H. M. Wolfe Audiobooks

Daggermouth: dark dystopian romance opening The Heart Duology

1 audiobook reviewed

★ 4.6/5 average

20 listener ratings

Who is H. M. Wolfe?

Daggermouth is the sort of title that sets its register before a single line is heard. H. M. Wolfe writes at the darker edge of romance, where the love story cannot be separated from the world threatening it, and our shelving reflects exactly that indecision: fantasy, science fiction and romance all lay claim to this name at once.

The billing as the opening half of The Heart Duology matters more than it might seem. A duology is a promise of shape, of a story built to close rather than to run on indefinitely, and it suggests a writer who knew the ending before the beginning went out. Beyond the work there is little on record, and the work is unambiguous enough about its intentions: high stakes, morally compromised characters, and no appetite for a gentler version of either.

H. M. Wolfe in audiobooks

Daggermouth runs to seventeen hours, a considerable commitment for a romance and a sign that the world building is doing as much work as the relationship at its centre. Listener verdicts have been warm since it landed, though the sample is still modest enough that the average will shift.

It is the natural starting point, being the first half of the duology and the only place the story makes sense to begin. If you gravitate towards dystopian settings, unequal power and romance that declines to apologise for its edges, this is aimed squarely at you. Take it from the top below.