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siavahda's review against another edition
4.0
Really beautiful writing with characters I ended up loving - including a non-binary lead! Woo! - but I have to admit I could not keep track of what was going on with the curse. I didn't understand the explanations or theories tossed around by the characters, how the curse itself was supposed to work or how it had been created, and the big reveal of who was behind it all completely baffled me. But I really like the world created by this author and will probably end up picking up the sequel. Definitely recommended for those looking for character-driven fantasy and lyrical writing, and maybe smarter readers than I won't struggle so much with the curse.
books_and_cha's review against another edition
3.0
"With a shock, it hit me—I would yield it all to him. Whatever region of me he wanted would be his, and every uncharted truth within."
Written in beautiful prose, Lord of the Last Heartbeat started off intriguing but soon became messy. The premise pulled me in: Mio, who can sing and find people's secrets, is forced to use his ability to help his mother gain bargaining chips in a post-war world with volatile politics. He asks Lord Rhodry, a moon-soul (see: immortal) diplomat, who has a curse upon his sprawling, dark mansion. When Mio falls in danger, Rhodry whisks him away to safety.
The two begin to bond inside those dark halls, growing closer together. The curse, and the guilt of his past, make Rhodry reluctant to pursue Mio, but fighting their feelings soon becomes a losing battle. There are unseen enemies in the house, though, and they have to figure out how to break the curse before more lives are lost.
While I appreciated the poetic language, sometimes the narration made it difficult to understand what's going on. Instead of reading about how vibrations of magic music teased secrets out of someone's soul, I would have appreciated May Peterson telling me that Mio compelled secrets out of people. There were times when the language enhanced the story, but this was not always so.
The mystery kept me guessing. Every time I thought I figured out who was responsible for the deaths brought about by the curse, there was a plot twist. On one hand, I liked that I was kept guessing. On the other, the plot itself felt frustrating because every step forward was undermined by two steps back. There seemed to be no progress, only failure, and despair. When things were finally resolved, it felt unsatisfying, because the triumph of the ending had been delayed too long. It no longer mattered to me.
I don't often read about gender-neutral characters, so that aspect of Mio's character was a nice surprise. I liked that Rhodry respected that. The romance, overall, was cute. Mio and Rhodry are attracted to each other from the first, but the pacing was good, allowing them to form a bond before anything else happened. They're kind to each other, and it was heartwarming to read about.
The story has a good amount of commentary about what makes a villain. Almost everyone, at some point, is portrayed as the bad guy. Eirlys, with the curse. Rhodry, with his past. Mio and his voice. Mio's mother, and her single-minded goals. I thought Peterson went too far into evil-town with her, but then backtracked and tried to make her human when Mio empathized with her. I love complex female characters, but that was handled badly. Of course, the actual villain thinks they're pretty justified, if that gives you an idea of what makes someone spectacularly evil.
The book was passably enjoyable, but I could have loved it, and that kind of gets me down. I will keep an eye out for Peterson, though. I like her writing, I just don't think this book was my cup of tea.
Written in beautiful prose, Lord of the Last Heartbeat started off intriguing but soon became messy. The premise pulled me in: Mio, who can sing and find people's secrets, is forced to use his ability to help his mother gain bargaining chips in a post-war world with volatile politics. He asks Lord Rhodry, a moon-soul (see: immortal) diplomat, who has a curse upon his sprawling, dark mansion. When Mio falls in danger, Rhodry whisks him away to safety.
The two begin to bond inside those dark halls, growing closer together. The curse, and the guilt of his past, make Rhodry reluctant to pursue Mio, but fighting their feelings soon becomes a losing battle. There are unseen enemies in the house, though, and they have to figure out how to break the curse before more lives are lost.
While I appreciated the poetic language, sometimes the narration made it difficult to understand what's going on. Instead of reading about how vibrations of magic music teased secrets out of someone's soul, I would have appreciated May Peterson telling me that Mio compelled secrets out of people. There were times when the language enhanced the story, but this was not always so.
The mystery kept me guessing. Every time I thought I figured out who was responsible for the deaths brought about by the curse, there was a plot twist. On one hand, I liked that I was kept guessing. On the other, the plot itself felt frustrating because every step forward was undermined by two steps back. There seemed to be no progress, only failure, and despair. When things were finally resolved, it felt unsatisfying, because the triumph of the ending had been delayed too long. It no longer mattered to me.
I don't often read about gender-neutral characters, so that aspect of Mio's character was a nice surprise. I liked that Rhodry respected that. The romance, overall, was cute. Mio and Rhodry are attracted to each other from the first, but the pacing was good, allowing them to form a bond before anything else happened. They're kind to each other, and it was heartwarming to read about.
The story has a good amount of commentary about what makes a villain. Almost everyone, at some point, is portrayed as the bad guy. Eirlys, with the curse. Rhodry, with his past. Mio and his voice. Mio's mother, and her single-minded goals. I thought Peterson went too far into evil-town with her, but then backtracked and tried to make her human when Mio empathized with her. I love complex female characters, but that was handled badly. Of course, the actual villain thinks they're pretty justified, if that gives you an idea of what makes someone spectacularly evil.
The book was passably enjoyable, but I could have loved it, and that kind of gets me down. I will keep an eye out for Peterson, though. I like her writing, I just don't think this book was my cup of tea.
agmaynard's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
3.5
Lush, gorgeous prose. If the world building is a little too complex, well, this is a debut. Mio and his Bear God work together and grow together towards a hopeful future.
suflet's review against another edition
5.0
As delightful as advertised
This book was great! The characters were sweet and interesting and well motivated, and the supernatural mystery was atmospheric and engaging.
