The Broken Heart of Arelium

What is The Broken Heart of Arelium about?

This is the first book of the War of the Twelve series. Throughout the text, I noticed there is a significance in the number twelve. It is a straight forward fantasy story with a slow build-up but is a rewarding read. It focuses on Merad Reed and other characters like Jelaia and the journeys and challenges that they have to overcome to survive.

How I found out about The Broken Heart of Arelium?

I found out about this book on Goodreads, where I made thread on one of the forums that I was offering book reviews. Alex was one of the authors that reached out to be. As an indie author myself, I think it’s important to read and review other books and help build a strong community between writers.

I was drawn to this book by the cover and the title. The title gave me the impression that there was a lot of heartbreak and tragedy. It made me curious and made me wonder who is Arelium?

Where did I get The Broken Heart of Arelium from?

I received an ACR copy via email from the author.

What did I like about The Broken Heart of Arelium?

There was a few things that I really liked about this. Reed came across as a strong person: somebody who wasn’t easily influenced. He came across as a born leader. I was also pleasantly surprised at the strong presence, Jelaia had in the book as she went on to become one of my favourite characters in the story.

I think it is a well written piece with a lot of details. My favourites were the parts about the infirmary and the combination of terrible smells. The paragraphs about foods made me feel hungry. There was a great attention to detail which I think many readers will appreciate. Quotes like bodies piling up and urine-soaked sheets gives us an idea of how dark the world is. I also felt like I could relate to the infirmary scenes because I work in a care home and the smells mentioned are ones that I have smelt in my work experiance.

I think it’s brilliant how all the five senses are utilized in this. The little details makes me focus on the book even more and they make all the difference. I also like the quotes at the beginning of the chapters by characters that show up. I also like the emphasis on the number 12 and it’s importance in this world.

I also appeciate the appendix at the end. I see a lot of these in fantasy novels and it makes me wonder if I should include it in my own novels in the future.

What I didn’t like about The Broken Heart of Arelium?

Not a lot that I didn’t like, so I’m going into nitpicking territory. There were some typos which were distracting, but the author wrote back to me to say that he found typos and he had fixed them. This shows how committed the author is to the books and how quick he is to fix things as soon as he seems them.

One thing that I did find strange in one of the chapters was Jelaia’s dad calls her daughter istead of her real name. It irks me and makes me wonder why her dad dosen’t just use her name?

How did The Broken Heart of Arelium make me feel?

I felt engaged. I really liked some of the names on here and the names did make my mind wonder. Everytime Aldarin came up, I kept wanting to read it as Aladdin. Nidore make me think of the pokemon, Nidoran. I also really felt the influence by J. R. R. Tolkien, especially with the chapter titles.

Would I recommend The Broken Heart of Arelium?

Yes, I would. I think if you like stuff like The Lord of The Rings and Game of Thrones, then you would enjoy this.