whatthekatdraggedin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: War, Genocide, Death of parent, and Antisemitism
daycia's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Antisemitism, War, Violence, Death of parent, and Torture
Moderate: Suicide and Child death
meganpbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Antisemitism, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, War, and Violence
Minor: Suicide, War, Death of parent, and Death
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
For me, the strength of the novel was in its depiction of the historical context surrounding this event - incorporating the then very recent history of the Holocaust, which decimated Budapest's Jewish population. Locke - who is Jewish but not Hungarian - handles this history with care and sensitivity, and there are some great lines that resonated with me at the time I read them. The historical context was a big reason why I continued reading this.
But in my opinion, there were two ways in which This Rebel Heart fell short - characterisation, and magical realism (which is a genre I've had a lot of difficulty with in the past, but that's beside the point).
I'll talk about the characterisation issue first. For me, good characterisation is essential to my enjoyment of a fiction book- because if the author doesn't make you care about the characters, why should you care about what happens to them? And that was the problem here. The three central characters - Csilla first and foremost, but Tamás, and Azriel too - did not feel like real people. The way they spoke, both to others and among themselves, felt too formal, and often the phrases they used felt like philosophical musings than natural conversation. In Azriel's case, this is excusable given he is
Spoiler
literally the angel of deathSpoiler
polyamorous relationship that developed between Csilla, Tamás, and Azriel, while important for the sake of representation, lacked chemistryNow we come to the magical realism aspects. I know there are some people who love this genre - but, as I mentioned above, I am not one of them. I do, however, enjoy fantasy, and I feel that the difference between that and magical realism is that fantasy doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, and the rules are clearly established from the outset. With magical realism, it seems to me the rules are that there are no rules, and that's my issue. With This Rebel Heart, I suspect Locke intended the magical realist aspects -
Spoiler
the city of Budapest is literally coloured black and white, the Danube River, the golem, and probably other aspects that I don't rememberSpoiler
river metaphorsKatherine Locke deserves a great deal of credit for writing about a part of history that doesn't get the attention it should, but for me, This Rebel Heart did not work.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child death, Antisemitism, Genocide, Alcohol, and Homophobia
Minor: Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Medical trauma
pheereadsbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: War, Antisemitism, and Violence
avabudavari's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, War, Violence, Grief, and Police brutality
Moderate: Antisemitism, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
maidmarianlib's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Police brutality, Blood, Homophobia, and War
raix's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, War, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Child death
deliriah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: War and Antisemitism
Moderate: Gun violence, Torture, Grief, Child death, Blood, Homophobia, Violence, Death, and Death of parent
her's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, War, Antisemitism, and Police brutality