Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent (The War of Lost Hearts #1)

The ghost of that girl still lived inside me somewhere. She had what it took to survive, and I had what it took to live.”

Hello friends! 🫂✨ Welcome, it is great to have you here. Today I am back with another book review, my recent favourite fantasy read, I must say. My best friend has been bugging me to read this book, and I simply regret not taking my time to read it. It was perfect in every possible way; I haven’t been this pumped for a fantasy read since ACOTAR, to be honest with you. From world-building to the characters and the SLOW BURNING romance, Daughter of No Worlds gave me everything I needed. There is so much in the book, and I will do my best not to spoil much for you since I am curious about the rest of the series. However, I will mention my favourite parts and the plot generally, so I cannot fully promise that it will be a spoiler-free review. Just read with caution!

Our main character is a strong-willed young girl in the beginning, a scared child whose home is in invasion. Her name is Tisaanah, a fragmented girl (not a full-blooded Valtain) whose magic barely exists. When her home is under invasion, she is sold to a man who refuses to see her as anything but property, something to keep beautiful but broken. Then we get a time jump, where she is now a grown woman, who had done everything to pay off the money her slaver asked from her by all means necessary, just to be free and live her life, or whatever is left of her. When she tries to buy her freedom with 1000 golds, she gets the shocking reality: no matter what she does, she will never be free. Thus, she finds her only way to escape. Her tormentor is dead, she is almost dead, and she has only one goal: to get to Ara.

The world-building of the book was excellent. There is a magic system, and from the plot, it is clear that magic is something fairly new. The ones who can use magic are called Wielders, and there are two types of them. The ones who use the more “internal” side of magic are Valtains, who are more efficient in minds, water, air, emotions, and so on. Then there are the Solarie, those who are more connected to the “external” side of magic: fire, earth, and other external energies. Tisaanah has to reach Ara so that she can get trained and become efficient in her magic; there is so much she has left behind in order to gain her freedom. When she arrives in Ara with a bloody back and in an almost-dead situation, she gets healed and assigned to a teacher, our second main character, Maxantarius, in short, Max; a Solarie and a well-known gentleman who has been buried in his despair since the war he had to end. I will not spoil the details, but Max was such a complex character with an amazing backstory; I simply am in love with him!

The story gets better and better after they are together. At first, you read a lovely story of two significantly different people becoming friends, and then this friendship turns into something deeper; not immediately a romance but a situation in which two souls burn together, meld into each other, and become almost one. It was a slow burn but not like those which make you want to throw the book for a kiss, nope, it was a lot more fulfilling and beautiful. I kept waiting for them to confess to each other, but in the end, I loved how the author decided to bring them together. Not only these two characters, but the side characters were also a blast. Nura, although she seemed like a complete b*tch in the beginning, got a deeper story around the end; Sammerin, oh my beautiful Sammerin, and the walking-talking disaster Moth; and Zeryth, most likely the most horrible character in the entire series. All of them made amazing additions to the book and the plot. I cannot wait to read more and see what all of them will do in the future.

Tisaanah is a very strong girl; she has done everything to buy her freedom and has everything in her to fight for those she couldn’t save back then. However, the Towers have something else in mind, and it comes with a huge price. I will just drop the name Reshaye; keep this in your mind while reading the book because it brings the suspense side of the story perfectly well. I cannot, and simply cannot, wait to learn more about it. Nevertheless, I feel like I have found a favourite of mine after a good while. If the series continues consistently, I think I have found my new favourite fantasy writer. SJM is good and all, but have you heard of Carissa Broadbent? Haha. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series! Until I see you in my next post, stay safe! 🌸