Tale of the Heart Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos, # 4)
By: Nisha J Tuli
Publication: November 26, 2024 by Forever
672 pages
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Fae
Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)
( Goodreads | Amazon )
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Goodreads description--After Lor makes the biggest mistake of her life, she finds herself on the run from the Aurora King and decides it's time to end this, once and for all. But when a new enemy emerges to claim her freedom, the entire fate of Ouranos comes to rest on her shoulders.
As the land continues to rebel, Lor must admit she is the key to saving the continent, whether she likes it or not. To fight for Nadir, she must lie, steal, and do whatever it takes to hunt down the remaining arks. Growing more and more desperate, she worries her actions are turning her into something she doesn't recognize, dooming her to repeat her grandmother's mistakes.
When the Aurora King finally comes for her, Lor ventures into the Underworld's shadowy depths, where, once again, she finds herself at the heart of another deadly test. Only this time, she’s competing for everyone's future, not just a crown.
The only thing Lor ever wanted was to be free, but she may soon find she was always destined for a cage.
I was torn on even wanting to start Tale of the Heart Queen. If you haven't read the previous books in the series, be warned that spoilers for the previous books will be involved in this review.
Lor and Nadir start this book separated. Lor thinks she's killed Nadir by accidentally striking him with her lightning power that she can't control while trying to strike his father instead. Nadir is kidnapped by Zerra and held for ransom to get Lor to steal some objects that Zerra needs from one of the other kingdoms. Lor has to go on a mission to find that object. At the same time, Zerra plans to marry Nadir herself as a replacement for Herric, who hurt her many years ago.
Gabriel is also a narrator. He's left in the Aphelion to pick up the pieces after exposing Atlas for stealing the crown from his brother, Tyr. Tyr isn't in a place to be the king after his ordeal. Yet, he is still the reigning king. Gabriel is needed for the support of the kingdom as well as stability for Tyr. He has a romance building with Hylene, but there isn't too much time spent on that. His story was in place mostly for resolution for the Sun Kingdom, which is where a large portion of the story takes place over the series.
I have enjoyed Nadir and Lor's story, but when things went to a higher level to include Zerra, Heric, and Lor's grandparents, I lost interest in that part of the story. I thought the series probably would have been just as enjoyable without the higher level of conflict. Had Nadir's father just been evil and attempted to steal Heart's power for himself to become a more powerful king than the others in Ouranos, I would have enjoyed that more. Zerra and Heric were particularly unnecessary in my opinion. Lor's grandparents' story could be arguably necessary because it adds to the conflict of Heart regaining its power and Lor and Nadir being Primaries over their respective territories.
Now I need to discuss Rion, Nadir's father. I don't want to spoil anything for readers who haven't read this book yet. So highlight for spoilers: I'm all for a redemption story. But this happened way too quickly. Nadir's father has been built up as the pinnacle of evil throughout this entire series. And all of a sudden, we find out that it is really because he had his heart broken. He was in love with a woman, Rachel. But he slipped up and got another woman pregnant, Nadir's mother. He ended up marrying and bonding with Nadir's mother for his crown, despite not caring for her at all. And he proceeded to hate her over time, as well as the two children she bore him. He tortured Lor for years while she was in prison. Yet we learn he's been prodded by Herric all this time. And he basically loses it in this book. He goes from the ultimate bad to a sniveling pawn. Again, I'm all for a redemption story. No one is incapable of being redeemed. Everyone is capable of change through Jesus. Yet this happening was so jarring and out of character development that I couldn't get on board with it. I can't believe the path Nisha J Tuli chose for him. It didn't feel honest. It didn't feel authentic. It felt like a convenient plot hole filler.
While I'm in spoiler mode: what about the innkeeper that Nadir and Lor stayed at. Is that not Rachel in truth? Rion believed her to be dead, but I wondered if she were really alive and if Herric was lying to him about her being in the Underworld. Nothing was said about it, so either this was left unaddressed on purpose, this was a hole, or I was reaching.
Another thing I want to address is a pet peeve of mine. I don't drink alcohol. It feels like I'm in the minority when it comes to like the entire world, although Google says only 32% of the world population drinks (how they know, I have no idea). But I get so frustrated in literature when drinking alcohol to forget or escape problems is used. I suppose there are times when we are discussing alcoholism where this would make the most sense to include, but it's mentioned so often in books in this way that I feel like the world has begun to believe that this is how one handles one's problems. Escaping through alcohol and/or drugs. It isn't healthy. And I'm kind of tired of seeing it in books. Is this a case of life imitating art or art imitating life? Do people drink to drown their problems because that's what's natural to them, and thus, people write about it? Or do people do it because they've seen it so much on TV and in literature that they just do it because that's what they're told is supposed to be done? Getting off my soapbox now.
Only to hop back on. I have always struggled with books that focus on diversity for diversity's sake. I suppose this can be done in a way that isn't as in-your-face, but this series checks nearly every diversity box available. If this is something that bugs you, I thought you might like to know. If you like this to be in your books, now you know.
Tale of the Heart Queen was okay. I am glad that I finished the series. I did prefer the first two books in the series over the last two. It wasn't without problems for me. I felt like the conflict was forced in some areas and would have been better served to have been simplified a bit. Even though I love a redemption story, Rion's character path was so jarring and felt inauthentic with his journey up until this book. I still rooted for Lor and Nadir. Overall, Tale of the Heart Queen gets 3 Stars. Have you read Tale of the Heart Queen? What did you think? Let me know!
