Erin Tunney’s Beast Heart Series: The Wild Shepherdess is a dark yet enchanting fantasy that pulled me in from the very first page. The story follows Clara, a girl born under mysterious circumstances during a storm and marked by the blessing of a dragon. Instead of being celebrated, she grows up isolated, treated as cursed by her village and tormented by both common folk and nobles. Her life is shaped by cruelty and loneliness, yet her journey is also marked by strange moments of wonder, be it the comfort of weaving flowers into a crown, or the terrifying beauty of beasts that enter her path. This push and pull between brutality and awe defines the novel, and I found myself deeply drawn into Clara’s fragile, painful, and extraordinary life.

The villagers’ scorn, the vicious taunts of Lady Maroona, and the constant reminder that she doesn’t belong all rang with a rawness that was hard to look away from. At times, I felt genuine anger at the way she was treated, and yet those feelings made the few glimmers of kindness shine even brighter. Her bond with Rue offered fleeting comfort, but even more powerful was her connection to the unicorn Lotus. Their meeting during the sacred ceremony was stunning, described with a ribbon of silver light that felt both magical and dangerous. The scene filled me with hope, only for that hope to be dashed when Clara was cast out in fear and rage. That moment captured the heart of the book for me, the way wonder and cruelty can coexist so tightly.

The writing itself often surprised me. There are stretches of vivid description that made the world feel both grand and terrifying, like the cockatrice battles and the haunting presence of dragons, but also quiet passages that linger on Clara’s inner life. Tunney has a way of drawing out the emotion of a scene without drowning it in detail. I did notice that some of the world-building came across a little heavy at times, especially when the gods and beasts were explained in dialogue, but the emotional depth of Clara’s journey always pulled me back. Her struggle to find strength in the very things that once marked her as cursed felt authentic, even uplifting, without ever straying into sentimentality.

By the time I reached the end, I realized I wasn’t just invested in the story but in Clara herself. She begins as a girl beaten down by cruelty, but she grows into someone who carries her scars with a quiet strength. The final chapters don’t offer easy answers or neat victories, but they left me with a sense of sorrow edged with hope. I closed the book with the feeling that Clara’s story was only beginning, and I wanted to follow her further into the strange, perilous world Tunney has created.

I’d recommend The Wild Shepherdess to anyone who loves fantasy that digs beneath the surface of magic and monsters to explore the loneliness of being an outsider. It’s not a lighthearted tale, but it’s beautiful in its honesty and moving in its quiet moments of wonder. Readers who enjoy character-driven stories that aren’t afraid to show both the cruelty and the grace of the world will find much to admire here.

Pages: 376 | ISBN : 1837943508