A review by sidofherran
Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

i enjoyed this. this was about a guy who investigates a mystery connected to his dark past
with his childhood best friend who he was in love with who he thought tried to kill him.
the dialogue and scenes felt very natural and dynamic and the characterization was well fleshed out. each character felt like a real person and they also each had a unique and interesting dynamic with each other character. i loved all the friendships and platonic relationships in this, isla & kit's friendship was very touching and i like that it was written as just as important as the romantic relationships. and some quotes from tanis or isla resonated. i liked isla and the other characters too. it was also nice to have both a mlm and wlw romance in the same book. tanis & isla were very sweet.

the mystery, horror and paranormal aspects were very well-written and gripping, with several action-packed scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat. it draws a lot from Celtic folklore and folklore/myths in scotland/ireland/wales/england as far as i could gather. i think.

the scottish slang took me out for a bit and i had to google some of it but i learned some new slang words which is neat.

i also really like how a lot of the paranormal stuff was a metaphor for trauma and mental illnesses which the mc slowly learned to heal from over the course of the book. the ending was a lot about healing and found family which was heartwarming. also the plot twist about
owen being a changeling was a cool plot twist, i started to guess towards the end and i did feel pity for him that he just wanted to know what it was like to be a human and experience friendship/love
. overall this was an enjoyable book and i will be reading gilmartin's other book as gilmartin is clearly good at writing well fleshed out characters and dynamics and emotional arcs.