[LKA]∎ PDF The Heartbeat Thief edition by Ash Krafton AJ Krafton Literature Fiction eBooks

The Heartbeat Thief edition by Ash Krafton AJ Krafton Literature Fiction eBooks

Download As PDF : The Heartbeat Thief edition by Ash Krafton AJ Krafton Literature Fiction eBooks

The Heartbeat Thief edition by Ash Krafton AJ Krafton Literature Fiction eBooks

This is described as being for "new adults". Apparently there is a new genre for those in their late teen and twenties. This novel follows the adventures of Senza, who appears to be 17 years old, and in the mid Victorian period, because of her wealth, she is about to "come out" into society. She is beautiful, and her mother wants her to be successfully married, for that is the only significant objective for a young woman of the time. However, shortly her grandmother dies, and Senza becomes somewhat morbid about death. It is then she meets Mr Knell, who with magic, offers her a deal: she can have eternal life and remain her beautiful self for eternity. There is only one catch, which she finds out as she becomes committed: she prolongs her life by stealing increments from others, in the form of what are described as "heartbeats". (She does not need to steal a beat for every time her heart beats, but they are consumables.) The story then follows Senza as she experiences immortality, at the price of stealing life from others. Each day, as she wakes up, she is exactly the same as the previous waking. If she cuts her hair, it is uncut. If she was wounded, she is repaired.

The book is well-written, its style is restrained, although the descriptions are somewhat lush. However, the descriptions of death, and of Senza's watching all her friends age and die, are compelling. Senza knows she cannot marry, as she cannot inflict her youth on a husband, and she cannot have children, because she returns to yesterday's self each morning. The book offers social commentary of the period from mid Victorian to close to the present, and makes some points for those who want to think about what they have read. Well done.


Tags : The Heartbeat Thief - Kindle edition by Ash Krafton, AJ Krafton. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Heartbeat Thief.,ebook,Ash Krafton, AJ Krafton,The Heartbeat Thief,Red Fist Fiction,Fiction Fantasy Historical

The Heartbeat Thief edition by Ash Krafton AJ Krafton Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

