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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Bitter Medicine is a solid debut novel from Mia Tsai. The book brought in many languages, cultures, and folklore and blended them into the beginning of an awesome urban fantasy world. While I was into the book and invested in seeing how everything played out, it took me a while to feel connected to the characters in the story. This could have been a me thing as I was feeling burnt out while reading this story, so please take that with a grain of salt.
Overall, I would definitely read another novel by Mia Tsai and am very excited to see what she will do in the future! If you are a fan of [a:Annette Marie|8546572|Annette Marie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565858798p2/8546572.jpg] and her Guild series, this is in the same vein.
Overall, I would definitely read another novel by Mia Tsai and am very excited to see what she will do in the future! If you are a fan of [a:Annette Marie|8546572|Annette Marie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565858798p2/8546572.jpg] and her Guild series, this is in the same vein.
It was so hard to get through this but i still did it somehow cuz I didn't wanted to dnf someone's debut novel but i just omg it was a so not good book sorry not sorry
my problem here is that the first half of this book was really fun, but the second half took a bunch of turns and used some plot devices that i personally don't like in the slightest, which kind of ruined the whole book for me.
In theory this book should be good. The concept is interesting and the magic system is fun. However, the main characters annoyed me so much. I could never get behind any of the decisions they made. Everything they said and did seemed so out of character for who they were, and what they had experienced. Not to mention, the story could have been 100 pages shorter. The storyline is done 75% of the way through the book. It all just flat lines. The only thing that kept me reading is finished, and I still had 25% of the book left. All in all, it felt very juvenile, and that the author was making character decisions not because they made sense, but so she could advance the sub-par plot. I really wanted to like it, I just couldn't.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
I am rooting for this author. The premise drew me in, and I loved elements of the story, but the overall execution is just off. It's personal preference, but I did not like the dialogue exchanges because they were so overly formal and stilted. A lot of the story was told rather than experienced and I began to feel the repetitiveness of what was told. It became a bit of a slog to get to the good stuff in the story (characters I liked and could root for and a plot with at least a little tension). That said, I would read future books by this author.
adventurous
emotional
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:
Yes
Elle Mei is caught between her two brothers in a messy family drama. As a result of their most dangerous altercation, she and her older brother, Tony, are in hiding, presumed dead. To keep their secret, she's placed so many precautions and limitations on her life that she's not truly living, constantly on edge. She's holding herself back at work, making glyphs below the power grade she's capable of as the descendant of the Chinese god of healing, Shénnóng. There's also the fact that though she finds the calligraphy she needs for her work centering, she's no longer pursuing her other art.
Elle's recently formed a friendship with a particular French, half-elven customer, one that masks a crush she won't pursue. Neither Luc nor Elle can afford a romance, so they take the friendship they can get on the flimsy pretense of business. Elle makes glyphs that have saved his life in the field, letting herself do higher-level work than she's strictly supposed to. She can't help but love throwing herself into something with a bit of challenge, and she has a more than usual stake in keeping Luc safe and well. She doesn't know the exact nature of his job (other than the fact that it's dangerous), and Luc prefers it that way. Widely vilified for his past and disliked for his cold persona, Luc is in a literal bind that prevents him from forming meaningful relationships with anyone. Elle provides an opportunity he can't seem to get anywhere else to be a different, lighter version of himself and show true care for someone. If you're hearing alarm bells about a misunderstood, manly protagonist, you can put them to rest. In Luc's case, I'd say it's warranted, but I refuse to divulge anything more that could smack of spoilers.
This is a paranormal romace/romantasy between two beings gifted with longevity rather than the typical gendered imbalance that can haunt both subgenres. Elle and Luc have long histories, tons of baggage, and this singular moment to change how they approach it all. Both need to understand that they can be more than their utility to others and seize happiness from being valued for just existing. They each must examine their perceived duties more clearly and consider how they're preventing a full, meaningful life. The romantic vibes are a 10, but the banter couldn't keep up for me. One of the things I liked best is how the story avoids some yucky romantic pitfalls (unnecessary angst, miscommunication) to focus on real opportunities for growth like how to support one another during difficult transitions and how to listen to one another when not everything can be said.
Because the book ditches some of the common rhythms of romance, things were looking ~too~ good halfway through, and it freaked me out... because happiness can't be trusted that early, especially in a romance. While there are definitely trials to come, the deviation from annoying tropes means it wasn't as much drama as I feared. I ~will~ say that after everything is sorted out, the end wraps up pretty quickly. Some of Luc's history is left unresolved, though that might be preferable to suffering an obvious, drawn-out explanation. Something I especially appreciate about the conclusion is that it's not what I would classify as a neat, easy solution to the characters' insurmountable problems. They face the situation with courage and don't walk away unscathed (not to freak out my fellow romance fans-- this is not a threat to HEA, just the presence of nuance).
