1 out of 4 stars
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Note: I know that reviewers are supposed to refrain from spoilers, but in this instance it is hard not to explore controversies that give away the plot. I also must warn you that the content is triggering and deals with graphic sexual assault in a way that I would label incredibly tasteless. If this hits too close to home for you, I do not recommend you read this book. Even if you are okay with hard-hitting content, I don’t recommend it.
Heartaches is a romance novel featuring a damaged woman named Anna who is struggling to deal with the abuse she has faced when she meets an ex-soldier named Rafe. Even though both are trying to forget their past, they find solace in each other.
In theory, the plot was wonderful. It was supposed to be important and spread an emotional message about abuse and trauma. It therefore makes me feel like a bad person to critique a book that covers such tragic topics. But I think that the writing did not do the topic justice. Instead, it went so far as to glamourize it.
From a literary standpoint, I hated it. It takes a lot for me to consider a book badly written, as I understand that there is a difference between a writer and a storyteller. A story can be good even if the novel itself is not. Due to this view it is very rare for me to rate a book negatively. Sadly, it seems that I am too critical of this book to do anything but. I couldn’t get into the book properly because it was so flawed.
The sex scenes read like smutty fanfiction written by an eleven year old, the scenes of graphic sexual assault were unrealistic and unhealthy. For example: the rape scenes were overtly sensual, evidently meant to arouse a reader. That is the most untasteful way to conduct a scene of this nature, as the fact that she was drugged was not revealed until afterwards. It appeared by all means ‘sexy’ until this reveal. Even after the protagonist realised that she had been drugged, she labelled a kiss she shared with the perpetrator afterwards as ‘the most erotic kiss ever’. What kind of message does that send? That a rapist is in some way erotic? As a victim of such an experience myself, this scene outraged me. I am aware that it is hard to separate the physical from the mental, and while you may be horrified you may be aroused too, but writing in this way spreads an awful message.
The descriptions were shabby. The sentence structure wasn’t as strong as I’d expect from such a moving storyline. The dialogue was wooden. The whole thing was ridden with grammatical errors. I could pick so many examples, but I’m going to highlight some from the first chapter as these could perturb a potential reader straight away.
For one thing, the writing style is inadequate. There are continuously excessive repeats of the words in short spaces of time throughout the entire novel, as shown in the excerpt below.
“Dressed in sombre black, a solemn crowd gathered around the glossy rectangular frame being lowered cautiously into the damp ground. To all intents and purposes, the gathered crowd appeared as morose as the event they attended, but only God knew what they truly felt for the man lying within, in quiet repose, a stance entirely in contrast to his otherwise volatile nature, when alive. The priest, used to such moods at these events, stood at the head sombrely reciting a prayer from the Bible. But then thunder rang out loud and booming across the grey skies, and that was closely followed by a flash of highly artistic pyrotechnics. The listening mourners lost their purposeful sombre masks then and shifted impatiently on anxious feet, casting worried glances skywards as nature continued to threaten an outburst of a downpour.” This kind of error occurs multiple times even in the very same chapter: “They concealed the brush of purple and lacklustre green that surrounded those tearing green eyes”. Or in a more subtle way: “the straps of a scanty, scarcely there, itty bitty bit of a dress”. I get it. The dress is revealing. I find that describing something with multiple adjectives is okay if all the adjectives are different. To take a description of a dress: “The dress was revealing, in an eggshell white and made of the finest silk”. But to describe something using multiple synonyms is unnecessary and patronising.
Perhaps this is me being pedantic; repeated use of the same words in a non-effective way is one of my pet hates as an avid reader. This is not a criticism of the book itself, which I found to be lovely, but instead just a word of advice for the author for any revisions or future works they decide to create. It’s always important to create a good first impression, and as a writer this is a must. It’s so easy, if the first chapter isn’t engaging enough, to put a book down and forget about it…even if the plot itself is perfect! There were misplaced commas, spelling errors, speech marks that never closed.
For the reasons mentioned above, I rate this book 1 out of 4. I hope that the author goes on to be more tactful when exploring topics so emotional, or chooses to divert from these topics and focus on their forte: cheap smut.
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Heartaches
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