The Heartbeat Thief

What would you do to cheat death? That's the question that lies at the very heart of The Heartbeat Thief. In fact, it's the very question that plagues Miss Senza Fyne, the protagonist of this story. When your whole life is your beauty, when you're pampered and primped, raised with the sole purpose of claiming a good husband, how do you face down time? Time, which will steal that beauty. Time, which will steal those closest to you. That deep, dark fear of the unknown is exactly what drives our protagonist, and it makes for a rather interesting story.

I'll admit that Senza took a while to grow into a character I liked. I didn't fault her for her prim and proper demeanor, nor for the way she drank in the attention of others. It's simply how she was raised. No, what made it hard for me to like Senza was how deeply irrational her fear of death felt on the surface. I have firsthand knowledge of how hard it is to lose a loved one. It cuts deep, and isn't something that goes away. For Senza though, the loss of her loved one caused something that felt forced to me, at least at first. Suddenly she was terrified of dying. So much so, she put her faith in a gorgeous stranger that she had never even met. Does that sound wise? I think not.

However, as the story progressed, things evened out. This story spans decades, and Senza slowly comes to experience much more than she ever expected in her long lifetime. I appreciated how AJ Krafton navigated history. Senza was put into situations that took her out of her comfort zone, and it was those times that I liked her the most. The more pain she went through, the more real she became. By the time I'd reached the ending, I actually understood her. I mentioned it above, but if beauty is all you've ever had, how do you let go of that and journey into the unknown?

While this isn't a perfectly etched out story, the premise and the constant hopping through the decades keeps things fresh. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much growing Senza does throughout this book. She comes out a brand new person, and a wonderful one at that, on the other end. Hand me characters that grow and learn, and you have my heart. A solid three stars to The Heartbeat Thief.