I have a particular soft spot for when the larger person is charming and emotionally available and paired with a more emotionally closed-off small person. Why is that? Probably because I am that emotionally closed-off small person and confident, emotionally available people of all genders have always been my type. But it's rare to see in fiction compared to the reverse personality pairing (which lbr I'm also into).
Anyway, I really got into this story and got caught up in the romance and the mystery and I would highly recommend it.
This book was great! The characters were sweet and interesting and well motivated, and the supernatural mystery was atmospheric and engaging.
I have a particular soft spot for when the larger person is charming and emotionally available and paired with a more emotionally closed-off small person. Why is that? Probably because I am that emotionally closed-off small person and confident, emotionally available people of all genders have always been my type. But it's rare to see in fiction compared to the reverse personality pairing (which lbr I'm also into).
Anyway, I really got into this story and got caught up in the romance and the mystery and I would highly recommend it.
petrichor_pages's review against another edition
2.0
I'm really not sure what to make of this one. I saw people talk about it on Twitter, and really felt like reading a fantasy/romance, so I gave it a shot.
I was surprisingly into the paranormal aspects of the book, maybe because the setting was historical rather than contemporary. The book had a Beauty and the Beast style romance which I am always a fan of. I also really liked Eirlys, Rhodry's (ex?)-wife. The world was interesting, but the world-building is really hard to follow. I feel like I ended up confused most of the time because the delivery didn't work for me. I also found the plot pretty repetitive at times (Seriously, how many times were there attempts to drag someone to hell?) It's a shame because I really wanted to like the book, but it just didn't work for me.
CW: suicide, homophobia, violence, death
I was surprisingly into the paranormal aspects of the book, maybe because the setting was historical rather than contemporary. The book had a Beauty and the Beast style romance which I am always a fan of. I also really liked Eirlys, Rhodry's (ex?)-wife. The world was interesting, but the world-building is really hard to follow. I feel like I ended up confused most of the time because the delivery didn't work for me. I also found the plot pretty repetitive at times (Seriously, how many times were there attempts to drag someone to hell?) It's a shame because I really wanted to like the book, but it just didn't work for me.
CW: suicide, homophobia, violence, death
lunarxcross's review against another edition
My anxiety kicked in and I had to set this aside.
toadheart's review against another edition
4.0
Boy, was I glad for that HEA promise with this one! Lord of the Last Heartbeat is a novel that goes to some very dark and hopeless places, but always emerges again. Its language is often obscuring and arcane, but that's not an objectively bad thing. The worldbuilding is at the same time hard and soft, much of the plot depends on the precise rules of curses and becoming ghosts, but those rules never become entirely clarified. The story balances between saying too much and saying too little.
As a romance, the relationship between Mio and Rhodry is deep and affecting. They're two people in deeply fraught circumstances who help each other survive, and this is the central theme, make choices. I would've liked to see them spend a few more scenes developing their relationship before facing life or death battles together, but it was overall well done. While the blurb implies some tension and angst between them, the conflict of this romance is very much caused by external forces.
I recommend this to anyone who likes romance with a heavy dose of fantasy worldbuilding and cinematic action. The only minor gripe I have is that it's a romance between a mortal and an immortal person, and that tension doesn't seem to have been resolved by the end. This is especially difficult to ignore in a story that deals heavily with death and mortal peril, but it's not hard to imagine some way for them to stay together.
As a romance, the relationship between Mio and Rhodry is deep and affecting. They're two people in deeply fraught circumstances who help each other survive, and this is the central theme, make choices. I would've liked to see them spend a few more scenes developing their relationship before facing life or death battles together, but it was overall well done. While the blurb implies some tension and angst between them, the conflict of this romance is very much caused by external forces.
I recommend this to anyone who likes romance with a heavy dose of fantasy worldbuilding and cinematic action. The only minor gripe I have is that it's a romance between a mortal and an immortal person, and that tension doesn't seem to have been resolved by the end. This is especially difficult to ignore in a story that deals heavily with death and mortal peril, but it's not hard to imagine some way for them to stay together.
1undercover's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Once again I feel bad giving a bad rating, mostly because when I don’t like a book I usually end up confused. It eats away at me until I figure out why. Some theories:
- The writing was potentially overworked? There were big chunks of repetitive emotional appeals in places where I didn’t need to be reminded. The magic and action was also highly abstract which sometimes made it difficult to understand what was happening, why, or the limits of any of the characters’ power.
- Related, I think the mystery aspect was a miss for me. I love mystery, but I never found myself really wondering whodunit which makes me think that I was missing concrete clues. I always felt like any character could be the bad guy.
- Finally I have a theory that even though there were two POV characters with different lives, their voices sounded the same. I could probably pull sections from this book and not know who was narrating.
- The writing was potentially overworked? There were big chunks of repetitive emotional appeals in places where I didn’t need to be reminded. The magic and action was also highly abstract which sometimes made it difficult to understand what was happening, why, or the limits of any of the characters’ power.
- Related, I think the mystery aspect was a miss for me. I love mystery, but I never found myself really wondering whodunit which makes me think that I was missing concrete clues. I always felt like any character could be the bad guy.
- Finally I have a theory that even though there were two POV characters with different lives, their voices sounded the same. I could probably pull sections from this book and not know who was narrating.
nostoat's review
3.0
It's not a great book, but it was a fun book. My main complaint is the incredibly overwrought prose that could have used some heavy editing for clarity and concision. The characters and plot were engaging enough that I didn't mind occasionally losing my way in the middle of a sentence, however. A good book, a fun read.