Reviews

Невозможная девушка by Лидия Канг, Lydia Kang

michaela16180's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

kate_brauning's review against another edition

5.0

Holy crap. I've never read a book like this. Made me tear through the rest of this author's historicals and YA-- so gorgeous.

sara_4539's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting plot. Very graphic and immersive. Characters are lacking personality, although are realistically selfish and untrustworthy. Protag is frustratingly ignorant at times for someone who is described to be so intelligent.

erinarkin20's review against another edition

5.0

This was really good you guys!! Full review to come.

dfentriss's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

carlyreads1994's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

5.0

bibliotequeish's review against another edition

4.0

I did not want this to be over.
At the same time, I needed it to be over because it was almost 1:30 am and I knew there was no way I was going to sleep without knowing how Cora Lee's story ended.

Cora Lee is born in the time of PT Barnum, when any abnormality from gout, to a tail can land you on display in one of New York's medical theaters.
The doctor who examined Cora on the day of her birth detected two heart beats and started telling stories around the town of the impossible girl born with two hearts. Afraid for her safety her aunt decided to raise Cora as a boy, Jacob.

Cora/Jacob are now successful resurrectionists (Grave robbers), tracking and stealing the bodies of those who have died with an abnormality a buyer would be interested in, all the while keeping an ear to the ground for any rumblings of the girl with two hearts.

I loved these characters, as well as the story line and Lydia Kang's writing style.
From the first page to the last I loved this book.
Originally it was the cover that drew me to this book, the description sounded interesting enough, but the beautiful cover made me want to love this book.

I can not wait for this book to hit the shelves, because I will definitely be picking up a copy.

yourstrulyemi's review against another edition

So I dnf'd this book. I know people usually don't write reviews for books they dnf, but i think it can be interesting to hear reasons why someone might do so.

Anyway, here I go.

I will mainly comment on how the story progressed rather than the plot itself because obviously I didn't read it until the end to fully appreciate it.

So as the synopsis says, it starts with a girl born with two hearts. In a time and place where body abnormalities are sought after in order to dissect them or expose them in a museum. It sounds good so far but the story has so many inconsistencies that it makes you wonder what the hell you’re even reading. I mean in the first chapter (or prologue I don’t even remember) SPOILERS ->

Spoiler

A doctor comes to their house because the girl’s mother just died giving her birth. And he checks on the baby too to see if she’s alive and healthy. However the doctor is drunk and is known to be an alcoholic but the moment he sees the patient he becomes sober? That doesn’t make sense at all! Also what do you mean he then spread the rumor about a girl with two hearts and everyone believed him when he was clearly drunk that time. There’s no way he could have treated his patients correctly, let alone remember that there was a baby with an abnormality. And the whole Jacob and Cora thing made no sense at all. Fine they raised her as a boy to hide her identity, but why keep doing that when she’s an adult? Especially when I doubt she really passes as a believable male. I know girls can pass as guys in asian dramas but I doubt it would work in the US. But whatever…

Overall, the plot is way too simple for a premise like this, and everything just happens for the sake of it without anything else going behind the scenes. 

Another thing that ruined this book for me is the description. Specifically the parts that described the character’s emotions. It was often summarized in one sentence before they switched to another one to the point it felt like watching a PPT slideshow. If it even makes sense.

And finally, I think what the author tried to do is foreshadowing but it ended up having the opposite effect. As in, instead of giving us hints of what might come later, it just spoils what will come entirely. It was way too clear who she’ll end up dating in the end because of that one sentence when she first met him. But what’s even worse is that the chemistry is horribly lacking which makes it even more annoying because everyone and their grandma knows this is the guy she’s ending up with. Her reasons for liking him makes no sense, especially given her situation. And his reasons for liking her are even more ridiculous. But anyway… 

mommarex1221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

addyboo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.5