A.J. Krafton certainly knows how to create atmosphere. It pervades every page of this fantasy. At first I found it hard to come to terms with a beautiful, young girl's obsession with not wanting to die, ever. She falls in love with a mysterious stranger who is there one minute, gone the next, who turns out to be the angel of death. He offers her eternal life, but to survive she must steal heartbeats from living souls. She agrees to his terms and lives for one hundred and fifty years, retaining the bloom of her youth throughout. Her unearthly lover provides the means for her to live comfortably and leaves instructions as to where to she should travel next. Her long life becomes filled with fear of not being able to steal enough heartbeats, of being found out for what she has become, boredom, and loneliness. Only once does she experience glorious happiness, only to wake to find she has killed her lover by stealing his every last heartbeat. She resigns herself to her lonely existence and finds solace in the company of a dying man whose sole ambition is to meet death on his own terms. It is only after she has expended all her heart beats on helping him does she lose her fixation on not wanting to die. The angel of death restores her vitality and waits for her to return to him in the normal course of life.
This story was simply breathtaking. Having read quite a bit of Edgar Allen Poe in high school and in college, I really appreciated the author's nod to his work and the way she used so much imagery to allow Senza's growing fears of death to take on such a demanding physical presence as if it is truly a threat that lies in wait to capture unwilling victims without hesitation or even mercy. It's amazing to me that the author was able to take this fear of death and allow that internal conflict to carry the entire story. It affected every relationship Senza could have or would have had. Though it would be easy to dislike Senza for her childish vanity where her beauty and youth are concerned-these vanities are some underlying reasons behind not just her fear of death but her fear of growing older-it is obvious that her upbringing and the importance her mother placed on her daughters beauty is something we must fault the mother in and not the daughter. And even though Senza finally comes to understand the irrational fear of growing old and dying it is understandable that she might find the idea horrifying considering her worth was sacrificed upon the alter of all things superficial in nature. It helps the reader join in that journey of discovery on Senza's part though she spends much of it fleeing from a happiness that might have been all consuming.
I noticed a reviewer described the author's writing as boring and mediocre. I think this reviewer must not have been the right audience for this book, and simply wasn't interested in the subject matter because the writing is anything but mediocre or boring. Besides it being technically flawless in every way it holds so much symbolism within the prose as it gives a reference to Poe’s work and the style of writing that requires a little digging within ourselves to pick out the message and theme interwoven within the lines of this truly poetic narrative. It's meant to not only entertain, but to give the reader a little food for thought which is something I loved about the literature I read in college. Thought provoking material that stretches you just a little should never be dubbed mediocre simply because a particular reader might have been looking for something light and fluffy.
Senza's development was memorable. She went from debilitating fear in the presence of death to complete acceptance of it when she had the opportunity to give everything she had to someone who was going to die either way. Such a selfless and self-sacrificing gesture she never would have considered previously, and though it took her quite some time to mature, her progress was obvious and measurable in a way that was both compelling and engrossing.
The secondary characters were beautifully weaved into the story, and I find it incredible that I was able to fall in love with every one of them even though many of them were only part of the narrative for a short time. It's the mark of a talented writer who allows us to care for so many characters in one book, especially when they play such minor roles, Mary, Piotr, that young man she finally opened her heart to...all of these people added to Senza's moment of discovery and helped to teach her some important life lessons. I was delighted with the author's take on Jack the Ripper as well. Clever to weave that in, and so on point with the dark theme of the story. It was also a wonderful moment for Senza's courageous spirit and loving heart to shine through as she took care of Mary and then faced off with the Ripper. Good stuff, that.
I'll admit to wishing that more had happened between her and Mr. Knell in the end, but I think it ended exactly how it was meant to with a full life of love awaiting her and even more love to follow in death. I was pretty much rooting for Mr. Knell all along, never once believing he might be the villain he seemed simply because of his actions where Senza's well-being was concerned, and in the end he gave her one of the most precious gifts of all, that of perspective. An immortal life lived in fear shut off from the world around you can never be better than a mortal life filled with love, family and those every day activities that might not seem like much at the time, but collectively are so precious to everyone in the end. Basically, Mr. Knell is my new book boyfriend, and I kind of want a whole book devoted to him getting his own happily ever after even if it is dark in nature. I think his story would be the most fascinating one of all.
I loved this book, the author's voice and style and the author's mastery of such a difficult topic as death and what awaits us on the other side. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a thought provoking fantasy with some wickedly entertaining paranormal elements.
This is described as being for "new adults". Apparently there is a new genre for those in their late teen and twenties. This novel follows the adventures of Senza, who appears to be 17 years old, and in the mid Victorian period, because of her wealth, she is about to "come out" into society. She is beautiful, and her mother wants her to be successfully married, for that is the only significant objective for a young woman of the time. However, shortly her grandmother dies, and Senza becomes somewhat morbid about death. It is then she meets Mr Knell, who with magic, offers her a deal she can have eternal life and remain her beautiful self for eternity. There is only one catch, which she finds out as she becomes committed she prolongs her life by stealing increments from others, in the form of what are described as "heartbeats". (She does not need to steal a beat for every time her heart beats, but they are consumables.) The story then follows Senza as she experiences immortality, at the price of stealing life from others. Each day, as she wakes up, she is exactly the same as the previous waking. If she cuts her hair, it is uncut. If she was wounded, she is repaired.

The book is well-written, its style is restrained, although the descriptions are somewhat lush. However, the descriptions of death, and of Senza's watching all her friends age and die, are compelling. Senza knows she cannot marry, as she cannot inflict her youth on a husband, and she cannot have children, because she returns to yesterday's self each morning. The book offers social commentary of the period from mid Victorian to close to the present, and makes some points for those who want to think about what they have read. Well done.