A review by shelvesofstarlight
This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke
5.0
This book was exceptional and I adored every second of it. The characters, the plot, the setting, all of it just sang off of the page and made the words come alive.
Csilla was such a wonderful main character and I loved how she was connected to the Danube river, something which played a role in the story and made sense for Csilla as she progressed through the book. In addition, she was tenacious and the love she had for her city and the people in her life was just so brilliant to see. Azriel, the other POV type character in this book was such an interesting choice and I really liked how he fitted into the story and added another amazing layer into this book. All of the other main characters such as Szu and Tamas were also complex and added to Csilla's story whilst having their own and I adored them all so much. I also liked the use of the father's journals and letters from Tamas throughout because not only did it add to the book overall, it allows the reader to get a better sense of them as characters.
The story itself of course was historical but I adored how Locke made it her own with the addition of the Golem and the importance of the river and colours. It made the story that much more heartbreaking and special. I knew about the history from studying it at school and I have always had a special place for Budapest, and Hungary, in my heart as my mother's family originally came from there. This book took that and ran with it, making me even more separate to walk the streets of a city so deeply affected by grief and war and see the river that spoke to Csilla so strongly that it broke its banks on the day of her birth and gifted her with hair the same silver as it's water. And the ending, even though I knew it was coming was still heartbreaking because of the way that Locke told it.
And the writing style of this book was stunning. The way that Locke wrote about the city was captivating and the way that they spoke about the river was simply beautiful. On top of all of that, the way they wrote Csilla and her behaviour were perfect. I actually cannot tell you how much I loved this book and still love it after finishing it only yesterday.
I was kindly provided with an earc of this book as part of a blog tour in exchange for my honest review.
Csilla was such a wonderful main character and I loved how she was connected to the Danube river, something which played a role in the story and made sense for Csilla as she progressed through the book. In addition, she was tenacious and the love she had for her city and the people in her life was just so brilliant to see. Azriel, the other POV type character in this book was such an interesting choice and I really liked how he fitted into the story and added another amazing layer into this book. All of the other main characters such as Szu and Tamas were also complex and added to Csilla's story whilst having their own and I adored them all so much. I also liked the use of the father's journals and letters from Tamas throughout because not only did it add to the book overall, it allows the reader to get a better sense of them as characters.
The story itself of course was historical but I adored how Locke made it her own with the addition of the Golem and the importance of the river and colours. It made the story that much more heartbreaking and special. I knew about the history from studying it at school and I have always had a special place for Budapest, and Hungary, in my heart as my mother's family originally came from there. This book took that and ran with it, making me even more separate to walk the streets of a city so deeply affected by grief and war and see the river that spoke to Csilla so strongly that it broke its banks on the day of her birth and gifted her with hair the same silver as it's water. And the ending, even though I knew it was coming was still heartbreaking because of the way that Locke told it.
And the writing style of this book was stunning. The way that Locke wrote about the city was captivating and the way that they spoke about the river was simply beautiful. On top of all of that, the way they wrote Csilla and her behaviour were perfect. I actually cannot tell you how much I loved this book and still love it after finishing it only yesterday.
I was kindly provided with an earc of this book as part of a blog tour in exchange for my honest review.