A review by lorac91383
Dark Tracks by Philippa Gregory
2.0
When Luca met Ishraq
So MANY Spoilers!
So, I ship Luca and Isolde, for starters. It’s been kind of expected since the beginning and I never felt deep romantic tension between Ishraq and Luca.
My emotions may have colored my experience of this book. I wasn’t listening to it on a road trip to go to my dear friend’s funeral. I loved my friend deeply and truly. My friend was a man and I am a woman. We loved each other deeply as friends.
Therefore, I was disgusted when Luca decided that remembering all the things he loved about Ishraq made him IN LOVE with her. SERIOUSLY???! You can be friends with someone of the opposite sex, love them deeply and true and it doesn’t need to be a romantic/sexual relationship (which is a horrible heteronormative trope, anyway!)
And Ishraq slept with him because....? I get she is a free spirit, but chicks before d$&@s, man. She even told Isolde in Fool’s Gold that no one loved Isolde like Luca and than she sleeps with the dude like a bad one night stand!
The allusions to the Holocaust are pretty heavy handed, but if a young person was reading this book, that heavy handedness might be useful.
This series is very plot driven, but it never gets to where it needs to go. The characters never get the exploration they deserve. Why does Brother Peter stay? Why is Isolde torn about sharing her inheritance with her half sister when they were going to be together anyway. Why is Luca still a part of the Church?
Like the sucker I am, I’ll probably read the next book. I just hope Ishraq isn’t pregnant.
So MANY Spoilers!
So, I ship Luca and Isolde, for starters. It’s been kind of expected since the beginning and I never felt deep romantic tension between Ishraq and Luca.
My emotions may have colored my experience of this book. I wasn’t listening to it on a road trip to go to my dear friend’s funeral. I loved my friend deeply and truly. My friend was a man and I am a woman. We loved each other deeply as friends.
Therefore, I was disgusted when Luca decided that remembering all the things he loved about Ishraq made him IN LOVE with her. SERIOUSLY???! You can be friends with someone of the opposite sex, love them deeply and true and it doesn’t need to be a romantic/sexual relationship (which is a horrible heteronormative trope, anyway!)
And Ishraq slept with him because....? I get she is a free spirit, but chicks before d$&@s, man. She even told Isolde in Fool’s Gold that no one loved Isolde like Luca and than she sleeps with the dude like a bad one night stand!
The allusions to the Holocaust are pretty heavy handed, but if a young person was reading this book, that heavy handedness might be useful.
This series is very plot driven, but it never gets to where it needs to go. The characters never get the exploration they deserve. Why does Brother Peter stay? Why is Isolde torn about sharing her inheritance with her half sister when they were going to be together anyway. Why is Luca still a part of the Church?
Like the sucker I am, I’ll probably read the next book. I just hope Ishraq isn’t pregnant.