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A review by katyanaish
Wild Irish Heart by Tricia O'Malley
3.0
***3.5***
It's odd, but the plot - the pacing, the depth - it felt like a short.
Keelin was a little TSTL. Her mom Margaret was an unforgivable asshole Margaret is a selfish piece of shit. She deserved to be utterly abandoned.
And I felt the expectations were a little overblown, with h/h.
In the meantime, Keelin is learning about her gift. And it is stressed that she needs to be cautious, keep things secret - the gift of healing is wonderful and dangerous... she could easily be persecuted.
She and Flynn finally go on their first date. They have a great time, it seems to be Insta-True Love. They make plans for a second date. And Fiona and Cait encourage her to tell Flynn about her gift... because if she loves him, she has to be herself with him. And also, Keelin did actually test the waters for telling him on their very first date - she asked what he thought about the healing thing (her grandmother has a reputation for it). He dismissed it utterly - said herbs, ointments, cool. But there's no power, she's not a witch, and people who believe that are ridiculous. So you can't blame her for not telling him then - it's their first damn date, she's struggling to even know herself (she has only known about her gift/heritage for like 2 weeks... give the girl a fucking break, she doesn't even know what she thinks of all of it yet), and she's not sure how to just say something like that... especially to a guy who just flatly dismissed the possibility.
Okay, so second date. She'd decided to tell him, and they go hiking up a hill. As she later tells Fiona, it's a thing that deserves face to face conversation, not conversation yelled over your shoulder while hiking, so she thought she'd tell him when they get to the top of the hill. But Flynn falls and breaks his leg badly. And she heals him. And he freaks out.
There seems to be this expectation that she should have told him way before, that she's hiding some huge thing from him. But like, they've known each other for a couple weeks, he was a dick for most of that, this is their second fucking date, and holy shit is this like ... something she should be telling anyone she meets on their first date? No. Fiona said it has to be secret. Has he spilled all his secrets to her? No. We don't even know most of them. Why doesn't he take anyone on his boat? How did his parents die? Does he have other family? They are just barely getting to know one another. It is bullshit for anyone to feel like Flynn should already have been told.
So yeah, unrealistic expectations.
I like the book well enough. It's just... overly simple, I think. Everything plays exactly as you'd expect. The heroine made some stupid choices (re: cove) repeatedly, and I wanted to smack her in the head. But it's okay. *shrug*
It's odd, but the plot - the pacing, the depth - it felt like a short.
Keelin was a little TSTL. Her mom Margaret was an unforgivable asshole
Spoiler
- how in fuck could she watch her daughter struggle with her gifts and not only not tell her the truth, but actually tell her she needs a therapist? She's gaslighting her daughter, and it's not okay. And on top of that, this poor lonely girl, who has almost no friends BECAUSE of her gift, doesn't even get to know she has siblings? A father and grandmother who would have loved to have her in their lives?And I felt the expectations were a little overblown, with h/h.
Spoiler
Okay. Keelin shows up to town. She doesn't know anything about anything, because of the aforementioned piece of shit mother. People are being weird to her, some people are being hostile towards her (the crossing themselves and crossing the street to get away from her). She meets siblings that she never even knew she had, and they tell her that they hate her (wtf?!). She meets Flynn who is a total dickbag. Their encounters are weird.In the meantime, Keelin is learning about her gift. And it is stressed that she needs to be cautious, keep things secret - the gift of healing is wonderful and dangerous... she could easily be persecuted.
She and Flynn finally go on their first date. They have a great time, it seems to be Insta-True Love. They make plans for a second date. And Fiona and Cait encourage her to tell Flynn about her gift... because if she loves him, she has to be herself with him. And also, Keelin did actually test the waters for telling him on their very first date - she asked what he thought about the healing thing (her grandmother has a reputation for it). He dismissed it utterly - said herbs, ointments, cool. But there's no power, she's not a witch, and people who believe that are ridiculous. So you can't blame her for not telling him then - it's their first damn date, she's struggling to even know herself (she has only known about her gift/heritage for like 2 weeks... give the girl a fucking break, she doesn't even know what she thinks of all of it yet), and she's not sure how to just say something like that... especially to a guy who just flatly dismissed the possibility.
Okay, so second date. She'd decided to tell him, and they go hiking up a hill. As she later tells Fiona, it's a thing that deserves face to face conversation, not conversation yelled over your shoulder while hiking, so she thought she'd tell him when they get to the top of the hill. But Flynn falls and breaks his leg badly. And she heals him. And he freaks out.
There seems to be this expectation that she should have told him way before, that she's hiding some huge thing from him. But like, they've known each other for a couple weeks, he was a dick for most of that, this is their second fucking date, and holy shit is this like ... something she should be telling anyone she meets on their first date? No. Fiona said it has to be secret. Has he spilled all his secrets to her? No. We don't even know most of them. Why doesn't he take anyone on his boat? How did his parents die? Does he have other family? They are just barely getting to know one another. It is bullshit for anyone to feel like Flynn should already have been told.
So yeah, unrealistic expectations.
I like the book well enough. It's just... overly simple, I think. Everything plays exactly as you'd expect. The heroine made some stupid choices (re: cove) repeatedly, and I wanted to smack her in the head. But it's okay. *shrug*