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thriftylibrarian's review against another edition
2.0
Two stars only for the mythology and dark academia feel in the first half of the book.
The second half loses all meaning entirely and the romance is frankly appalling. The entire love triangle drama with the brothers could be solved in the first 50 pages if they were just honest with each other. Coupled with the non-consensual feel, it's just icky.
The second half loses all meaning entirely and the romance is frankly appalling. The entire love triangle drama with the brothers could be solved in the first 50 pages if they were just honest with each other. Coupled with the non-consensual feel, it's just icky.
alannar2422's review against another edition
5.0
Really good, I just didn't know how this could be the first book and I'm so lost.
squirrelsohno's review against another edition
2.0
Good start that took a tailspin once Edward Cullen's even creepier cousin Rhys showed up and went all Patrick Bateman with the MC. Except she was totally cool with it.
lamom77's review against another edition
4.0
This rating is more like 3.5 stars. I really liked the story - the mythology and what a very different love triangle, but the main characters were difficult to like and the ending was horrible with absolutely no resolution.
sidnarwhal's review against another edition
2.0
The writing is definitely 5 stars! But I HATED Thea, AND Rhys AND Jake. Frankly the only people I liked in the book was Ben and her parents. I was Rita the WHOLE TIME
erincataldi's review against another edition
2.0
This book sounded soo promising but quickly infuriated me. Talented Bulgarian pianist Thea, learns that she once had a sister, even though her parents never let on. When it comes time to choose a college, Thea shocks her parents by choosing far away Princeton, the very same school her sister mysteriously died at fifteen years prior. Having gone her entire life never knowing about her sister, Thea now wants to know what little she can about her. First however, she must transition to a foreign school, keep up with the demanding workload, and practice the piano like there is no tomorrow. As if she didn't have enough on her plate she meets a mysterious boy at her first concert and a whirlwind romance ensues. Things quickly become mysterious though and everything starts to point back at her sister. Mixed with Bulgarian folklore, tragic romance, and beautiful piano prose this story would make an excellent movie. However, I didn't like it because I could not STAND the two men she was into. Rhys seemed like such a controlling jerk, worse then Christian Grey and Sparkly Edward combined. The fact that Thea puts up with his bullshit made me hate her. Intriguing plot, I liked the mythical undertones and the piano bit, but I pretty much hated the characters.
athene_sionnach's review against another edition
3.0
Good book, actually some very interesting references to music and mythology that had me doing research. The only fail is the ending felt off to me. Not bad, just off. I would have given it 4 stars otherwise
tillymints's review against another edition
1.0
DNF at 45%, ready to throw kindle out of 10th story window in blind rage/hurt/general annoyance. I won't be lifting quotes from the book, because I can't. I went into reading this book expecting a gorgeous story laced with legend, and ended up in a panic. So I'm not back-combing for direct quotes at this time.
I would strongly suggest staying away from this book if you’re triggered by abuse and/or rape. It may be a good read if you can manage to get past the problems I have with the book (if you have them at all) - Zourkova's style may not suit some readers, but I didn't mind it. And the premise is great.
mild spoilers and wordiness ahead
_________
Ok, so here's the thing.
Chances are, if I went back and re-read a lot of my then-favourite books from my teens, I'd find problems with them. I've grown up a lot, realised that things presented to me as acceptable are far from it. I’ve been through things, gotten angrier and angrier about life in general etc etc. I'm sure most of us have.
Soooo I'm not sure if my anger at this book is simply because I'm hyper aware of abusive tactics and highly problematic relationships (therefore reading in to things), or if there really is a huuuuge problem with the main characters in this book. I know that these attitudes displayed may change later on in the book (although other reviews I’ve read suggest otherwise), but I can't make myself read any more.
Being told no repeatedly and responding with "I'll keep asking until I get the answer I want" (note, not change your mind, but get my way), is not sexy.
Practically forcing yourself on a girl you say you care about repeatedly and not listening to the word "no" until it suits you - also not sexy.
