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chaptersofmads 's review for:
A Bright Heart
by Kate Chenli
"What if you could avenge your own murder?"
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
TW: abuse, blood, classism, death, death of a loved one, grief, infidelity, injury/injury detail, murder, sexism, suicide, torture, violence.
Once again... skipping over the fact I'm embarrassingly late in getting to this ARC and jumping right to the review.
I hate negatively reviewing ARCs, particularly when its a book with such an original concept as this. The idea of a MC getting a second chance at life, to re-walk the path that led to her murder and hope to change the outcome sounded incredible. I would be remiss to ignore how unique this author's story was or how grateful I am that I had a chance to read it.
But I would also be dishonest if I rated this book any higher.
Both subjectively and objectively, this book just did not work. The MC handled everything in the worst, most foolish way possible; to the point that some of the betrayals would have been earned, from how impolite and suspicious she was acting. Due to the lack of flashbacks in the story, we are simply told about the betrayals again and again, whilst watching Mingshin make the worst decisions imaginable.
The romance was... absolutely unpleasant to read about. I hated the comparisons of taming in their relationship, especially considering the fact this is a YA and therefore marketed towards a young audience that may not realize how messed up the dynamic is. I hated that her lips were described as throbbing after he kissed her, which becomes more concerning with the context of his controlling and misogynistic behavior. I hate the fact that she only gains confidence in her looks once his love has changed her.
I also struggled with the writing, as it seemed to jerk between attempting an extremely poetic prose and sentences like, "Is this guy for real?" which pulled me out of the story. Pairing the simplistic, almost... insultingly explanatory writing style with Mingshin's immaturity made this book feel extremely juvenile in all the wrong ways.
As I said at the beginning of the review, I hate leaving negative reviews on ARCs. This was such an incredible concept and I could tell that this story meant a lot to the author, whom I wishing nothing but the best for moving forward. This story just didn't work for my preferences or on a technical level, but I am grateful that I was given the chance to read it.
ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
TW: abuse, blood, classism, death, death of a loved one, grief, infidelity, injury/injury detail, murder, sexism, suicide, torture, violence.
Once again... skipping over the fact I'm embarrassingly late in getting to this ARC and jumping right to the review.
I hate negatively reviewing ARCs, particularly when its a book with such an original concept as this. The idea of a MC getting a second chance at life, to re-walk the path that led to her murder and hope to change the outcome sounded incredible. I would be remiss to ignore how unique this author's story was or how grateful I am that I had a chance to read it.
But I would also be dishonest if I rated this book any higher.
Both subjectively and objectively, this book just did not work. The MC handled everything in the worst, most foolish way possible; to the point that some of the betrayals would have been earned, from how impolite and suspicious she was acting. Due to the lack of flashbacks in the story, we are simply told about the betrayals again and again, whilst watching Mingshin make the worst decisions imaginable.
The romance was... absolutely unpleasant to read about. I hated the comparisons of taming in their relationship, especially considering the fact this is a YA and therefore marketed towards a young audience that may not realize how messed up the dynamic is. I hated that her lips were described as throbbing after he kissed her, which becomes more concerning with the context of his controlling and misogynistic behavior. I hate the fact that she only gains confidence in her looks once his love has changed her.
I also struggled with the writing, as it seemed to jerk between attempting an extremely poetic prose and sentences like, "Is this guy for real?" which pulled me out of the story. Pairing the simplistic, almost... insultingly explanatory writing style with Mingshin's immaturity made this book feel extremely juvenile in all the wrong ways.
As I said at the beginning of the review, I hate leaving negative reviews on ARCs. This was such an incredible concept and I could tell that this story meant a lot to the author, whom I wishing nothing but the best for moving forward. This story just didn't work for my preferences or on a technical level, but I am grateful that I was given the chance to read it.