Review: Their Heart a Hive by Fox N. Locke

Title: Their Heart a Hive

Author: Fox N. Locke

Length: 268 Pages

Category: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: This is a beautiful book in both style and substance. That I was left in tears at the end only speaks to how lovely the story is and how invested I became in the characters and their outcome.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: It isn’t until meeting Lowen, a lowborn boy dealing with grief and battling bad luck, that the immortal genderqueer aristocrat, Tamorna Rosen Roane, can face the shame of their past lives and move towards catharsis.

Inspired as much by the rugged beauty of south-eastern England as Cornish folklore, this spooky slice of life portrays a queer-normative society with an 18th century flair. A story of shanties and secrets, of long dead giants and merfolk that mind the sea, where piskies provide luck and the beast of Brasbudfand stalks the night.

Review: In the opening line of Their Heart a Hive, Lowen narrates, “The bee landed on my hand as if it were a flower.” From that moment on, never once did I predict what would happen next. Fox N. Locke brings a beautiful world to life, filled with lore and age-old enchantment, and she does so lyrically.

This is a beautiful book in both style and substance. That I was left in tears at the end only speaks to how lovely the story is and how invested I became in the characters and their outcome. Lowen’s life changes dramatically from his encounter with the bee, and he faces each new experience with an eye toward revealing to readers the magic and mythology upon which his world and experiences were built.

At its deepest heart, this story is about compassion, found family, and a desperate loneliness despite being surrounded by people. It touches on depression (“grey moods”) and the profound difference between living and being alive. The Lord and Lady, Tamorna Rosen Roane, is at once distant and confounding. They are at once aloof and entirely sympathetic as their story is revealed. Locke metes out each detail and revelation with an eye toward building up to an emotional impact. I felt it unabashedly.

Lowen’s young heart is worn entirely on his sleeve. He makes mistakes and missteps in a budding new romance, while sharing with readers his dedication to righting his world and giving his all to do it.