Name: Daggermouth
Series: The Heart #1
Author: H.M. Wolfe
Publisher: Self Published
Format: Kindle (through Kindle Unlimited)
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Science-Fiction, Dark Romance
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
The first thing you’ll learn in New Found Haven is that mercy doesn’t exist. The second thing is that, from the highest glass atrium in the Heart to the windowless slums of the Boundary, the Veyra are always watching.
The last lesson is the hardest, but you must remember it: Love outside of your ring is a death sentence.
The city is carved into rings of privilege and poverty, ruled by the masked elite who will do whatever it takes to hold onto power. Obedience is demanded. Rebellion is crushed.
Greyson Serel has spent his life caught between two worlds. Publicly, he’s the flawless heir to the presidency. Privately, he’s entangled in secrets that could topple the regime. But when he’s forced into a political marriage meant to bind him tighter to the government’s brutal laws, he finds himself shackled to a bride as lethal as she is unwilling.
Shadera Kael is a mercenary raised to kill, not to wed. Yet when her bullet misses its mark, survival leaves her tied to the very man she was sent to eliminate. Trapped inside the corrupt heart of the city, she becomes both prisoner and wife, her every step watched, her every move tested.
Their union is no love story—it’s a battlefield. As secrets come to light and betrayals fester within the walls of power, Greyson and Shadera must decide between annihilating each other or burning the city to the ground together.
In a world where passion has consequences and loyalty is paid for in blood, their forced bond may be the spark that ignites a revolution. Or the fire that consumes them both.
Review:
I went into this knowing very little at all! All I knew was that it was Dystopian and the masses seemed to be loving it. I am one of the masses now. Daggermouth is a very graphic book, from the intimates to the torture to the death… So, you should definitely go into this prepared for that.
This book is in third person and contains multiple POVs and usually this approach will throw me off because I’m not always able to tell immediately who is actually the central point of that chapter… Well, it worked really well for Daggermouth. Others have touched upon this in their reviews on Goodreads too – that because of the third person, not being in anyones mind directly meant so many things caught me off guard! That was brilliantly done.
We follow Shade and Greyson predominantly, Shade the assassin sent to kill Greyson, and Greyson the heir to New Found Haven. They hate each other, and they each have solid reasons to hate each other! And I rather enjoyed the refreshing nature of an enemies to lovers (?) where they do actually hate each other, try to kill each other on page, plot to end the other… yeah, it was good!
But not only do we follow them, we also follow Callum and Lira, and in a completely unexpected twist of events, I adored these two! I don’t think I have read many second chance romances (I’m sure I have, but I cannot for the life of me think of one right now!) but this was excellent. I could read so much more about these two (IYKYK…).
And as I said, there are so many other POVs including Jameson, Shade’s friend with benefits possible love interest from the boundry – and yes I love him too. There is also Maximus, the President himself, number one on my list of characters I hate with every fibre of my being. I don’t hate characters as fiercely as I love them, so even if a character annoys me it is rare I will hate them, but this guy… this guy I hate. Strongly.
The ending of Daggermouth had my heart in my mouth with the tension and action and reveals that just had me in a chokehold. I loved every moment of this book, and if I was reading it at any other time I think this may have been a 1 or 2 sitting read, because it honestly kept me hooked throughout. I don’t think I even fully realised the bigger plot until it was sort of happening…
I don’t think going into this knowing any information about the premise would ruin anything (shocker for me to admit that – but it’s true). H.M. Wolfe hooked me in with the assassination attempt gone wrong that resulted in a forced marriage. I was sat from the start. And up until the last handful of chapters this was a solid 4.5 where I was already considering bumping it to a 5 because the vibes had been great throughout and I’d had a great time reading… But then the ending happened.
“The cracks in my soul aren’t broken places. They are veins cemented together with rage. And it will take more than the hands of men to kill my spirit,”
Reading With Tyler 
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