Scan barcode
renpuspita's review
- 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
3.25
I don't have a slightest idea what is the rules of the world that the characters lived in. Yes, our heroine, Elle Mei or Yiya Jiang is a descendant of Shennong, a Chinese god of medicine. She is a healer but also very powerful with her glyph-making ability and pyrokinetics. Luc Villois, the hero is half elf and also a French, an ace for the Bureau or agency called Roland and Riddle. The big question is, what is Roland and Riddle did actually? An agency for what? To avoid any supernatural disaster or to save human from supernatural alike? I don't even sure if human and supernatural in this book world live in harmony until page 200-ish in which Elle must avoid to attract human attention to herself, so basically the human didn't have any idea that these supernatural beings exist? What is the Fixer? Why the Wrecking Crew called Wrecking Crew and they all just act like asshole toward Luc, bordering envy and jealousy? Who is Oberon, aside than he's the leader of Roland and Riddle? I have so many questions and sadly some of them go unanswered.
While the lack of explanation of world building is the weakness, I think Tsai excels in writing the romance. I did like reading the romance between Luc and Elle. It's tropey af and all of them are my catnips, such as platonic friend to lover, he feel first and she feel harder, found family, etc etc. The romance aspect is the saving grace for Bitter Medicine. Remove the romance and I will DNF'd the book in the first place because a weak world building since this book is marketed first as xianxia-inspired fantasy. My physical copy of this book is filled with sticky notes marked the feeling from both characters. Especially Luc. I think Tsai write him best compared to Elle. Luc is the definition of torture hero but minus the "I'm really not worthy of you" hyperbole woes. Reading his feeling toward Elle is one of the highlight of this book and I often go "awww". Luc also a green flag man walking and Elle is a lucky woman to be loved by him. I liked that this book was written in omniscient 3rd PoV, switched between Luc and Elle, provide insights to both characters. This book is also not YA, since both Elle and Luc are immortal and already in their hundreds age give and take, so there's some sex scenes and it's so..steamy. Well written tho, without being gratuitous. Yeah, there are some purple prose, but in my defense, not that make-me-rolling-my-eyes kind of purple prose and successfully describe both Elle and Luc's feelings. I also like that it's consensual and they practice safe sex, lol.
I think one of the star of Bitter Medicine is Elle's brother, Tony. He's so unapologetic and often become a voice of reason, especially when Elle is stubborn because of familial duty. Sigh, I really want a brother like Tony, since I'm a firstborn myself. Elle herself is okay, although at first she can be a little bit infuriating to read by being middle child so she always try to play peacemaker and always blamed herself with what happen between her brothers. I also annoyed and angry with the way Elle's parents threat her. They are just your typical Asian (or in this case Chinese) parents that prefer the boys rather than the girl. So I'm happy that Elle finally stand up to herself and like Tony suggest, being selfish and pursue her own happiness.
I feel that Bitter Medicine is like a two books that compressed into one book and the publisher try to make it as a stand alone. The problem with Elle's murderous brother, Yiwu, are done in 65% mark or so, make the following chapter feel anti-climatic although focusing more to both Elle and Luc's relationship. Then, there's a problem between Luc and Oberon that pretty much have this "Devil Wears Prada" vibes. I think maybe Tsai try to incorporated about work-life balance with the way Oberon always pushed Luc to the limit with his outrageous demands and abuse of power. However, the end left me feel unsatisfied with
Bitter Medicine have a rough start, feels like a debut book that suffering from glaring weakness regarding the world building and unclear explanation about some of the characters. But the romance part is worth to read. It's also have some actions scene that I guess inspired by C-drama despite I never watch one myself, but I can clearly pictured the scene unfold with the way Tsai write it. It's also contain dialogue in Chinese and French and Tsai also explain why she write them at it is and I really don't mind since I can google the translation myself. If you like your paranormal romance cater more to romance rather than its fantasy/supernatural setting, try to read this one.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Transphobia and Racism
katievallin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, and Racism
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Racism, Child death, and Transphobia
noxiousbook's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
laurareads87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content warnings: violence, blood, injury detail, racism, misogyny, emotional abuse, manipulation, one scene including repeated misgendering
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
Minor: Transphobia
ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Racism
additional content warnings: depression/depressive episodes, manipulation. ps: l'unica pizza è quella di Napoli, altro che C(h)icago o NY.booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Elle's relationship with her brother Tony is loving, but strange, as she feels obligated to protect him but he is amused and exasperated at how much she contorts herself to keep him safe in a situation that she sees as her fault. Tony is a fascinating character, cheeky and irascible, he decides what he wants and goes for it - consequences be damned. I suspect he must be more prudent than how Elle sees him, or else he wouldn’t have survived this long in his suddenly mortal state, but she’s so protective and cautious that if he takes literally any risk she sees it is insensible from her very particular baseline. They're both in hiding from their younger brother who wants to kill Tony (and then probably Elle) in pursuit of a power he can only have if they're both dead.
