[REVIEW] Heart of the Fae (The Otherworld #1) by Emma Hamm

Hello, lovelies! 🌱 I just finished reading Heart of the Fae and I’m onto book two! This book reminds me of A Court of Thorn and Roses because of the setting, the humans and faeries, and the different worlds but also reminded me of The Bird and The Sword by Amy Harmon, for the shapeshifter and the magic in it.

I’m actually very disappointed I’ve not seen anyone talk about this book. The book includes Irish folklore which was good and different, I haven’t read many books with Irish folklore.

the cover is stunning! 🌸

What I loved;

• The world in this book was enchanting, they had faeries, gnomes, pixies, pookas, and bogarts. It had a culture within a human world where the faeries have been forgotten but they haven’t left. They are found everywhere even when people cannot see them.
• Sorcha was a great character: fair, gentle, smart, witty, and strong. She was scared but didn’t think twice about jumping into the ocean despite the viciousness inside it just to have a chance at saving her family. She took care of her father, of her sisters, loved her mother unconditionally, and respected the fae world. She doesn’t fall in love immediately with Eamonn (doesn’t even say the ‘I love you’ during the first book), she finds him ugly at first and even callous.
• Eamonn is the Stone King, the Prince with a crystal body who was once regarded as the future king until his brother betrayed him. Eamonn is angry at the world, hates his own body and self, but loves his island family in a way where he protects them even when he was once a prince and his own people treated others like slaves. Like he says, he may not have been a great king but a fair one.

“I notice everything you do. You haunt my steps and my dreams. You’ve bewitched me, Sorcha, and I want my soul back.”

66% of the book

• The magical world is charming, they have mermaids who help sailors instead of drowning them, they have children as a pooka, pixies as chambermaids, princesses who are taken as a concubine, a Wise King who is not really wise but vile.
• Sorcha and Bran’s friendship was very nice. It’s not an easy friendship where they fall into camaraderie easily, instead, their friendship is survival mode. They help each other and Bran teachers Sorcha small life lessons that will help her later on.
• The side characters were equally charming. From the pixie to the gnomes, both vanished to the same island as their prince. They support Eamonn with all their power.

Sorcha stared at the Queen’s strong hands gripping the edge of the stone bowl. “I’m afraid to know what I want.”

“Everyone is.”

61% of the book

• The island was amazing, seen only every seven years,s and filled with exiled fae of all kind. They wear their real self when out in the fields, working about the castle and the gardens. When Sorcha arrives, she sees only humans – the fae disguised. But, little by little she starts seeing their real self.
• The plague was described so detailed I almost had to put my phone down. I had to applaud the author, she managed to create a situation so severe that of course our Belle – cough Sorcha – had to find other ways to save her papa. Still, the description made me want to vomit but again, well done Ms. Hamm, well done!
• The relationship between Sorcha and Eamonn is not sudden. In fact, I like the fact there is no insta-love. Sorcha is desperate to take Eamonn to the human land, she has been promised he holds the key to end the plague and so she has been tasked to bring him to the human world. Their meeting is abrupt, she calls him coward between other words and he takes her to a hag’s hut to leave her there alone and without bothering him. Their relationship is very slow to build. We see more of the side characters and of Sorcha trying to remain calm and collected throughout her stay on the island than them together. But, when they do get together they banter, tell the truth, and fall in love in silence.
• I was surprised by the sex scene. Is not a scene that makes one cringe – like ACOTAR did throughout the whole series. But, the author managed to create a scene that wasn’t crude, ugly, or uncomfortable.

“Mo chroí,” she whispered. “You called me your heart.”

96% of the book

• The description of Eamonn is also so unique! He was perfect, until the day his twin brother betrayed him by stabbing Eamonn in the back. Then, his perfection was gone and he has scars where his ‘bones’ are made of crystal. I think this was such a unique aspect of the plot and the book itself. It makes him a ‘beast’ but beautiful in a very different way.
• The whole book itself is well developed and the flow is very nice. We have action, a gorgeous setting – the island with its castle on the top, the family aspect with Sorcha and her father and sisters. Her love for her mother is also what makes her go on. Then we have Eamonn and his own kind of family and the island where he lives exiled from everyone. We have the world of the Seelie and Unseelie, of the beautiful vs the grotesque. A world where magic exists and has never left but where humans have forgotten the old ways.
• I found the book charming, the characters and writing eloquent, and the plot intriguing.

Like I mentioned, it’s a shame I haven’t seen this book around. When I say it reminds me of ACOTAR I don’t mean the whole book – I mean the Beauty and Beast re-telling part, the magic and the world of beautiful and ugly creatures but apart from that, I have enjoyed Heart of the Fae much more.