Being so possessive that you literally beat the shit out of walls whenever she looks at another human male - you guessed it, not sexy.
And more importantly than 'not sexy' - it's not healthy.
I was so, so excited for this book. I'm all for myths and legends being played out in modern scenarios. And I feel beyond let down. Who knows, maybe that does actually happen and it meets my expectations and more in that department. I didn't really get far enough in to judge that aspect.
Super smart girl + piano prodigy, Thea, leaves her home and her family on the back of learning a terrible family secret for Princeton. Said girl wows everyone with a somewhat impromptu Chopin performance. Gets a chance to play at Carnegie. Terrible family secret is interwoven with virtually everything the does at school, so she tries to help her family heal and discover the truth about her sister. All with Bulgarian legends and classical greek art. First instinct = GRABBY HANDS GIVE ME NOW.
Then I started reading. The first few chapters were a pretty nice read. I liked Zourkova's writing style, nice and succinct (if I have to read another description of somebody's skin as 'alabaster and moonlight' I will gouge out my eyeballs) but not scrimping on details. Somewhat sedentary at times, but appropriate for the sheer amount of information that gets chucked at you - and it was chucked pretty well, I never got confused. I know the author followed similar footsteps to our main character too, and having moved around a lot myself, I felt connected to Thea in an instant. So far, so good.
And when 2 terrible love interests come into the picture in the form of one of the most bizarre triangles I’ve read so far, the wonderful premise goes to shit and my grabby hands become get-it-away-from-me shove-y hands.
Look, I have been 18 in a strange and foreign country, confused and not knowing what the hell I was meant to do in social situations. Discrepancies - and I use that word lightly, because not fully grasping a culture that isn't your own really isn't discrepancy at all - would have been forgiven. Lapses of judgement are to be expected. I know how flustered it leaves you. I'd have been all "go you, Thea, figuring out this weird and wonderful land that is America and its confusing social constructs". But she just becomes so mindnumbingly and infuriatingly stupid that it's verrrry difficult to root for her, even in her 'confusion'. School work = forgotten. Piano practice = pushed to the side. Personal vendetta and her attempt to find answers = meh, in the back of her mind but kinda ignored when gorgeous arrogant boy appears.
Speaking of gorgeous boys, here's a breakdown:
Love interest number 1 is… creepy - he hears her wow everyone with Chopin, as piano prodigies often do, leaves her a rose, speaks in riddles from the shadows, gets her infatuated and then disappears. Other people say he gets equally creepy to Love interest 2, but I didn’t get that far.
Love interest number 2 is, I'm assuming, meant to be enigmatic, talk-dark-and-handsome and so on. But he comes off as a demanding ivy-league dick who has no basic respect for Thea. At all. Tries to sleep with her twice - once after making her cut school, and another time when he's angry and she's somewhat rattled and a wee bit emotionally vulnerable. He refuses to take her no for an answer, whether it's cutting school or playing piano for him. He won't have anything to do with her in front of other people. He coerces her into doing things she KNOWS she shouldn't be doing (in a way that screams supernatural being but, again, didn't get that far so I dunno), putting her future in jeopardy by making her miss class and her piano practices (which is picked up on by her teacher). He puts on a chirpy front in front of his brother and then switches to angry alarmingly quickly. And the icing on the creepy-cake: he's written in a way that it's made very clear that he has power over her. I'm never okay with that.
Both of them are also very possessive. Wonderful, hm?
Look, the mythology gets a bit creepy, as mythology tends to do, and I could do without the extra helping of "fucking awful human beings", thank you very much.
I'm aware I'm ranting at this point. But it just made me so uncomfortable and angry. Also, Jane Eyre? Eh?
Love interest 2's stalker and general nasty demeanour is called out by Thea's RA, a fellow immigrant and cultural guide (Thea has trouble with how relationships work in the states, dress codes etc) who genuinely appears to have Thea's best interests at heart. And Thea ignores her. Which, you know, is her prerogative. I know I've ignored other people's advice countless times.
