A Bright Heart

by Kate Chenli

What if you could avenge your own murder? A brilliant young woman gets a second chance at life in this debut YA tale of vengeance, court intrigue, and romance, inspired by classic Chinese tropes.
 
"An incredible addition to the classic Chinese court intrigue genre. A Bright Heart is smart, subversive, and certainly swoony."
 —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
 
Mingshin outsmarted three princes to help the man she loved become king. But she doesn’t see Ren’s betrayal coming, not until she’s lying in a pool of her own blood on the palace steps.
 
As she’s dying, Mingshin makes a desperate plea to the gods to turn back time and give her a chance to make things right.
 
Mingshin wakes up two years earlier, her prayer granted, and swears two things: Ren will never become king, and she will never fall in love again.
 
But the timeline in this life has changed: a dignitary gifted with dark magic is threatening her kingdom’s peace, and Ren’s thirst for power runs deeper than Mingshin could have imagined. 
 
She finds herself allying with Jieh, another contender for the throne. Mingshin knows better than anyone not to give her heart to a prince. But in the viper’s nest of the royal court, she and Jieh prove a phenomenal team. Can Mingshin avert the catastrophe of her past by once again learning to trust…and maybe even love? 
 
Master storyteller Kate Chenli introduces a singular YA heroine in this vividly rendered and utterly original new young adult fantasy books series. 
 
A spellbinding, tension-filled page-turner with a bold heroine, A Bright Heart will appeal to fans of romance books for teens like The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller, or other YA books that feature rich world-building, captivating romance, and a quest for revenge.

• ISBN10: 1454949929
• ISBN13: 9781454949923
• Publish Date: 25 January 2024 (first published 14 November 2023)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Union Square & Co.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 344
• Language: English

Reviews

[tingting]

I started reading as soon as I got the book and couldn't put it down! I had to stop and finish another night because I needed to go to work the next morning.

I was drawn in by the premise and the gorgeous cover. I love a good revenge story. Mingshin used her brain and wealth to helped the prince she loved become king, but he framed her for treason and murdered her. She also found out that her uncle and cousins betrayed her. The gods grants her wish for another life. She wakes up two years earlier and swears revenge upon them all.

The revenge plot was executed very well. Mingshin is very smart and calculates her every move. Ren turns out even more evil than she knew and her uncle is a master manipulator. And the timeline in this life has changed, so Mingshin can no longer predict what happens next. All of the above make the book a quite interesting, engaging read.

There's also romance. Mingshin swears to never fall in love again. Who can blame her after suffering the betrayal from her beloved? But it's not easy to resist a man who adores you and respects you and always stands by you. The romance is swoon worthy!

Mingshin also makes some female friends along the way. A lot of books often pit women characters against each other, so I like the female friendships here.

All in all, I strongly recommend this book!

[Inkslinger]

'A Bright Heart' by Kate Chenli starts out with a bang, mid-betrayal. The reader, much like the MC.. Mingshin, gets a couple of minutes to get their bearings, and then the real story begins. Personally, I'm a fan of these types of whirlwind openings, but it's a little on the brief side.

 

Things I loved:

 

Prince Jieh -- While at first he's painted as a bit of a snob and he seems dismissive of the trivialities of other people's lives, his character opens up over time through exposure to Mingshin. What we are shown, I felt was always there as with his best friend, Yao.. and they both turn out to be favorites for me.

 

Yao -- The prince's best friend is warm, loyal, and light-hearted. I felt like the pair kept each other grounded despite social statuses and their comraderie was a lot of fun. He's probably the most relatable character in the book for me.

 

The magic system -- Nine types of magic, mirroring the use of this number in other areas of Chinese legends/mythology. I won't be too specific, as I don't want to ruin anything and it isn't overly developed, but it is handled in an interesting way. The imagery of the magic through artwork was one of the highlights though.

 

Things that could have been better:

 

Mingshin -- Our main character is likeable enough and has good intentions. She's one of those types who is instantly one of the best at everything though and that always feels a bit silly to me. She's perfectly smart and skilled, but "so plain and looked down upon." Not my trope.

 

Prose -- From both a descriptive and narrative standpoint, the story felt a bit out of sync. And I don't blame the author here, it's something I'm seeing more and more in current releases.. but it feels incomplete? Lackadaisical? Unfulfilling. Whether the author is describing a setting or having a character convey information, it ends up coming across like a checklist.  

 

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I was rooting for Mingshin and rooting specifically against a couple of other characters, which I'll leave you to discover. Though the topics seem heavy in spots, it's actually a pretty light read, in my opinion and it's well-paced.  

 

If you enjoy Asian fantasy, enemies who might become something more, and stories featuring underdogs.. this is one for you.

(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)