they seek out the heart stones, happened too quickly and any problem they came across was solved quickly and conveniently, and left it feeling weaker all the more for it. I would have liked to have seen more struggle, desperation, sacrifice, emotion from each of the characters. As I said, the lack of the same made the novel feel flat, and very beige.
It's an easy enough read - perhaps a little too easy with the lack of life in the characters and overall descriptions. I feel like the book had the potential to be something much more greater than what it is.

This book is a fairy tale for all those who have loved and lost and discovered meaning in life again. King Christopher and Queen Lily seem to have a perfect live…a wonderful marriage, a baby on the way and a kingdom they rule together. The suddenly life falls apart when the queen and baby die in childbirth. The king is inconsolable and strikes out at those around him. The magic trees that sustained the kingdom begin to die when the Keeper of the Wood’s health starts to fail. An insurrection happens when a disgruntled subject overtakes the castle. The King escapes and sets out on a journey with his guardsman where he meets both old and new enemies and friends in an effort to save the kingdom. The book starts out slowly but picks up about a third of the way through. In the end I enjoyed it but would love to learn more about several of the characters’ back stories. Overall I really enjoyed it.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.
Reviews posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and multiple Facebook groups

In the Heart of the Linden Wood is Ekta R Garg’s look at what happens after the fairytale ending. King Christopher loses his beloved wife in childhood and has to learn to cope with his grief while simultaneously going on a quest to save his kingdom from certain demise.

The Pros: the plot, subplot and pacing were all excellently laid out, giving more substance than the average fairytale but still having that same whimsical feeling. The culmination of King Christopher’s personal journey brought me to tears.

The cons: I’m a girl who enjoys descriptions - give me vivid page long descriptions of setting, clothing, characters and I’m in my zone. I can count on one hand the amount of character descriptions used in this entire story. The prose is painfully sparse, and I do mean painfully. The characters are almost all completely unlikeable.

But my real problem with this book is the world-building. I’m confused, like genuinely confused what kind of world this book is set in, because on the one hand we have mention of the robes the King wears and torches used to light the way and on the other hand we have sterilized surgical instruments, white picket fences and cement being used as building material. It is all over the place and it’s a major flaw that took me right out of the story.

The well thought out intertwined plots and the pacing is what saved the book for me; I do think it has amazing potential but it wasn’t quite pulled off because of the inadequacies in world building and characterization.

I really struggled getting through the first 100 pages , but carried on through it and it did eventually end up being a good book, I would just like to grabbed a bit more by the story within the first 100 pages.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for a honest review

This is a book of magic.

Starting and keeping a rather slow pace this book tells the story of lose, grief, mourning and the magic of the trees in the Kingdom of Linden.

This is a book that left me wanting more, it could have been a bit faster paced, the characters could have been a bit better developed and the flow could have been better which would have made for a more pleasant read.

But having said that it was an alright book, I did finish it and found it was in some respects on the right track.

2 1/2 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for this honest review.

I honestly don’t have a lot to say about this book. The cover was cute, but I felt like the book itself lacked substance and I found myself both bored and disinterested very early on. The style of the writing wasn’t to my personal tastes so that may have been the reason why.

This book was exactly what I was expecting, only better. The writing is lovely, and I cared so, so much about the characters. At its core, this is most decidedly a book about grief. It may have been a bit on the nose at times, but it was unapologetically what it said it would be, a journey through heartbreak in all of it's forms that allows us to develop an understanding for the way that these feelings can manifest at different times.
I liked the standard fantasy quest setup, and felt that the story's turns were unexpected enough to satisfy me. More than anything, I expected to go into this and get a sad, but cozy tale, and that's exactly what I got. Also, I love Alistair more than anything and I would fight for that absolute darling.

Thank you for NetGalley for allowing me early access to this publication.

This book, I can already tell, will end up in my top ten reads of 2023 list! This easy-to-read fantasy entwines friendship, love, loss, adventure, and trust all into one breathtaking novel - balancing each aspect perfectly. It is the perfect introductory read for someone wanting to branch out into the fantasy genre! My only point to note is that this book is aimed at a younger audience - with it's simple plot line and description choices - however, this should not at all deter any older readers from exploring this novel.