And I don't have a problem with that, per say.
The problems really started when I started to see Love Interest 2 using pretty obvious control tactics - keeping her in the dark about things, not giving her any information about himself, bossing her around, overly possessive, attempting to control aspects of her life, getting violent around her but not towards her. There's more, but like I said earlier, I refuse to comb back and re-read.
I am a terrible reviewer, I know (not a reviewer at all, actually, I just felt that people in similar situations to myself may appreciate a warning).
The guy literally punches a wall right next to her, after getting angry that when he said he wasn't committing to a one-person relationship didn't mean she could go to a dance with another male as friends (I shit you not), and then tries to have sex with her. And it doesn't raise a red flag.
THAT'S LIKE 15 RED FLAGS.
Thea doesn't see what's happening. Well, actually, I'm not sure if Thea doesn't see what's happening, or if the author doesn't see this happening. Emotional abuse tactics left right and centre, and it's all just taken in stride. There may be once or twice where Thea goes "fuck it this is odd" (and I rejoice), but it disappears very quickly.
I'm not sure which is worse. An author writing a character that sees this as a normal, healthy 'relationship', or the alternative that the author doesn’t realise how bad this is.
Which makes me sad/aggravated.
It gets wordier from here on out, so naturally I'm adding a cute gif to breakup the angry text.
This book had so much potential - or has. I'm sure some people would adore it and its nuances. The mythology and folklore that I read of was fascinating, and may very well have grown into something beautiful later on in the book. But the main essence of the story, the relationship(s), simply don’t sit right with me. And therefore, no finding out about how the things this book sold me on develop. Kinda annoyed about that, but hey ho.
And yeah, perhaps I'm being unfair. It's highly likely, actually. I wish I could read this book from someone else's perspective. But when I get anxiety and start to relive past trauma from just 2 or 3 lines in a book, it's time to put it down. No amount of wondrous mythology or classical history dabbling in art can change that. I just can't see past this borderline evil masquerading as love.
Maybe I'll be urged to pick it up again, but I'm a wee bit too angry to attempt it at the mo. I have a feeling that some things would be "explained" if I went on, but I refuse to allow anyone to pass off damaging relationships and abuse tactics as something "supernatural".
I've been in a relationship very similar to the one portrayed in the first 3rd of the book, and it didn't end well for me. I know of others who've been in similar situations. It doesn't ever end well. It ends with life-long mental and sometimes physical scars, and implications in every aspect of your life.
I know it may sound like I'm falling in to the age-old tactic of victim blaming from time to time in this review - it's just my inability to word things, and I'm very sorry for it. I do not blame the main character for anything that happens. I'd say her for suffering, her embarrassment and her torment, but she doesn't appear to realise that it's a problem. What I view as her bad choices do not make her deserving of any of this shit.
I do, however, place blame the author for attempting to pass this off as acceptable. If she did it knowingly. I am so tired of reading stuff like this that I’ve given up trying to decide whether authors know anymore. Nor do I want to acknowledge the idea that authors know they're doing it. I'm sure Zourkova didn't intend any of this, but surely someone somewhere should have gone "just a sec issues"
Advice to all authors ever: don't romanticise any form of abuse. Abuse is not a plot device, or a way of explaining someone's personality through actions. Abuse is not just physical, and that's something we all need to realise.
Wordy as hell, so have a puppy gif if you got this far:
I would strongly suggest staying away from this book if you’re triggered by abuse and/or rape. It may be a good read if you can manage to get past the problems I have with the book (if you have them at all) - Zourkova's style may not suit some readers, but I didn't mind it. And the premise is great.
mild spoilers and wordiness ahead
_________
Ok, so here's the thing.
Chances are, if I went back and re-read a lot of my then-favourite books from my teens, I'd find problems with them. I've grown up a lot, realised that things presented to me as acceptable are far from it. I’ve been through things, gotten angrier and angrier about life in general etc etc. I'm sure most of us have.
