Rating: 5⭐️

I’ve recently started reading what’s called romantasy, a broad term that covers a range of tropes that, honestly, don’t involve my interpretation of romanticism. 

The War of Lost Hearts, a fantastically well written complete fantasy trilogy, is an excellent example of a that. 

Daughter of No Worlds is the first novel in the series and introduces Carissa Broadbent’s fantasy world and incredible characters.  The author dumps the reader immediately into chaos, a war torn world and the most horrifying of choices forced upon the two main characters at moments that inflicts severe pain, deep damage, and forever changes the course of their lives. 

For Tisaanah, a child who becomes a slave, her distinctive appearance and “touch of magic “ identifying her to the slavers as a Fragmented one, not a true Valtain

Too young for to be sold as a prostitute, her ability to use magic,  be a Wielder, sees her sold away from the mines and as a slave to a Master in a city. 

That’s just the end of the Prologue. And where our story begins. Tisaanah is a character so beautifully written with complex layers that slowly reveal themselves throughout the storyline. We able to feel her rage, her endless well of determination and endurance as she struggles through unbelievable humiliation and crushing cruelty to obtain her goals. 

Broadbent doesn’t shy away from the violence but while the storyline and Tisaanah refer to her own life as a woman who was assaulted by her master and as a part of her life as a slave, it’s not a on page act or memory. She very clearly has taken charge of how she’s views the path she’d having to take, and vocal about how her actions have impacted it. 

The other main character is Max, a former member of The Order and a person who, unwillingly at first, becomes Tisaanah’s teacher and mentor.   He’s not as compelling as Tisaanah at first because she’s so powerful and magnetic a personality that it takes a little bit to find the balance between them.

But the author’s writing, vividly capturing Tisaanah’s learning process when it comes to languages as well as magic, and both of them awkward in their respective roles, it just works. 

This is an epic fantasy story, one of revenge, monsters, magic and triumph over extreme tragedy.  It really doesn’t need romance, and here the slow burn romance barely gets under way. 

The potential for greatness and for even greater evil is built in every where here. That’s a fantastic element of the story and series. A character that appears to be a true friend could easily become a force for the villain. Or the villain itself.  

Broadbent is building an imaginative immersive world, one that continues to expand and evolve as the story develops.   I couldn’t put this book down. 

The cast of characters is just as powerful and fascinating as the main characters they surround. It helps sustain the beliefs that this universe exists and that our connection to it has deep believability. 

I’m immediately onto the next book . But I highly recommend reading this. BookTok has jumped all over this and I absolutely agree. I love it. 

Now a word about that cover . If I was going on covers alone, I wouldn’t have picked up the book.  It’s not as good portrayal of the character, imo, based on the author’s description. Tisaanah is a striking character. A Fragmented person, whose appearance reflects that:

“her skin and hair that was totally white, completely sapped of color, while splotches of what would have been her natural deeper coloring crawled across her skin. One green eye, one white. Streaks of dark mingling in silver hair.”

Her body is also heavily covered in scars, front and back.  That’s a person who has many unique features.The cover just doesn’t do her justice. My opinion.

Cover art by Ina Wong doesn’t work for me for very specific reasons. 

The War of Lost Hearts:

Daughter of No Worlds #1

Children of Fallen Gods #2

Mother of Death and Dawn #3

Buy link

        Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts Book 1)

Blurb 

A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.

Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.

(Note: This book contains adult material.)

• Publisher: (January 7, 2020)
• Publication date: January 7, 2020
• Language: English
• Print length: 520 pages