Review: Kiera Cass certainly toys with hearts in her first dual pov standalone! 

“A Thousand Heartbeats” alternates between Princess Annika and Lennox’s perspectives. As a member of the Kadier royal family, Annika lives a life controlled by her duty to her country. As a solider of the Dahrainian army, Lennox lives a life driven by the hope that he will one day reclaim the land that Kadier stole from his people. When Annika and Lennox’s worlds collide, heartstrings become entangled despite the fierce rivalry between their kingdoms. The more they fight their deeply rooted feelings for each other, the more they realize that love truly is stronger than hate.

Admittedly I was intimidated by the length of “A Thousand Heartbeats” (seeing that it is twice the size of Cass’ usual books), but the short chapters paired with the compelling plot twists and incorporation of some of my favorite tropes (namely enemies-to-lovers and forbidden love) kept me engaged throughout the novel’s entirety.

Another aspect of “A Thousand Heartbeats” that I enjoyed was Cass’ world-building. She immerses the reader in Kadier’s rich history through Annika’s celebration of Founder’s day—a day in which the country’s citizens take part in a fox chase and a painted stone hunt. In a similar fashion, Cass paints a picture of Dahrain by exposing the reader to Matraleit—a holiday centered around love and the first wedding of the first people to walk the earth. 

My only gripe with this novel is that Cass borrows plot points from her other publications and weaves them into “A Thousand Heartbeats,” making the storyline predictable. However, this issue will not impact first time readers of Cass’ body of work and did not diminish my love for Cass’ storytelling.