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A review by tesch18
Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith
2.0
2.5/5
I came into this a little wary, as I always am when I read books centered around non-Western cultures that are written by white authors. (I honestly was thinking about not reading this, but the queer character(s) drew me in.)
Tbh, this book was a mess. From the beginning it read like a first draft with imprecise language and plotting. But I went with it because I was desperately hoping it would get better. (Heads up: it didn't.) From there, it just devolved. The characters were one-dimensional, the world-building made no sense at all, Reiko's rage was so...unrealistic and over-the-top.... Just everything kept going wrong. (Other honorable mentions: insta-love, unexplained time travel, etc.) Even though there were two bi characters -- more than I believe I've seen in any other book -- only one of them was handled well.
You can go without reading this one.
I came into this a little wary, as I always am when I read books centered around non-Western cultures that are written by white authors. (I honestly was thinking about not reading this, but the queer character(s) drew me in.)
Tbh, this book was a mess. From the beginning it read like a first draft with imprecise language and plotting. But I went with it because I was desperately hoping it would get better. (Heads up: it didn't.) From there, it just devolved. The characters were one-dimensional, the world-building made no sense at all, Reiko's rage was so...unrealistic and over-the-top.... Just everything kept going wrong. (Other honorable mentions: insta-love, unexplained time travel, etc.) Even though there were two bi characters -- more than I believe I've seen in any other book -- only one of them was handled well.
You can go without reading this one.