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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, War
TW: burnout
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Bitter Medicine is the story of Elle, a temp doing calligraphy at a fairy agency, and Luc, a half-elf sworn to free two children from a curse he put on them. Unfortunately, Luc's boss is the literal worst, rarely allowing Luc any time off to do anything. When Elle and Luc end up working together, they soon find out they want to do more than work.
So my bad for thinking this is a YA book. I mean the cover makes it look YA and the blurb kind of lends itself to older YA. I will say here and now that this is definitely not YA. That's not a bad thing as I read all kinds of books. I was just really surprised when it got super spicy. Aside from that, this was a decent book. I didn't love it nor did I hate it. For me I felt a bit of a distance to the characters, more like I was watching their story from the sidelines rather than completely immersed in it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
So my bad for thinking this is a YA book. I mean the cover makes it look YA and the blurb kind of lends itself to older YA. I will say here and now that this is definitely not YA. That's not a bad thing as I read all kinds of books. I was just really surprised when it got super spicy. Aside from that, this was a decent book. I didn't love it nor did I hate it. For me I felt a bit of a distance to the characters, more like I was watching their story from the sidelines rather than completely immersed in it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this book is incredible. it's so rich in everything and the author's note about not providing translations for the different languages used in this book is IMMENSELY respectable and regardless of the reason why, i love putting in effort, however little it may be, to read different languages in novels so <3 it was the first book i've flown through in a month or two and i appreciated that immensely.
getting into the actual plot it's about elle, (who, despite being the middle daughter, has all the symptoms of eldest daughter in an asian household syndrome and whom i couldn't help but love. she is fiercely protective and underestimates herself to a fault and i love her so much) and luc, (a half-elf who hates the work he does but can't help it for reasons i will not say and is just so much more than the stoic mask he puts on) and secrets that unravel between them and that connect them in multiple ways.
this contemporary fantasy was just so good for me and i loved every minute of it. i loved how the focus was on both their characters and how their romance was simply a part of it and truly this was just beautiful. full of family and mistakes and longing and magic and the mundane, bitter medicine was anything but bitter and i couldnt be more glad! the writing is a little plain in the beginning but it's clear that it had to be done that way because describing appearances gets very complicated very fast and there's only truly ONE moment i could tell, because other than that the writing is not full of metaphors and flowery words but instead does exactly what it's meant to do, which is make me feel and it fits the story so well so im not upset!!
overall, this book was incredible and im seated for anything else mia tsai wants to write!!!
ty to tachyon publications and netgalley for the arc!
getting into the actual plot it's about elle, (who, despite being the middle daughter, has all the symptoms of eldest daughter in an asian household syndrome and whom i couldn't help but love. she is fiercely protective and underestimates herself to a fault and i love her so much) and luc, (a half-elf who hates the work he does but can't help it for reasons i will not say and is just so much more than the stoic mask he puts on) and secrets that unravel between them and that connect them in multiple ways.
this contemporary fantasy was just so good for me and i loved every minute of it. i loved how the focus was on both their characters and how their romance was simply a part of it and truly this was just beautiful. full of family and mistakes and longing and magic and the mundane, bitter medicine was anything but bitter and i couldnt be more glad! the writing is a little plain in the beginning but it's clear that it had to be done that way because describing appearances gets very complicated very fast and there's only truly ONE moment i could tell, because other than that the writing is not full of metaphors and flowery words but instead does exactly what it's meant to do, which is make me feel and it fits the story so well so im not upset!!
overall, this book was incredible and im seated for anything else mia tsai wants to write!!!
ty to tachyon publications and netgalley for the arc!
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.
Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai follows Ella and Luc where Ella is a descendant of the Chinese God of medicine, an ignored middle child. Luc is half-elf and works for an agency named Roland & Riddle. You can think about the above-mentioned agency, as equivalent to a private organization that works on a contract basis in the real world. This was enough to get me excited about this.
Bitter medicine didn’t disappoint at least not in the first half. I was hooked. The world-building was amazing. The plot build-up was so good. Luc’s current mission was to arrest Elle’s rogue brother and the more time they spent together not knowing how close they were tied up.
Elle keeps her real identity hidden for the sake of his elder brother. Her character is unique with she not trying to play the hero all the time. And keeping a distance in building a life. The only person who wants her to break free from the clutches of her life right now is Luc, an A-level agent from the agency. Elle’s crush on Luc is cute.
Luc is a French guy who is super hot (of course) knows his way around weapons and is good in combat. Like most of the fantasy/sci-fi stories, Luc is a broken/tortured soul where his boss/guardian has abused him for centuries making him work every single day without breaks. Bitter medicine talks about the exhaustive workplace load through Luc’s work and his relationship with his boss Oberon. He is always on standby for some mission or performing managerial duties or training. He feels burned out.
With so much happening in the first half, I was expecting some good moments in the second half.
Check out the full review on my blog https://co408810518.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/book-review-bitter-medicine-by-mia-tsai/