Review: Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts #1)

Daughter of No Worlds, Book 1 in The War of Lost Hearts Series by Carissa Broadbent

Published By: Self-Published (Soon to be Traditionally Published)
Publication Date: January 2, 2020
Date Read: February 27, 2025
Genre: Adult – Fantasy / Romantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 520

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A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.

Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.

“Men want power because it makes them feel good. Women want power because it lets us do things.”

This is without a doubt one of the hardest reviews I think I will ever have to write, because I honestly don’t really know what I think about this book. I am sat writing this review a good 3 weeks after I finished this book and I still just have no clue. It is a definite mixed bag for me. There’s nothing inherently bad about this book but I just felt kind of ‘meh’ all the way through. I picked this one up as I really enjoyed Carissa Broadbent’s other series, The Crowns on Nyaxia. After having this one recommended to me as well I thought I would pick it up and give it a go. This is, in my opinion, no where near as good as The Serpent and the Wings of Night. It’s not even on the same level.

When I decided to pick up Daughter of No Worlds, I decided to go for the audio edition… I’m not 100% sure that this was the right decision. First of all the narrators are just… not good. Unfortunately, if I see this narrator on another book I will immediately avoid it. It just wasn’t good. The main character is a slave who escapes and goes to a new country so she is foreign to the setting of the majority of the novel. So the fact that she has an accent on the audiobook didn’t bother me. What did bother me, was that she didn’t at the start when she was still a slave… while the interpretation of her accent would be different… she shouldn’t be sounding completely different. Her voice should be the same. I don’t know whether this just immediately annoyed me but I just couldn’t truly get into the book. I tried switching from audio to ebook but again I was just ‘meh’. I appreciate that this sounds like I completely hated this book. I didn’t. I did actually enjoy elements of it, but whenever I was having a break from reading I just had no motivation to pick it back up, so it ended up taking me a long time to get through this book.

Daughter of No Worlds has a pretty decent plot and if you’re a fan of romantasy books, I definitely think this one is worth reading. I did in fact really enjoy the characters of Tisaanah and Max. They’re slow burn friendship to more was adorable and I really loved that. I also really liked the magical school element of this book. It had many tropes throughout this book that I typically am a fan of, so I do feel like I was just not in the right mood or frame of mind while reading this one. There are so many great elements to it, it was just missing that un-put-downable quality for me. And as I said above, that is possibly because of the medium in which I was consuming this story. If you’re thinking of trying this one, learn from my mistakes and don’t touch the audio edition.

I’m definitely not swearing off the series for good, but at this moment in time I am not intending to continue. This series is getting republished by a traditional publisher, so I might decide to pick it up again in the future. It’s a decent fantasy read so don’t let me ‘meh’ness put you off. It’s just nothing overly new for me. There was nothing that really made me excited to continue, so for now this is going to be the end of my journey for this series.

“It was amazing, the mental somersaults minds and hearts could do to justify their actions in the name of love.”