In The Heart of the Linden Wood tells the story of King Christopher as he tried to adjust to his life afer the death of Queen Lily, a once princess he married shortly after becoming King. The story beings with the the sad passing of Queen Lily and her unborn daughter through stillbirth. It reminded me of the opening scene of The House of Dragon, very Games of Thrones but with more modern names.

You can feel the King's grief in the pages as he tries to come to terms with life after Lily. He sets out on a quest to try and find out who he is, and maybe, just, maybe he will finally see that he can be an amazing King even after the death of his beloved Lily.

One thing that did annoy me, and it was a little confusing was the jumping around of characters. In the first six chapters we have The King, Geraldine (the woman who, sadly, lost the Queen and her daughter), Ariana, Lily's parents, a counselor and a castle representive. It feels very all over the place, plus there is incorrect address of royalty. The KIng is address as both His Majesty and His Highness, both that sometimes don't have the capital letters they deserve.

Yes it's worth a read to find out wither or not Christopher can heal, but can anyone truly get over losing a wife and a daughter? The heir to his throne when he's had a childhood of living with a tyrant father? Oh yes King Vincent he sounded like a nasty piece of work.

Unfortunately I didn't get along with the simple writing style of this book, and I ended up dnfing it after a few chapters. The plot seemed intriguing, so I would still recommend if you're newer to fantasy or enjoy a bit of flowery prose presented in a straightforward way.

I've been chosen by @atmospherepress to read an ARC of In the Heart of the Linden Wood by @ektargarg

I really wanted to like this book, but at 260 pages, it really needed to grab me in the first 50 pages. Unfortunately, it did not.

The synopsis of this book outlines a redemption arc of a young king who loses his wife and then goes to the woods to seek healing. I felt there was too much time spent on a political narrative and too many side characters' POV. The plot was lost and didn't actually pick up until halfway through, and by then I'd lost interest and felt the actual adventure was speeding by.

Positives were the world building - however again, I felt there was a lot of time spent building this intricate world for it to not be that relevant to the main plot line.

The excessive POV's were full of internal dialogue that was not really needed to move the plot along.

Overall, a great first draft, but definitely need some editing and streamlining to clean it up.

What a beautiful unexpected surprise this story was…A story that weaves real life themes into a fairytale setting and you are immersed into the magical Kingdom of Linden.

Genre: Fantasy

Summary: There is a King,, there is a magic forest, and their is a Kingdom. The Kingdom is recovering from the tyrannical reign of King Vincent and now it is up to his son King Christopher to restore the reputation of the monarchy to its people. He was a victim of the Kings tyranny as a child and finds solace in his bride, Queen Lilly. The magic forest is made up of the Linden Wood, this would has supported the kingdom for generations. All at once tragedy strikes the hearts of the king and his people when he loses his Queen and his child during childbirth. Word also comes that the Linden Wood that is coveted for its magic properties, is dying. No one knows the cause. The King, despite his grief has no choice but to seek answers. With the help of some very unlikely characters, he sets off to find answers. Will the forest heal, will the kingdom rally behind the king and will the kings’ broken heart heal? You won’t be able to stop reading to find out.

Pace: Slow

This is truly a fairytale setting and a fairytale story with very real life themes. Insecurities, needing approval, troubled marriages, loss, grief, responsibilities, finding your purpose and doing what it right even when it comes at a personal cost. I started reading this book yesterday and finished it within 24 hours. I very rarely do that with this type of read. I found myself so invested in the characters and their crossing paths, that I had to finish. The pacing was a perfect combination of slow character building moments and quickened escalation during the plot driven moments. The writing is beautiful and visual. My only criticism for this story is the length of the book that was used to over the Kings Loss. It felt a big long…

Although this book is a fantasy read, the characters feel more human to me than any other fantasy I’ve read.. If you enjoy very relatable fiction with a mix of fairytale whimsy… YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!

I saw the ending of this story coming from early on but the story took some fun twists along the way and I kept reading because I genuinely liked the characters. I also appreciated the way this book explores grief and how everyone grieves things differently and can be caused by many different circumstances. I would say this book also fits adjacent to the cozy fantasy genre it is a pretty gentle read focused more on the characters and their lives than a grand fantasy adventure plot.

