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katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Unexpectedly good. Hard to put down. I really liked the structure and plot. What an original idea.
summer_winter's review against another edition
3.0
Overall this book was okay, I feel like it could have been developed further but it was a debut novel.
This story is very character driven which at times can get annoying as I feel the main character can feel very teenage angsty at times and at other times she feels more complex and you start to understand why she acts the way she does.
A big issue for me is that a lot of this story is told in the therapists office and the dialogue between the main character and the therapist is very back and forth and tedious and feels very stereotypical and forced.
It was a pretty easy read and the prose wasn't really challenging or complex. It's also categorised as crime/thriller novel which the overall basic plot is but the actual story felt more contemporary.
This story is very character driven which at times can get annoying as I feel the main character can feel very teenage angsty at times and at other times she feels more complex and you start to understand why she acts the way she does.
A big issue for me is that a lot of this story is told in the therapists office and the dialogue between the main character and the therapist is very back and forth and tedious and feels very stereotypical and forced.
It was a pretty easy read and the prose wasn't really challenging or complex. It's also categorised as crime/thriller novel which the overall basic plot is but the actual story felt more contemporary.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
5.0
The night that her father was stabbed was the night that Emily learned her whole life had been a lie. He was just dad to her and she was just another teenage girl. In reality he was a gangster and their life-style funded by organised crime. Heart-Shaped Bruise is told in the form of a journal that was found in the psychiatric unit of Archway Young Offenders Institution. A journal that Emily chose to tell her story in.
Emily is not the sort of character you're going to fall in love with. She's non-compliant with her therapist and she is unforgiving. The newspapers have made her notorious although she is reluctant to tell the reader what happened to put her behind bars. Yet told from her point of view, you can see how a young woman's life has fallen apart overnight. She is angry and confused so she funnels her negative emotions into seeking revenge against Juliet, the girl who gave testimony against her father and in her eyes the reason her life is ruined. You can empathise with her even if you don't come to like her in the end.
It's gripping and emotional and I read in one sitting. There's a desire for everything to work out for Emily but her location at the start of the book doesn't bode well and Tanya Byrne is nothing if not realistic. It's a fantastic piece of young adult writing that will appeal to young and old.
Emily is not the sort of character you're going to fall in love with. She's non-compliant with her therapist and she is unforgiving. The newspapers have made her notorious although she is reluctant to tell the reader what happened to put her behind bars. Yet told from her point of view, you can see how a young woman's life has fallen apart overnight. She is angry and confused so she funnels her negative emotions into seeking revenge against Juliet, the girl who gave testimony against her father and in her eyes the reason her life is ruined. You can empathise with her even if you don't come to like her in the end.
It's gripping and emotional and I read in one sitting. There's a desire for everything to work out for Emily but her location at the start of the book doesn't bode well and Tanya Byrne is nothing if not realistic. It's a fantastic piece of young adult writing that will appeal to young and old.
pewterwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
On top of a wardrobe in the now-disused Archway Young Offenders Institution, was discovered the secret journals of Archway's most notorious inmate, Emily Koll. Emily who is unapologetic over what she did. Through her journals, we hear her side of the story. Through her words, we see how far she went to get revenge. But can we trust her versions of events? Is she showing us the truth or trying to get our sympathy?
This is a compelling read. It just demands your attention as you try and figure what Emily did that was so awful that she's in a young offenders institution awaiting trail. The quote on the front of my copy from best-selling thriller writer, [a:Sophie Hannah|232473|Sophie Hannah|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1291244616p2/232473.jpg], says "intriguing and compelling", don't take as a "oh, they got an author to say something good". Sophie is right!
This isn't a story of forgiveness. Let's make this clear before I go any further. Emily herself ever states in within the first two pages. But the further you read, the more complex you discover Emily to be and the more questions that pop up. Is Emily doesn't want forgiveness, then why is she writing this? Why couldn't Emily let go when it wasn't her fault? Why why why?
There's not much more I could say. Don't expect a neat ending. Because there isn't one. It's left messy and a bit of a crime scene, which (if you think about it) is very much Emily at that moment in time. Her life is a crime scene.
If you're a fan of [a:Cat Clarke|4118351|Cat Clarke|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1281376040p2/4118351.jpg] and want a dark, gripping read, this is perfect for you. I can't wait to see what Tanya writes next!
On top of a wardrobe in the now-disused Archway Young Offenders Institution, was discovered the secret journals of Archway's most notorious inmate, Emily Koll. Emily who is unapologetic over what she did. Through her journals, we hear her side of the story. Through her words, we see how far she went to get revenge. But can we trust her versions of events? Is she showing us the truth or trying to get our sympathy?
This is a compelling read. It just demands your attention as you try and figure what Emily did that was so awful that she's in a young offenders institution awaiting trail. The quote on the front of my copy from best-selling thriller writer, [a:Sophie Hannah|232473|Sophie Hannah|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1291244616p2/232473.jpg], says "intriguing and compelling", don't take as a "oh, they got an author to say something good". Sophie is right!
