The Whisperers of Evernow

A tyrant king harnesses the power of the spoken word for his selfish ends while his people go hungry. His army of Whisperers speaks his wishes into the universe and brings them to pass. Jeremiah is conscripted as a Whisperer, leaving his sister Micah and his parents behind. The promise of a better life is soon shown to be a lie, as Whisperers lose everything once in service to the king. They even lose the right to speak for themselves. They are to say nothing, except what the king wishes.

Rose, the king's eldest daughter, has been told by her mother for as long as she can remember to be ready to run. The king isn't interested in daughters, and once her mother has a son, Rose knows that the days of her and her sisters are numbered.

The Whisperers of Evernow is a story of good versus unspeakable evil, a wicked, selfish king, and a love that is willing to risk all to bring about change. Heidi Catherine does a wonderful job of building the world her characters inhabit and of drawing her characters so that they take on life. Micah, feisty and unwilling to take no for an answer, was my favorite. This was the first book of Heidi Catherine's that I've read, and I look forward to reading more.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author. All opinions expressed here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't like.

"Love could exist in the darkest places."

The Whisperers of Evernow is an inspiring fantasy story focusing on sibling relationships and overcoming tyranny. This book illustrates the power of whispers that unify people in the face of adversity and how a unified people can conquer even the worst of foes.

I loved the characters so much. They were easy to root for and while the story moved quickly, the flow felt natural. I especially liked that there were so many players in the plot and that the main characters were often just as surprised as the reader at the new developments; it made the book impossible to predict and therefore I was fully invested all the way to the end.

I do recommend the book with caution, however, because there are some dark themes of captivity and frankly, I could've done without the POV chapters from the villain. Granted, the POV chapters made me hate the villain as much as everyone else did, so it was well-done, but there is a lot of vulgar language used in his POV (especially sexism) that may make some readers uncomfortable. There are no graphic scenes, however, it's all thoughts and dialogue.

Overall, I'm a bit torn on how to rate the book because on one hand, I couldn't put it down and finished it in 2 days; which usually warrants a 5 star rating from me. However, I did feel a bit uncomfortable with the villain's POV and spent most of his chapters skipping and skimming, so, I'm going to call it 4.5 stars, but round it up on sites that don't accept halves.