I am not particularly a fan of sci fi & fantasy novels, but thought I would test myself and am so glad that I did.
Yes, with the magical trees, there is a definite fantasy element, but the characters seemed real, the story flew along and was so easy to read.
As well as the magical fantasy, this very much focussed on grief, greed and love.
I think it would be very suitable for a teenage audience although I as an adult, just enjoyed the ride.
I will be looking out for more work from Ekta R Garg.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This book could have been so much more. A slow burner but I stuck with it and I am glad I did. This is a story of grief, loss and forgiveness with a sprinkle of magic. The two main characters Christopher and healer Geraldine were under developed and I really wanted to know about their back stories. All in all a good read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

With a slow pace that makes this book easy to put on pause and then forget to pick it up again, it's a story about a widowed king mourning his wife lost to childbirth, and the magical wood in his kingdom that's getting rotted from its core out due to issues the guardian in charge is undergoing and that the monarch has to get involved in despite his overwhelming grief.

Whilst the magical wood is what attracted me in the first place, as I like the magical forest that is in danger from some magical rot trope, this book's take on it offers nothing we've not seen before. It's almost like a synthesis of all magical rotting woods plots we've seen before, so maybe the king's grief would've been the highlight, had it not been overshadowed by the other plotline. Christopher is a likable man, and it's not often that we see a male character in mourning for his beloved that doesn't end up with him finding quick consolation in some random pretty woman that comes into the plot to warm his bed and thaw his frozen heart, so I very much lament this plotline wasn't all that it could've been, as heartwrenching and soul-searching as it could've been.

I didn't care for the rest of the characters, to be honest, nor for the woods. Didn't care for the guardian of the woods, either, and the ending was the most predictable of all solutions ever. I really only wanted Christopher and his arc to shine! Alas, it wasn't to be. But I'm not completely disregarding this story only because of him. If you thought Cinnamon Roll Princes were a delight, well, here we had a Cinnamon Roll King, and he didn't get the story he deserved.

Let me mourn what could've been of this book now.

Thank you NetGealley and Atmosphere Press for my (first! :D) copy of this e-book.

This fairy tale held a lot of promise and I adored they way it started out in a dark moment and slowly progress to healing as the story progressed. I always enjoy following the POV of multiple characters and their thoguhts, especially when they are trying to heal from grief.

However, I am not a fan of flowery and meandering prose such as this, but when I read the author's acknowledgements I noticed they were inspired by Morgenstern's Night Circus (which I didn't love either).

So, if you are a fan of the Night Circus, Piranesi and other heartwarming tales with a very ornate writing style, In the Heart of the Linden Wood is for you.

3/5 stars! The cover for this book is fantastic and drew me in. I'm a sucker for purple. The reality is that this isn't really some epic fantasy novel that I felt like it was when I read the overview. It is more of a story of the journey of grief and how we often get stuck or lost in our grief. 3 stars because I think it is very effective as a novel on grieving, but lost stars because of the pacing and misrepresentation of this being some fantasy-driven storyline.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

In the Heart of the Linden Wood did not disappoint! While I found the start of the book to be a little slow, I'm glad I didn't give up on it. Ekta R. Garg tells a compelling story of grief and forgiveness from start to finish, with some wonderful imagery truly setting the scene - and what a beautiful scene it is. However, while I did find myself enjoying both Christopher and Geraldine as characters, I do wish some more time was spent truly developing them and their story in order to form a deeper connection. At times I also felt like this novel was lacking somewhat in the fantasy department, with such a gorgeous fantasy world laid out in front of us there was room for a lot more to be done!

With just a little bit more this book really could have been taken to the next level. That being said, it was a satisfying read, with a writing style that was truly enjoyable. Plus, the cover is beautiful.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for providing me this copy in exchange for an honest review*

Unfortunately I dnf'ed this book at 40%. The world building was not good. The characters were really problematic and I couldn't connect with them. The magic system was really not promising enough to keep me from dnf'ing it. Don't get me wrong, the author and the idea were really good, but the execution was not the finest.