Reviews

Heartless by Leah Rhyne

threeseagrass's review

2.0

There was absolutely nothing new or exciting about [b: Heartless|18584855|Heartless|Marissa Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1452662521s/18584855.jpg|26322524]. It took me so long to get through the book simply because I didn't want to continue reading.

Jo and Lucy were, to me, rather one-dimensional characters with rich parents. I guess they had a nice friendship in the sense that they are supportive of one another and there is no slut-shaming, but otherwise I just felt kind of lack luster about the whole thing.

But by far the worst part was the plot, if you can even call it that. It's quite clear from the very beginning who the bad guys are. I guessed as soon as they came onto the scene, within the first few chapters. This made for a boring and frustrating read. There were so man obvious clues that were overlooked that it was infuriating. Every single protagonist in this book was TSTL. I was just impatient to get to the end.

Speaking of the ending, there's a nice little set up for a sequel that I also didn't appreciate.

Spoiler

It seems strange to me that the author would kill the main character and then have her friend write a letter promising to end the organization that got them into this mess. Unless of course, Jo conveniently comes back to life in the sequel

. I will not be continuing with this series.

An free review copy was provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

notsarahconnor's review

3.0

"Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed" (Rhyne 67).

Jo Hall is dead. Well, kind of. She can still think, walk, and talk like a person is supposed to. She can still crack jokes with her roommate Lucy and tweet like a fiend. But her heart doesn't beat anymore, she doesn't have to breathe, she's starting to smell (like, really smell), and her body has kind of started decomposing before her eyes. Jo remembers being taken in the middle of a snowstorm and then waking up in a morgue, now a monster. Jo wants to find out who did this to her, and her best friend Lucy and maybe boyfriend Eli are ready to help, but who knows what dangers Jo's search will uncover.

Heartless is a strange book for a number of reasons that the synopsis doesn't even begin to describe. What starts out as a contemporary novel about a young university student wanting to find out who "killed" her quickly turns into a science fiction story about secret military projects and cyborg girls. It wasn't a bad place to take the story, but it was unexpected, and the transition from contemporary to sci-fi was pretty jarring.

The synopsis for Heartless claims this book is a modern retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but I have a very hard time accepting that and would more so say that the book has many Frankensteinish aspects but is not a direct retelling of the story. For one thing, the book references Frankenstein's Monster and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein many times, and every retelling of any story I've read has never referenced the original work it is based on (except Hag-Seed, but that book is a lot more complicated and I understand Atwood's reasoning for calling it a retelling). Aside from Jo's boyfriend's name being Eli, which I'm guessing is a reference to Elizabeth Lavenza in Shelley's work, none of the other characters share names from characters in the text (maybe Lucy? But maybe I'm just thinking of Dracula). What are your thoughts on this? Can a story be a retelling if it references the original work it's retelling?

Another thing I wasn't crazy about were the villains of the story. They just didn't seem that threatening and were much more comical than terrifying. When Jo confronted her Creator in the morgue and through emails, he sounded like an old timey-villain who would be twirling his mustache and tying damsels to railroad tracks. I just wanted to laugh at him more than be afraid of him, which is unfortunate because he had the potential to be a terrifying villain considering the experiments he was doing.

But what I absolutely adored in the book was the friendship between Lucy and Jo. We need more positive female friendships in books, one's like Lucy and Jo's where the two girls work together to solve a problem, where they are by each other's sides through thick and thin. It was so refreshing to read such a positive and realistic friendship between to strong female characters!
Jo's maybe boyfriend Eli just wasn't doing it for me, and I honestly think the book would have been so much better without him. Not only does he do the minimal amount of work to help Jo, but all he does is complain and yell and say horrible things to Jo and Lucy! If the book had just focused on Jo and Lucy trying to find out who did this to Jo I think the story would have been much stronger.

Rhyne is very good at humour and I laughed multiple times while reading because I loved the banter between characters, especially Jo and Lucy. And I really enjoyed when

Spoiler

Jo's parents came in near the end to help their daughter because so often in YA the teens try to fix everything themselves and it was nice and important to see that even when growing up and when you face scary and confusing situations, you can count on your parents to help you.

Heartless is a very interesting "retelling" of Frankenstein that takes you many places you won't expect. If you like to be surprised while you read, and like books that will literally have you laughing out loud, this is the book for you!

mendezconzeta's review

3.0

"In this modern-day take on the classic Frankenstein tale, as told from the monster's perspective, Jolene Hall" no me lo vendas como un retelling de Frankestein porque claramente no lo es.

Jo es un personaje que me gustó leer, porque está en la misma oscuridad que vos y vas dando los primeros pasos con ella. Tiene humor (negro) y voz propia, que es en lo que los otros personajes lackean un poco.

Me pareció medio ridículo el tema de la superorganización malvada, porque no sólo no tienen un objetivo que sea realmente realizable ("que el mundo no tenga religión ni política", entre otras???) sino que su desempeño, más que nada tirando al final, es bastante de dibujito animado. Hablando con otra persona lo comparé con el malo maloso de Phineas y Ferb, y lo sostengo. No pude pensar en otro villano mientras lo leía.

Me gustó la escritura y el humor negro de la autora pero no me gusta que me mientan-- si en la sinopsis me dice que es algo así como el Frankestein del siglo XXI entonces no utilices nada más al monstruo de Frankestein. Hacelo un retelling de verdad, y sino mejor no digas nada.

miieruu's review

2.0

Thought when reading this book > WHAT AM I READING?
Thought when finishing this book > WHAT KIND OF CRAP AM I READING?

Final thought > WHAT HAVE I DONE? WHY WASTING MY PRECIOUS TIME TO READ THIS BOOK?

The only good thing in this book is the 'modern-frankenstein' thingy. Others? meh. Save yourself.