Review: A Darkly Beating Heart

Hey everyone! So, today, I will be reviewing the book from this November's Fantasy Genre BooklyBox! (WOOHOO!!!)

I will try my best to give you a spoiler free summary of this crazy book (because let's be honest. Everyone HATES spoilers!!!) *Professor River Song peeks in to make sure I keep my promise*

It tells the story a girl, Reiko. She has been through a lot. The first person that she ever loved, Chloe, manipulated her into letting out her anger through art. This wouldn’t be a bad thing except that Chloe took her aggressive art and posted it around her school, branding Reiko as a dangerous person. In her anger, Reiko becomes exactly what Chloe made her out to be. She is dangerous. She wants revenge. Revenge on her uncaring family, revenge on her seemingly perfect brother, revenge on the obnoxious people she works for. She travels to the village of Kuramagi with the group of people she works with. This is where she happens upon the magatama of Miyu. The magatama is a stone that holds the spirit of Miyu, a woman from 1862 Japan who is even angrier that Reiko. By holding the stone, Reiko is able to travel back through time and live Miyu’s life. But maybe that’s exactly what Miyu wants in order to finish getting her own revenge.

Now, let's get down to the scoring ;)

Here, we review book based on five categories: plot, characters, description, pace, and extras. The book is able to earn up to one point in each category. This is then added up to determine the final score.

Plot: 1/1 star

The plot was interesting. It intrigued me how a woman was so full of hate that she was able to reach out through centuries. Both Reiko and Miyu want their revenge and it was a refreshing ending to this plot (no spoilers, I promise!!!) (Also, I am a little bit partial to time travel XD )

Characters: 1/1 star

Wow. I would give this full points just based on the main character. Lindsay Smith was not afraid to dive into Reiko's mind. Reiko is depressed, suicidal, and full of blood lust. This book was in first person so the reader would look out at the world through her eyes. It was actually terrifying. I would often take a break from reading and just be in this funk from Reiko's attitude which would partially rub off on me (not the hatred, just the sadness she feels). Props to Smith for doing something so groundbreaking that most authors would be too afraid to tackle.

Description: .5/1 star

Not good, but not bad. I just felt like a lot of details were left out. There were a lot of things that weren't explained that I wish had because I felt like I was missing out on important folklore elements. As an author, you can't assume that everyone is going to get your references, you have to create it so that everyone can read it. Thats where I was disappointed.

Pace: .5/1 star

Ok, this book rushed. It was a short book and there was a lot that could've been expanded upon. Especially towards the end, it sped up and I felt like it would've been better if the author took her time more (although the ending was still my favorite part of the book) ;)

Extras: .5/1 star

Ok. This is my biggest problem with the book: there were no light moments. No comic relief. It was so dark all the time that it felt almost suffocating! (UH OH!) There's a reason why TV shows have that comic character, you need to give your audience a breather. Why, even in Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most famous works, there's the Porter scene with some rather suggestive material to lighten the mood. Your audience needs a break! It was often hard to read because I had to prepare myself to allow darkness in for a short period of time.

This makes for a grand total of 3.5/5 stars!!!! It was definitely an interesting read, but not one for the light-hearted!

HAPPY READING!!!!!

#BOMBReview #ADarklyBeatingHeart #BooklyBox #Review