Soooo I'm not sure if my anger at this book is simply because I'm hyper aware of abusive tactics and highly problematic relationships (therefore reading in to things), or if there really is a huuuuge problem with the main characters in this book. I know that these attitudes displayed may change later on in the book (although other reviews I’ve read suggest otherwise), but I can't make myself read any more.
Being told no repeatedly and responding with "I'll keep asking until I get the answer I want" (note, not change your mind, but get my way), is not sexy.
Practically forcing yourself on a girl you say you care about repeatedly and not listening to the word "no" until it suits you - also not sexy.
Being so possessive that you literally beat the shit out of walls whenever she looks at another human male - you guessed it, not sexy.
And more importantly than 'not sexy' - it's not healthy.
I was so, so excited for this book. I'm all for myths and legends being played out in modern scenarios. And I feel beyond let down. Who knows, maybe that does actually happen and it meets my expectations and more in that department. I didn't really get far enough in to judge that aspect.
Super smart girl + piano prodigy, Thea, leaves her home and her family on the back of learning a terrible family secret for Princeton. Said girl wows everyone with a somewhat impromptu Chopin performance. Gets a chance to play at Carnegie. Terrible family secret is interwoven with virtually everything the does at school, so she tries to help her family heal and discover the truth about her sister. All with Bulgarian legends and classical greek art. First instinct = GRABBY HANDS GIVE ME NOW.
Then I started reading. The first few chapters were a pretty nice read. I liked Zourkova's writing style, nice and succinct (if I have to read another description of somebody's skin as 'alabaster and moonlight' I will gouge out my eyeballs) but not scrimping on details. Somewhat sedentary at times, but appropriate for the sheer amount of information that gets chucked at you - and it was chucked pretty well, I never got confused. I know the author followed similar footsteps to our main character too, and having moved around a lot myself, I felt connected to Thea in an instant. So far, so good.
And when 2 terrible love interests come into the picture in the form of one of the most bizarre triangles I’ve read so far, the wonderful premise goes to shit and my grabby hands become get-it-away-from-me shove-y hands.
Look, I have been 18 in a strange and foreign country, confused and not knowing what the hell I was meant to do in social situations. Discrepancies - and I use that word lightly, because not fully grasping a culture that isn't your own really isn't discrepancy at all - would have been forgiven. Lapses of judgement are to be expected. I know how flustered it leaves you. I'd have been all "go you, Thea, figuring out this weird and wonderful land that is America and its confusing social constructs". But she just becomes so mindnumbingly and infuriatingly stupid that it's verrrry difficult to root for her, even in her 'confusion'. School work = forgotten. Piano practice = pushed to the side. Personal vendetta and her attempt to find answers = meh, in the back of her mind but kinda ignored when gorgeous arrogant boy appears.
Speaking of gorgeous boys, here's a breakdown:
Love interest number 1 is… creepy - he hears her wow everyone with Chopin, as piano prodigies often do, leaves her a rose, speaks in riddles from the shadows, gets her infatuated and then disappears. Other people say he gets equally creepy to Love interest 2, but I didn’t get that far.
Love interest number 2 is, I'm assuming, meant to be enigmatic, talk-dark-and-handsome and so on. But he comes off as a demanding ivy-league dick who has no basic respect for Thea. At all. Tries to sleep with her twice - once after making her cut school, and another time when he's angry and she's somewhat rattled and a wee bit emotionally vulnerable. He refuses to take her no for an answer, whether it's cutting school or playing piano for him. He won't have anything to do with her in front of other people. He coerces her into doing things she KNOWS she shouldn't be doing (in a way that screams supernatural being but, again, didn't get that far so I dunno), putting her future in jeopardy by making her miss class and her piano practices (which is picked up on by her teacher). He puts on a chirpy front in front of his brother
Spoiler
(who coincidentally is love interest 1)Both of them are also very possessive. Wonderful, hm?
Look, the mythology gets a bit creepy, as mythology tends to do, and I could do without the extra helping of "fucking awful human beings", thank you very much.