There are some other little bits of the book that I loved. It's threaded with queerness in multiple ways because why settle for the bare minimum on representation? Luc is queer, and he works with Pei (they/them), who is descended from the Chinese god of war, as well as a violent polycule known for maximum effort. Tony's gay, and Elle's best friend and business partner, Lira, is also queer (and a corporeal ghost specializing in runes). Another awesome facet of the story is all the translanguaging-- something made even cooler if you read the author's note at the end.
I would definitely pick up more by this author in the future. The book takes on some of the shakeups that I think the genre desperately needs, adding complexity and removing unnecessary hangups in multiple ways. Thanks to Tachyon for my copy to read and review!
Elle's recently formed a friendship with a particular French, half-elven customer, one that masks a crush she won't pursue. Neither Luc nor Elle can afford a romance, so they take the friendship they can get on the flimsy pretense of business. Elle makes glyphs that have saved his life in the field, letting herself do higher-level work than she's strictly supposed to. She can't help but love throwing herself into something with a bit of challenge, and she has a more than usual stake in keeping Luc safe and well. She doesn't know the exact nature of his job (other than the fact that it's dangerous), and Luc prefers it that way. Widely vilified for his past and disliked for his cold persona, Luc is in a literal bind that prevents him from forming meaningful relationships with anyone. Elle provides an opportunity he can't seem to get anywhere else to be a different, lighter version of himself and show true care for someone. If you're hearing alarm bells about a misunderstood, manly protagonist, you can put them to rest. In Luc's case, I'd say it's warranted, but I refuse to divulge anything more that could smack of spoilers.
This is a paranormal romace/romantasy between two beings gifted with longevity rather than the typical gendered imbalance that can haunt both subgenres. Elle and Luc have long histories, tons of baggage, and this singular moment to change how they approach it all. Both need to understand that they can be more than their utility to others and seize happiness from being valued for just existing. They each must examine their perceived duties more clearly and consider how they're preventing a full, meaningful life. The romantic vibes are a 10, but the banter couldn't keep up for me. One of the things I liked best is how the story avoids some yucky romantic pitfalls (unnecessary angst, miscommunication) to focus on real opportunities for growth like how to support one another during difficult transitions and how to listen to one another when not everything can be said.
Because the book ditches some of the common rhythms of romance, things were looking ~too~ good halfway through, and it freaked me out... because happiness can't be trusted that early, especially in a romance. While there are definitely trials to come, the deviation from annoying tropes means it wasn't as much drama as I feared. I ~will~ say that after everything is sorted out, the end wraps up pretty quickly. Some of Luc's history is left unresolved, though that might be preferable to suffering an obvious, drawn-out explanation. Something I especially appreciate about the conclusion is that it's not what I would classify as a neat, easy solution to the characters' insurmountable problems. They face the situation with courage and don't walk away unscathed (not to freak out my fellow romance fans-- this is not a threat to HEA, just the presence of nuance).
There are some other little bits of the book that I loved. It's threaded with queerness in multiple ways because why settle for the bare minimum on representation? Luc is queer, and he works with Pei (they/them), who is descended from the Chinese god of war, as well as a violent polycule known for maximum effort. Tony's gay, and Elle's best friend and business partner, Lira, is also queer (and a corporeal ghost specializing in runes). Another awesome facet of the story is all the translanguaging-- something made even cooler if you read the author's note at the end.
I would definitely pick up more by this author in the future. The book takes on some of the shakeups that I think the genre desperately needs, adding complexity and removing unnecessary hangups in multiple ways. Thanks to Tachyon for my copy to read and review!
This has absolutely no bearing on my thoughts on the book, but it’s written that Luc’s ears were docked and yet on the cover
4.5 stars, only for a somewhat flat, mustache twirling villain. I loved this book, I gobbled up the audio in a day! I guess at the end of the day this could be classified as a fantasy romance, but I thought the magic system was really cool and the book is a unique meshing of Eastern and Western magic and lore (imagine a place where vampires, fox spirits, elves, sphinxes, and much more are all live together with humans). I was apprehensive about going into this because the cover signaled it would be a romance (which I am not feeling right now), but I liked it A LOT, even the romance. Dual perspective POV and I suspect that at the least fans of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone will like this one.