'Heart of the Impaler' by Alexander Delacroix - Blog Tour & Review

Continue below to read my review of the book and be sure to follow this link - [TOUR SCHEDULE] to check out the rest of the stops on the 'HEART OF THE IMPALER' blog tour brought to you by XPRESSO BOOK TOURS and ALEXANDER DELACROIX!

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Heart of the Impaler
Alexander Delacroix
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: December 7th 2021
Genres: Historical, Young Adult

Alexander Delacroix’s darkly romantic debut Heart of the Impaler is perfect for fans of Kiersten White’s And I Darken.

Vlad Dracula has long lived in the shadows cast by his bloodthirsty father, the voivode, and his older brother, Mircea. Despite their cruelty, Vlad has yearned to prove himself worthy of the throne his whole life. In the cold halls of the voivode’s palace, Vlad can only rely on his cousin and closest friend, Andrei Musat.

When Vlad and Andrei meet Ilona Csáki, the daughter of an influential boyar, they each find themselves inextricably drawn to her. But then Ilona is betrothed to Mircea as part of a political alliance, and Vlad’s resentfulness of his brother begins to seethe into something far darker.

Ilona has no desire to marry the voivode’s eldest son, but love and marriage are the least of her worries. The royal family’s enemies have already tried to put an arrow through her back—and if anyone discovers her blossoming feelings for Andrei and Vlad, she may just wish they’d succeeded.

Beneath the shadow of impending war, the only battle that will be deadlier than the one for Ilona’s life will be the one for her heart.

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Author Bio:

Alexander Delacroix earned Masters degrees from Brigham Young University and Western Governors University. As an undergraduate he majored in French, Russian, and German but ultimately became a Language Arts teacher. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and writing. Heart of the Impaler is his debut novel.

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​rating:  ★ ★ ★   (3 / 5 stars)

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​I'm a huge fan of stories with dark natures, so I was drawn to Heart of the Impaler from the start. I found the premise especially interesting as it was written without the guise of the usual vampiric themes (though I love those too) and I felt a pre-throne story of Vlad would be interesting.

There's a lot of potential here.. conceptually. Though it reads a bit more like an extended beginning of an idea than a complete one, despite the progress that is made. Rather, it feels like the bulk of the story could take place in about 30% of the pages written.. without all the fluff. 

Normally, in a story like this.. which is basically dark, young adult/historical romance.. I enjoy the fluff too. And it's fine here. The book moves at a reasonable pace and spends time building relationships and backstories. It's just got a lot of growing to do. 

As it's Delacroix's debut novel, like his story.. the author has a lot of room to evolve. I feel like he has a clear understanding of story structure, likely do to his language arts background.. but like most with 'teaching' as a day job.. it's left very little room for developing that craft. The result is a light, quick read with no real issues.. but also, no real passion for the story or the characters within. 

Vlad and Andrei have some great backstory details that could make them swoonworthy candidates for Ilona's heart, but I find a lot of authors mistake 'young adult' for 'immature'.. and the two just aren't the same. 

Worth the read for a rainy day.. or if you've got to wait somewhere and want something easy to keep up with even with interruptions. Definitely keep an eye on Delacroix though. Like I said, there's a lot of possibility here.. the ideas are great.