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48 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smart fiction, dumb readers, October 1, 2004
A lot of the negative reviews for this book were written in the spirit of postmodern political correctness, and that's really a shame. Fiction should challenge our beliefs about what's right and wrong, what's high and low. Think of Nabokov's "Lolita" or Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead" (which also turns on a quasi sado-masochistic relationship that begins with a rape). Kinsale's "Shadowheart" should be seen in this light.
I, too, couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw the rough-stuff, but I knew that Kinsale is too good a writer to do this gratuitously. After thinking a bit, I understood why she had made Allegretto a masochist: what better way to show us a thoroughly corrupt man who despises himself and all the world? His outer beauty masks a wasteland of inner ugliness.
How to reclaim such a miserable creature? Kinsale's solution is inspired. Elena's sadism offers Allegretto an avenue toward repentence and salvation. Her sexual humblings purge him - much as medieval monks would purge their sins through self-flagellation. Allegretto is not a masochist in the sense that he delights in pain for its own sake - only in the just punishment that pure and innocent Elena administers. Allegretto's childhood, we learn, had been terrorized by a father who tortured him without so much as scratching his perfect hide; it's fitting that his righteous child-bride should cut Allegretto's flawless skin with her claws. But her bites and scratches aren't really vicious, and Allegretto's submission isn't all about suffering. As their relationship matures, Allegretto achieves a kind of purity, becoming martyrlike in his efforts to spare Elena pain, disillusionment and eternal damnation. Only when he has passed through a purgatory of self-denial, loss and loneliness does he deserve the happy ending that Kinsale rewards him with. This book is leagues ahead of the usual romance fare so it's not surprising that many readers "don't get it." Readers familiar with better fiction will understand.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, August 9, 2006
After reading 'the shadow and the star', I thought I'd never pick up another Kinsale book. But a friend convinced me (read nagged and threatened with bodily harm) that I just *had* to give 'Shadowheart' a try.
I don't regret it.
This book isn't perfect. The hero's point of view is barely explored, the heroine's age doesn't always match her actions, and some character changes are a bit too abrupt and unexplained. Still, all this disappears in face of the one clear strength of this book: the heroine. Elena is kind , principaled and sweet, but, to Mrs. Kinsale's credit, she is flexible, intelligent and strong none the less. She stands up for herself on matters she finds important, but doesn't do it in a childish or ridiculous way; a great (and all too rare) advantage in a romance heroine.
Allegreto is a fascinating and mysterious character, a murderer who thought himself beyond redemption, and suddenly finds himself in a situation which isn't in his control. My one (major) qualm with him is that he's too mysterious. There's very little of his POV, and the reader doesn't really get to know why he falls in love with Elena or why he yields to her the way he does.
That leads me to the dominant/submissive part of their relationship. Unlike some reviewers, I liked it, and, more importantly, I found that it fit very well into the story, and created a balance of power between the young and fairly innocent Elena and the too-powerful Allegreto, which might not have been achieved had their relationship been a 'regular' one.
A last point is the important part that religion took place in this book. I'm not a Christian, and I usually skip or suffer through the 'preachy' parts in books. Here, however, I found that the theme of sin and redemption was very well handled, adding a very deep and touching aspect to the love between the two characters.
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38 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kinsale is back with a dark powerful tale! 2005 RITA Winner, April 6, 2004
It's been a long draught for Kinsale fans. I believe I heard rumours of a crippling writers-block. Well, the dam must have broken, but because she is back and better than ever! This is one of THE MUST-READS of this Spring. The book is a marvellous tour de force for the returning author and sure will quickly win back old fans and make new!
I love heroes that are alpha (strong, dominant personalities), but the more complex, dark ones are the Gamma rogues - the males that are outside of society, that chew up the Alpha males and spit them out as a pastime, men in the genius Anne Stuart's Bad Bad Boys vein. Stuart is the Queen of the dark and deadly male, but Kinsale is shaking the leg of throne with Allegreto. He is a brilliant creation that leaps off the pages. A trained assassin, he is determined to regain his rightful place in the Italian Principality of Monteverde - and he does not care what he has to do to achieve his aim or whom he uses. And in reaching his goal, he sees Lady Elena, the lost Monteverde Princess as the perfect pawn, thus sealing her fate.
Elena is returning to Monteverde, betrothed to the man now running Monteverde. Her ship is overtaken and captured by pirates - lead by none other than Allegreto. She is first his prison, then later forced to wed him. Captive, lover, wife, Elena is naturally furious, as he is a hard man, nearly cruel, but flashes of moments when he displays a tenderness toward her begins to cause her to look part the killer veneer and see the man - the real man there - a man driven.
Take a killer and making him a hero is, as they say, "a hard row to hoe". Anne Stuart did it in her brilliant "Moonrise", a book that haunts me years after putting it down. Kinsale now does it with "Shadow Heart". It is amazing the craft and magic both writers breathe into these hardened men, yet make the women love them for what they are - just as the readers will.
Kinsale's love for this story shines, and like a master storyteller of old around the fireside, she weaves a tale that mesmerises, compels and leaves you breathless.
You may want to buy three copies of this book - 1) to read more than once 2) to give to your best friend - she will love you for it and 3) to put on your keeper shelf and treasure!!
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