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A review by kjharrowick
A Torch in His Heart by Anna Belfrage
2.0
Why I picked up this book:
I stumbled across a random Twitter ad from this author and was immediately drawn to the idea of a love triangle that lasted through several lifetimes. I'm a sucker for a romance so strong, it can connect characters through multiple lives, so I immediately started hunting around on Goodreads and read some of the reviews.
One of the things about the book blurb that had me hesitant to pick it up was I couldn't tell if the story was contemporary or set in a fantasy world. I really wanted the latter, but couldn't shake the idea of this amazing love triangle, so I finally broke down and borrowed the book on KU.
DNF at 22%
This review contains spoilers.
What I loved:
I'm a sucker for a good villain, and Sam Woolf's character delivered right from the start. His dark personality and obsession with the heroine Helle really lit a spark between them and created a lot of character chemistry and tension, which made the book engaging from the first page.
Why I stopped reading:
This was another story I wanted so much to love, especially with the idea of two heroes following the heroine through many lives. But there was just too much imbalance in this trio that I couldn't suspend enough disbelief for.
First (content warning) - Sam Woolf was deliciously dark without the rapey elements. In fact, there was so much breadcrumbing about his intended raping of Helle, that it's possible there is an on-page rape scene later. I honestly don't know... but the breadcrumbing toward it was heavy. The first several chapters spent so much time focusing on Sam and Helle that it really made me think this is their story--either it's not a romance or it's a dark, bad-boy romance. These elements didn't bother me as a reader, but I kept circling back to the book jacket copy of 'love triangle' and it didn't connect since a true romance should start with the H/H pairing. But the fire between Sam and Helle was so strong I wanted to continue.
Jason, who I gather is the actual hero & romantic interest, baffled me on several levels. He's got a girlfriend/engaged and it's mentioned at the beginning, but then isn't brought up again as he starts spending all his time with Helle. But here's where the story started to fall apart for me: Jason is in love with Helle, so much that he's spent several lifetimes looking for her across the continents. But when he finally sees her for the first time, he does nothing. In fact, he continues to do nothing, then sends her a creepy necklace with no note. After this (and knowing she's working for his biggest nemesis), he leaves the country. I could not for the life of me wrap my head around these decisions. Jason is in love with her, burns for her, aches for her, and yet his actions tell an entirely different story.
Which brings me to Helle. I'd already read in several reviews for this story that she was an iffy heroine, so I was ready. But as soon as she met Jason, all her fire and gumption and desperation to protect herself disappeared. She had this wonderful potential to be a beautiful, complex character, but around the hero all her complexity disappeared and she became a meek 'yes, sir' character. There was just no fire between her and Jason the way there was between her and Sam.
So as a reader, this 'love triangle' felt really off-balance, enough that I wouldn't call the story a romance. This might be my desire as a reader for strong, really complex characters that constantly trigger and antagonize each other, but it was still enough that my feelings toward the story started to turn negative.
Overall:
I LOVE the premise of this story and the idea of lovers & enemies traveling together through multiple lives for different outcomes, and the small hitchings to ancient mythical characters was wonderful. However, the imbalance of the lovers and the lack of any world building in the story eventually left me disconnected. However, I'd recommend this story for contemporary readers who love deep roots in past lives, historical mythos, and anyone who loves cinnamon roll heroes and little to no world building.
NOTE for readers: When I say world building, this story focuses a lot of detail on what characters are wearing, brand name items, and all the intimate details of their eye colors. However, apart from the story taking place somewhere in the UK, there was no immersion with what the surroundings looked like or how the characters immersed and interacted with their setting. Just noting as some readers love minimalistic settings while others (like me!) need to feel like we're inside the character's skin.
I stumbled across a random Twitter ad from this author and was immediately drawn to the idea of a love triangle that lasted through several lifetimes. I'm a sucker for a romance so strong, it can connect characters through multiple lives, so I immediately started hunting around on Goodreads and read some of the reviews.
One of the things about the book blurb that had me hesitant to pick it up was I couldn't tell if the story was contemporary or set in a fantasy world. I really wanted the latter, but couldn't shake the idea of this amazing love triangle, so I finally broke down and borrowed the book on KU.
DNF at 22%
This review contains spoilers.
What I loved:
I'm a sucker for a good villain, and Sam Woolf's character delivered right from the start. His dark personality and obsession with the heroine Helle really lit a spark between them and created a lot of character chemistry and tension, which made the book engaging from the first page.
Why I stopped reading:
This was another story I wanted so much to love, especially with the idea of two heroes following the heroine through many lives. But there was just too much imbalance in this trio that I couldn't suspend enough disbelief for.
First (content warning) - Sam Woolf was deliciously dark without the rapey elements. In fact, there was so much breadcrumbing about his intended raping of Helle, that it's possible there is an on-page rape scene later. I honestly don't know... but the breadcrumbing toward it was heavy. The first several chapters spent so much time focusing on Sam and Helle that it really made me think this is their story--either it's not a romance or it's a dark, bad-boy romance. These elements didn't bother me as a reader, but I kept circling back to the book jacket copy of 'love triangle' and it didn't connect since a true romance should start with the H/H pairing. But the fire between Sam and Helle was so strong I wanted to continue.
Jason, who I gather is the actual hero & romantic interest, baffled me on several levels. He's got a girlfriend/engaged and it's mentioned at the beginning, but then isn't brought up again as he starts spending all his time with Helle. But here's where the story started to fall apart for me: Jason is in love with Helle, so much that he's spent several lifetimes looking for her across the continents. But when he finally sees her for the first time, he does nothing. In fact, he continues to do nothing, then sends her a creepy necklace with no note. After this (and knowing she's working for his biggest nemesis), he leaves the country. I could not for the life of me wrap my head around these decisions. Jason is in love with her, burns for her, aches for her, and yet his actions tell an entirely different story.
Which brings me to Helle. I'd already read in several reviews for this story that she was an iffy heroine, so I was ready. But as soon as she met Jason, all her fire and gumption and desperation to protect herself disappeared. She had this wonderful potential to be a beautiful, complex character, but around the hero all her complexity disappeared and she became a meek 'yes, sir' character. There was just no fire between her and Jason the way there was between her and Sam.
So as a reader, this 'love triangle' felt really off-balance, enough that I wouldn't call the story a romance. This might be my desire as a reader for strong, really complex characters that constantly trigger and antagonize each other, but it was still enough that my feelings toward the story started to turn negative.
Overall:
I LOVE the premise of this story and the idea of lovers & enemies traveling together through multiple lives for different outcomes, and the small hitchings to ancient mythical characters was wonderful. However, the imbalance of the lovers and the lack of any world building in the story eventually left me disconnected. However, I'd recommend this story for contemporary readers who love deep roots in past lives, historical mythos, and anyone who loves cinnamon roll heroes and little to no world building.
NOTE for readers: When I say world building, this story focuses a lot of detail on what characters are wearing, brand name items, and all the intimate details of their eye colors. However, apart from the story taking place somewhere in the UK, there was no immersion with what the surroundings looked like or how the characters immersed and interacted with their setting. Just noting as some readers love minimalistic settings while others (like me!) need to feel like we're inside the character's skin.