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A review by mundinova
Matters of the Heart by Danielle Steel
2.0
Story: 2 stars
Character Development: 3 stars
Prose/Language: 1 star
Let's get one thing straight: the writing is bad. Repetitive, simplistic, repetitive, and did I mention repetitive? Now that the writing has been addressed, let's place it aside and instead focus on what aspects of this book are appealing. This is my first Danielle Steel/dime-store romance and I had reservations and expressed out right mockery before starting reading. But I gotta say, I was entertained. Sure, it was fantastical and read like a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" episode, but the interactions between these rich and famous people had moments that felt authentic.
Having read mostly fantasy and sci-fi, I appreciate believable "world building". What I discovered in Matters of the Heart was "relationship world building" - the meeting, the falling in love, the red flags, the escalation of involvement, the downfall - it was a romantic relationship with issues one might hear via neighborhood gossip or Dear Abby letters. Of course this story was horrific and scary, but some of the manipulations felt very real.
Lesson learned: Don't discount a book based purely on genera.
Character Development: 3 stars
Prose/Language: 1 star
Let's get one thing straight: the writing is bad. Repetitive, simplistic, repetitive, and did I mention repetitive? Now that the writing has been addressed, let's place it aside and instead focus on what aspects of this book are appealing. This is my first Danielle Steel/dime-store romance and I had reservations and expressed out right mockery before starting reading. But I gotta say, I was entertained. Sure, it was fantastical and read like a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" episode, but the interactions between these rich and famous people had moments that felt authentic.
Having read mostly fantasy and sci-fi, I appreciate believable "world building". What I discovered in Matters of the Heart was "relationship world building" - the meeting, the falling in love, the red flags, the escalation of involvement, the downfall - it was a romantic relationship with issues one might hear via neighborhood gossip or Dear Abby letters. Of course this story was horrific and scary, but some of the manipulations felt very real.
Lesson learned: Don't discount a book based purely on genera.