I'm aware I'm ranting at this point. But it just made me so uncomfortable and angry. Also, Jane Eyre? Eh?
Love interest 2's stalker and general nasty demeanour is called out by Thea's RA, a fellow immigrant and cultural guide (Thea has trouble with how relationships work in the states, dress codes etc) who genuinely appears to have Thea's best interests at heart. And Thea ignores her. Which, you know, is her prerogative. I know I've ignored other people's advice countless times.
And I don't have a problem with that, per say.
The problems really started when I started to see Love Interest 2 using pretty obvious control tactics - keeping her in the dark about things, not giving her any information about himself, bossing her around, overly possessive, attempting to control aspects of her life, getting violent around her but not towards her. There's more, but like I said earlier, I refuse to comb back and re-read.
I am a terrible reviewer, I know (not a reviewer at all, actually, I just felt that people in similar situations to myself may appreciate a warning).
The guy literally punches a wall right next to her, after getting angry that when he said he wasn't committing to a one-person relationship didn't mean she could go to a dance with another male as friends (I shit you not), and then tries to have sex with her. And it doesn't raise a red flag.
THAT'S LIKE 15 RED FLAGS.
Thea doesn't see what's happening. Well, actually, I'm not sure if Thea doesn't see what's happening, or if the author doesn't see this happening. Emotional abuse tactics left right and centre, and it's all just taken in stride. There may be once or twice where Thea goes "fuck it this is odd" (and I rejoice), but it disappears very quickly.
I'm not sure which is worse. An author writing a character that sees this as a normal, healthy 'relationship', or the alternative that the author doesn’t realise how bad this is.
Which makes me sad/aggravated.
It gets wordier from here on out, so naturally I'm adding a cute gif to breakup the angry text.
This book had so much potential - or has. I'm sure some people would adore it and its nuances. The mythology and folklore that I read of was fascinating, and may very well have grown into something beautiful later on in the book. But the main essence of the story, the relationship(s), simply don’t sit right with me. And therefore, no finding out about how the things this book sold me on develop. Kinda annoyed about that, but hey ho.
And yeah, perhaps I'm being unfair. It's highly likely, actually. I wish I could read this book from someone else's perspective. But when I get anxiety and start to relive past trauma from just 2 or 3 lines in a book, it's time to put it down. No amount of wondrous mythology or classical history dabbling in art can change that. I just can't see past this borderline evil masquerading as love.
Maybe I'll be urged to pick it up again, but I'm a wee bit too angry to attempt it at the mo. I have a feeling that some things would be "explained" if I went on, but I refuse to allow anyone to pass off damaging relationships and abuse tactics as something "supernatural".
I've been in a relationship very similar to the one portrayed in the first 3rd of the book, and it didn't end well for me. I know of others who've been in similar situations. It doesn't ever end well. It ends with life-long mental and sometimes physical scars, and implications in every aspect of your life.
I know it may sound like I'm falling in to the age-old tactic of victim blaming from time to time in this review - it's just my inability to word things, and I'm very sorry for it. I do not blame the main character for anything that happens. I'd say her for suffering, her embarrassment and her torment, but she doesn't appear to realise that it's a problem. What I view as her bad choices do not make her deserving of any of this shit.
I do, however, place blame the author for attempting to pass this off as acceptable. If she did it knowingly. I am so tired of reading stuff like this that I’ve given up trying to decide whether authors know anymore. Nor do I want to acknowledge the idea that authors know they're doing it. I'm sure Zourkova didn't intend any of this, but surely someone somewhere should have gone "just a sec issues"
Advice to all authors ever: don't romanticise any form of abuse. Abuse is not a plot device, or a way of explaining someone's personality through actions. Abuse is not just physical, and that's something we all need to realise.
Wordy as hell, so have a puppy gif if you got this far:
clare_tan_wenhui's review against another edition
1.0
It's atrocious the blurb of this piece of nonsense drew parallels with Jane Eyre!