“What if the darkest curse was your greatest power?”
Title: Within the Heart of Wicked Creatures
Author: Rima Orie
Published: juni 2022
Pages: 444
Publisher: Moon (I read this book in Dutch, review copy)
Rating: 8/10
Trigger warnings: emotional abuse, (child) murder, torture, human experimentation, mutilation, racism, discrimination, excessive violence, and war violence.
First posted in Dutch on August 8 2022 and updated on August 27 2025.
Within the Heart of Wicked Creatures follows Priya Chkadhari, a child born during the blood moon and therefore ‘cursed’ with the ability to manipulate other people’s souls. In her quiet rural village, Priya has learned to hide her true nature – blood children are killed if discovered.
When she wins the annual test to attend the country’s elite military school in Kuwatta, however, everything changes. During training sessions with other blood children, her curse becomes a gift. But will she survive the guerilla war that has plagued the torn land of Awaran for centuries? And what about the strange danger that lurks in the cursed heart of the Kuwatta fortress?
With new friends – and some enemies too – by her side, Priya will soon need to make a choice between what’s expected of her and what’s right in her heart.
“But Awaran was all she knew. The only land whose earth she had trodden, whose air she had breathed and whose water she had tasted. Awaran was the land that had given her life, the land she fought for. She knew nothing else. Why, then, did she still feel like a traveller without a destination?”
It’s helpful to know that I hadn’t read anything for a while until I got my hands on this book. I had a hard time enjoying reading, and it couldn’t even hold my attention. But when several reviews said they needed a while to get into the story of Within the Heart of Wicked Creatures I didn’t. I flew through it! Perhaps the story’s calm progression was precisely what pulled me out of my reading slump.
Fantasy isn’t the first genre I’d think a Dutch author would write well in. In general, we are more known for our thrillers and literary work. And since I haven’t read Orie’s first published work, I didn’t know what to expect. But wow, she surprised me and delivered a fantastic story with primal monsters, vengeful spirits, and blood children. No wonder the Dutch publisher created a beautiful special edition of this book! The cloth hardcover features beautiful endpapers and sprayed edges that perfectly complement the story.
The main character, Priya, has always been taught that blood children are evil, that their gifts are a curse, and that they shouldn’t be born. But Priya herself is a blood child, born during the blood moon. She has special powers that she struggles to handle because she has to keep them hidden. She lies daily about who she really is and lives mostly alone with little hope for the future. Just when the loneliness is almost too much for her, she gets a chance to escape her village and study in Kuwatta, the largest military fort in the country. There, she can start a new life and be trained as a soldier to fight the colonists with whom her country is at war.
Once in Kuwatta, Priya embarks on a completely different life. A life full of surprises, and not always for the better. However, Orie vividly paints the world and the differences between the village where Priya grows up and the military fort. The details she includes add richness to the world she’s created without overwhelming information. Moreover, the magic itself isn’t complex, making it easy to follow, even if you are a beginner in reading fantasy.
Priya’s new world, Kuwatta, also opens doors she hadn’t anticipated. Because she’s a blood child, she didn’t have a strong relationship with her family. And to keep her secret hidden, she didn’t really have any relationships at all. But in Kuwatta, she can be herself, and that allows her to tentatively make friends for the first time in her life. It’s not always easy, though, as the other soldiers come from different parts of the country and there are considerable cultural differences. Orie beautifully captures this in a narrative rich in detail, making the reader realise the worldbuilding is incredibly well-crafted.
The story certainly doesn’t end when Priya thinks she’s settled in Kuwatta. She discovers a greater danger than the colonists. This builds the tension beautifully, leaving you wondering how the story will continue immediately after closing the book. I sincerely hope there will be a sequel (update: will be out in September 2025), as I can’t get enough of the world Orie has created.
Within the Heart of Wicked Creatures is a fantasy filled with beautiful language, never-boring descriptions, and excellent worldbuilding. Orie beautifully captures the tension and underlying relationships, making me, as a reader, increasingly curious and unable to stop reading.
Love,
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