Luc is lonely and deliberate, turning things over in his mind before making any move. He's also in a brutally uneven power, dynamic with his boss, Oberon, who has taken steps to conceal this from those around them. Early in the book, Elle asks Luc a question which he keeps turning over in his mind, using it as a way to explore the possibility of something other than the way he’s been forced to live for two centuries. Gradually he figures out that the person he's been ordered to find (and likely kill) for his job is the brother who's been trying to kill Elle and Tony. Luc is trying to make up for what he sees as a failure in his past, some thing that was actually less terrible than what everyone else has assumed, but a geas on him stops him from correcting the record, and potentially relieving some of the scorn and fear that others hold for him.
Oberon, Luc's boss, is exploitative, intense, ruthless, and terrible. Long before it’s specifically clear what kind of a hold he has on Luc, he’s casually racist, more than a bit sexist, and dismissive of a particular character's gender identity as part of that sexism. I don’t think that “and also he misgenders people" is necessary in order to mark him or anyone else out as a villain, but the way that it’s done here quickly differentiates him as a nasty character. It also serves to set him apart from his employees who are just hired muscle who sometimes kill people. Where for them it’s a job and a skill, for him it’s an obsession, and extension of his obvious need for power and control. Through whatever combination of power and privilege, he’s gotten to the point where he literally doesn’t have to give a shit about what anyone else thinks, and he wields that knowledge to make Luc's life a living hell as a side effect of his seeming need for control and obedience. Oberon's cruelty is casual, systemic, and occasionally specific.
I like the wrecking crew (a particular group of Luc's colleagues). Part of their early antipathy towards Luc is from thinking that he did a terrible thing which crosses a line for them. The ways in which that story is more complicated are gradually untangled in the narrative, but it speaks well for them that what they think he did would cross lines that are not to be crossed.
I’ve enjoyed this audiobook narrator’s work previously, and this was up to their usual excellent standards. The range of voices is nice and the performance was engaging and easy to follow. The worldbuilding unfolds naturally along with the story, aided by the oscillation between Elle and Luc. Their different backgrounds provide different experiences and occasionally different ways of looking at the exact same bit of the story. I like the context-sensitive approach to a kind of "all the spirits/creatures are real" style of worldbuilding. All the living supernatural entities have an item which connects their powers to their bodies, but other than that they have existences and magical parameters consistent with their cultures of origin. Luc has a true name and can be affected by misuse of it because he's a European-style half-elf. Elle is the descendent of a Chinese medicine god and she often works her magic through calligraphy to create charms. Elle's friend and coworker is a helpful (mostly background) presence, suggesting the shape of a long-term bond without distracting from the current crisis and main storyline. She's also a ghost, providing opportunities to explore a few more aspects of how magic works which are specific to her.
Read BITTER MEDICINE for a fantasy romance about building a better life together, and figuring out how to hold on to what actually matters in the face of seemingly unbeatable obstacles.
Graphic: Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Racism, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Child death
CW for misgendering, disassociation, intrusive thoughts (minor).takarakei's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
- Fantasy Romance
- Urban/Contemporary: Raleigh, NYC, Paris, San Fran
- Dual POV (single narrator on audio, but tbh it is very well done)
- Elle
- Chinese descendent of the god of medicine
- Calligraphy/jade magic
- Living a secret life with her brother because of family drama
- Luc
- Half elf, half French/German more specifically he speaks French and Alsatian
- Secret agent (unknowingly) tracking down Elle's brother
- HE COOKS
- Elle
I'm literally not going to shut up about this book til more people read it!
3/5 (was not expecting the spice, but it was so good!)
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Racism, Child death, Death of parent, and Transphobia
Elle has pretty shitty parents who are manipulative. Luc's boss is the worst (no boundaries, runs him into the ground) and is just not a good person.btwnprintedpgs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: War and Death
TW: burnoutliterarylocd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I haven’t read enough urban fantasy to know whether or not it’s my thing, but I mostly enjoyed this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Minor: Racism