Heart's Blood

What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, even though you know it'll be the same?

Yeah, well, I should have known better after reading Juliet Marillier's last novel, the ugh-inducing Heir to Sevenwaters. It was formulaic in a way only Marillier can be, and Heart's Blood was, in the end, no different.

I had high hopes at the beginning. This wasn't a typical Sevenwaters heroine: Caitrin is on the run from some abusive relatives who took over her father's home after his death, and she finds herself in an isolated holding surrounded and inhabited by a host of ghosts tied to the chieftain by a cenury-old curse. A trained scribe, Caitrin is hired by the chieftain, Anluan, to translate a whack of old documents in an attempt to find a counterspell to release the spectral host and Anluan from the curse. Along the way, the sexual tension between Caitrin and Anluan rises - even though he is gruff and rude to her - and Caitrin finds an inner strength she didn't know she had. Blahx3.

So, the setting might be a bit different, as is the premise and the problem that requires solving, but in the end, the story, the heroine, the love interest, and the resolution were typical, formulaic Marillier: Young pretty gal with skills (which makes her unusual in her time, of course - she is no baby-making doormat) and some backbone embarks upon seemingly impossible task with series of setbacks. She falls in love with absurdly handsome man who is outwardly rude, distant, and emotionally unavailable but inwardly a soul who just needs a little loving in order to get him to come to rights. Despite his issues and her resistance ("oh, it's so wrong..."), they are obviously very attracted to each other and were destined to be together, even after knowing each other only a short while. She brings out his inner goodness, he can't handle it and distances himself further, or gets distanced further by pesky old fate (in this case, he sends her away "for her safety"), she can't live without him so she comes back unexpectedly, they make beautiful perfect love even though they are both virgins, the story's big problem is solved, and the couple get married & live happily ever after.

It's almost laughable!

I liked some of the characters in this book and I liked the different setting and premise, but in the end, it was the same shit between different covers.

I have to give this author a break, I think, until I am confident she has come up with a new schtick. Alas, once more, I find myself in the minority with my negative opinion. The reviews on Library Thing are all glowing! Is it me? Am I to cynical, too jaded, or too picky? I just don't get it!

This is definitely going in my "donate" pile.