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A review by ninetalevixen
A Heart Divided by Jin Yong
3.0
I received an advance review copy from St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin) through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest.
★ 3.5 stars ★
In terms of plot and themes, this felt rather different from the previous books in some ways while being a logical conclusion in others. While I didn't love all the math and was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of riddles and poems, I do have to give props to the translators for making all the verses work in a different language (though I haven't read this in the original Chinese so I can't judge whether/how much nuance was lost in translation). Honestly I never really enjoy a love triangle, but at least there is genuine conflict — a question of honor and keeping one's word, vs. True Love (I Guess) — and none of the characters is vilified for their role in the whole situation. The narration gets quite heavy on the moralizing/philosophizing in the last section or so, but there's still plenty of martial arts action.
Ultimately, this installment delivers the culmination of this series, coming full circle while demonstrating how far the heroes have come ... and it sets up the sequel series.
★ 3.5 stars ★
In terms of plot and themes, this felt rather different from the previous books in some ways while being a logical conclusion in others. While I didn't love all the math and was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of riddles and poems, I do have to give props to the translators for making all the verses work in a different language (though I haven't read this in the original Chinese so I can't judge whether/how much nuance was lost in translation). Honestly I never really enjoy a love triangle, but at least there is genuine conflict — a question of honor and keeping one's word, vs. True Love (I Guess) — and none of the characters is vilified for their role in the whole situation. The narration gets quite heavy on the moralizing/philosophizing in the last section or so, but there's still plenty of martial arts action.
Ultimately, this installment delivers the culmination of this series, coming full circle while demonstrating how far the heroes have come ... and it sets up the sequel series.