This isn't a story of forgiveness. Let's make this clear before I go any further. Emily herself ever states in within the first two pages. But the further you read, the more complex you discover Emily to be and the more questions that pop up. Is Emily doesn't want forgiveness, then why is she writing this? Why couldn't Emily let go when it wasn't her fault? Why why why?
There's not much more I could say. Don't expect a neat ending. Because there isn't one. It's left messy and a bit of a crime scene, which (if you think about it) is very much Emily at that moment in time. Her life is a crime scene.
If you're a fan of [a:Cat Clarke|4118351|Cat Clarke|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1281376040p2/4118351.jpg] and want a dark, gripping read, this is perfect for you. I can't wait to see what Tanya writes next!
alekswhite's review against another edition
4.0
Oh god. Emily Koll. Rose Glass. What will I do with you? This book was just incredible. Debut novel by Tanya Byrne was honest and funny and interesting. Even though everything about the novel was exactly what you'd expect - Emily falling in love with Sid and Juliet being so, so good etc etc it still felt new?
It's very odd to say that of a book - that it was all at once something I've read and yet felt like new material. I suppose given that I have neither experienced being in the witness protection program or a mob family, that was always going to be true. But I did think that Byrne does a good job of attempting to give the characters some semblance of shiny, newness that you wouldn't otherwise get from some of the more lacklustre YA fiction out there.
And yet, this doesn't get five stars because I found Emily most interesting when she was in her own mind. Her interactions with the characters around her - especially her therapist, Doctor Gilyard and Sid were so contrived. Her refusing to speak to her therapist? My god, I've probably read that same interaction about thirty times.
And yet, and yet!
I think what really made this story was the fact that Byrne allowed Emily to finish this story at its natural completion. That is to say, that Emily doesn't survive or even save herself and as the reader you have to wonder if she's really at the point where she can, after all that she's done. After all, Emily still has to reconcile where Emily ended and Rose begun.
As much as I thought this book was something I'd seen, it was still wonderful. If only for Rose Glass.
It's very odd to say that of a book - that it was all at once something I've read and yet felt like new material. I suppose given that I have neither experienced being in the witness protection program or a mob family, that was always going to be true. But I did think that Byrne does a good job of attempting to give the characters some semblance of shiny, newness that you wouldn't otherwise get from some of the more lacklustre YA fiction out there.
And yet, this doesn't get five stars because I found Emily most interesting when she was in her own mind. Her interactions with the characters around her - especially her therapist, Doctor Gilyard and Sid were so contrived. Her refusing to speak to her therapist? My god, I've probably read that same interaction about thirty times.
And yet, and yet!
I think what really made this story was the fact that Byrne allowed Emily to finish this story at its natural completion. That is to say, that Emily doesn't survive or even save herself and as the reader you have to wonder if she's really at the point where she can, after all that she's done. After all, Emily still has to reconcile where Emily ended and Rose begun.
As much as I thought this book was something I'd seen, it was still wonderful. If only for Rose Glass.
patsypoo's review against another edition
2.0
Super dull! I'm actually surprised it only took me a week to read it as it felt like a lot longer...
I didn't give a flying f*ck about Emily, her reasoning for acting as she did was juvenile and silly and the big reveal... Prrrfffttt! It was so damn lazy that I couldn't believe I'd read it right.
Skip this one and thank me later...
I didn't give a flying f*ck about Emily, her reasoning for acting as she did was juvenile and silly and the big reveal... Prrrfffttt! It was so damn lazy that I couldn't believe I'd read it right.
Skip this one and thank me later...
cathlin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
teffin's review against another edition
4.0
Really beautiful writing and good plot, looking forward to finding more books by Tanya Byrne
jerihurd's review against another edition
3.0
That's a generous three, because it certainly kept me reading, as long as I didn't stop to think too much about the plot, which was some odd combination of Gaslight meets every teen revenge book you've ever read. At best it pushes incredulity to the breaking point: A teenage daughter of gangster father, who has been Polly Purebred to this point suddenly, due to (unmentioned spoiler) turns Tony Soprano?
Moreover, people who declare this is a study of sociopathy/psychopathy seriously need to look up the definition. She's not even close, given she was TOTALLY NORMAL up to the *the event*.
And I won't even get to said event, which was so heavily signaled, it was completely underwhelming once it happened.
But, then, my old-fart HS librarian self is not the intended audience; I doubt my older, more discerning readers would enjoy this all that much; but 9th and 10th graders? Probably so.
Moreover, people who declare this is a study of sociopathy/psychopathy seriously need to look up the definition. She's not even close, given she was TOTALLY NORMAL up to the *the event*.
And I won't even get to said event, which was so heavily signaled, it was completely underwhelming once it happened.
But, then, my old-fart HS librarian self is not the intended audience; I doubt my older, more discerning readers would enjoy this all that much; but 9th and 10th graders? Probably so.
snowflaked23's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't expect this book to be so gripping, I read it on holiday and it was really really really good. I loved the depth of Emily's character, the description of her life falling apart and he innocence being ripped from her. I didn't expect where it was going, so that was a nice surprise. Well, maybe not *nice* but still.
8/10, would recommend.
8/10, would recommend.