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cjcharding 's review for:
Shadowheart
by Laura Kinsale
3.25/5🌶️, MF, medieval HR, forced marriage, pirate and princess, standalone, part of a series, ebook
Unfortunately, I read this book at the wrong time. There was so much to potentially enjoy in this book: medieval Italian setting, a forced marriage between a pirate-assassin and a princess who doesn’t know she is a princess, family feuds and forced proximity due to fleeing other assassins. However, because I started this book at a time when my personal life was exhausting me, I didn’t have the time to devote to fully immerse myself into this book. Due to the writing style and language Kinsale uses, it takes a while to get into the flow of the prose, however, because I was only reading a bit at a time, I found it took me a few minutes each time I picked up the book to find the flow again. While I did enjoy many aspects of this book, because it was so slow and hard to get into, I never really sensed the couple romance building. It went from “I hate you because you kidnapped me and you are an evil man” to “I’m hopelessly in love and will follow you to hell.” There were a few long time jumps where the main couple was separated and for the majority of the book, each of the characters are trying to escape/stay away from the other. Then to cap it off, I was not prepared for the amount of Catholicism, absolution, and heaven and hell talk, especially in the last part of the book. So, I’m sad to say this was a bit of a miss for me, despite enjoying bits and pieces along the way.
Unfortunately, I read this book at the wrong time. There was so much to potentially enjoy in this book: medieval Italian setting, a forced marriage between a pirate-assassin and a princess who doesn’t know she is a princess, family feuds and forced proximity due to fleeing other assassins. However, because I started this book at a time when my personal life was exhausting me, I didn’t have the time to devote to fully immerse myself into this book. Due to the writing style and language Kinsale uses, it takes a while to get into the flow of the prose, however, because I was only reading a bit at a time, I found it took me a few minutes each time I picked up the book to find the flow again. While I did enjoy many aspects of this book, because it was so slow and hard to get into, I never really sensed the couple romance building. It went from “I hate you because you kidnapped me and you are an evil man” to “I’m hopelessly in love and will follow you to hell.” There were a few long time jumps where the main couple was separated and for the majority of the book, each of the characters are trying to escape/stay away from the other. Then to cap it off, I was not prepared for the amount of Catholicism, absolution, and heaven and hell talk, especially in the last part of the book. So, I’m sad to say this was a bit of a miss for me, despite enjoying bits and pieces along the way.