Publisher: Macmillan-Tor

Publication Date: June 14th, 2016

Series: False Hearts, #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 2/5 

It’s difficult for me to give a definitive review and rating on this book, as I was only given a lengthy excerpt as opposed to the full length novel. However, I shall do my best.

Taema and Tila were born as conjoined twins, raised in the cult known as Mana’s Hearth. Once leaving the cult and going to the city, they have been separated thanks to modern technology and enjoy their individual lives due to their artificial hearts that sustain them. One night however, Tila arrives at Taema’s apartment covered in blood moments before the police arrive and arrest her on murder charges. Taema discovers her sister’s involvement in a dangerous game, but maintain Tila’s innocence. Determined to discover the truth, she goes undercover posing as her twin sister.

Now this novel should have the makings of an exciting ride: science fiction, cults, murder, drugs, sisters covered in blood. However, I found what I read of the book to honestly be a bit dull and tired. False Hearts seemed to take the scraps of superior stories in an attempt to create its own. But that is just the problem. We’ve heard this story before. Specifically, the premise of the novel reminded me of the film Minority Report. Minority Report is a superior, masterful science fiction work at the top of its genre. If there’s anything I wouldn’t want as a science fiction writer, it would be to be compared to Minority Report because I’d probably come off as sub-par in comparison. That alone is a bit of a death sentence for me as far as this book is concerned. If the story twisted and turned in unexpected ways, I’ll never know.

Additionally, the characters felt more like archetypes than fleshed out human beings. Tila is the rebellious, wild card twin while Taema is the straight laced, good twin. Because we’ve never had that kind of story before. This wouldn’t be a problem if I had been able to make an emotional connection with the characters. However, I personally was unable to understand and therefore care about them. The chapters I was given never made me understand what exactly made the characters tick.

This contributes to the largest flaw in the story. Overall, the big problem for me however is that as a murder mystery, readers need to be compelled to discover who done it. Unfortunately, I did not feel the need to keep reading. I don’t have any particular desire to purchase or finish the book.

If I had the full book, perhaps my feelings would be different; I did find the subplot concerning the cult interesting after all. If anyone reads this, let me know if its worth giving a second shot.

On the other hand, right now I’m reading A Court of Thorns and Roses, and it is fabulous. Expect a review of that this week as well as another outfit inspired by Alina from the Grisha trilogy. 

Tootle loo, darlings!