I have heard literally nothing but the highest of all praises for Stacey Lee’s novels. Everyone seems to simply adore her stories and writing so I knew that I would have to give something of hers a chance sooner rather than later. I didn’t think that there could be a better place to start than with The Secrets of a Heart Note whose premise I had already been salivating over for a while. Unfortunately, while I can honestly see why so many people adore her, this particular book just did not impress me as much as I would have liked.

Mim was a fantastic protagonist. Under pressure from her domineering mother, she is a somewhat awkward and timid character but also incredibly relatable. She struggles with balancing high school and her home life while also forging friendships that actually matter and performing her duties as an aromateur. I loved that there was such a focus on her development as an individual. I always felt that I understood her motivations and actions, even if I didn’t necessarily agree with them. She was such a solid presence in my mind and the time the author spent on making her voice so distinctive and alive was certainly not lost on me. The fact that her relationship with her mother - which was quite tense at times - remained so central and integral to the overarching storyline but never took unnecessary preference also made me happy. While I did find myself frustrated with how Mim’s mother treated her and the pressure she placed on her to follow in her footsteps, the development of this relationships was practically flawless. It felt raw and realistic without being overpowering, and added to Mim’s developed as our protagonist - such a bonus! I think it’s fair to say that no one - no matter their overall thoughts on the book - can claim that Mim was in any way an underdeveloped protagonist.

What let me down - and what really made this story a bust for me, personally - was the romance. I did not get attached to Court as a character. While he was undeniably sweet, he was also… boring? I don’t think we ever really got to know him on an intimate level or at least, I could never personally get a read on him. I don’t know if that was the writing and his characterisation or maybe something on my end. Either way, I found him a forgettable character as a whole and a dull love interest for such an amazing protagonist like Mim. This also made it hard for me to care enough about them together to ship them so while they had some sweet moments, I never got onboard with the romance like I would have hoped.

This was not helped by the fact that this story had the one trope I hate more than anything: the ‘bitchy/bullying girlfriend’ trope. You know the one where the love interest already has a girlfriend so to make it okay that our MC is interested in him - and to make our protagonist seem better in comparison - the LI’s girlfriend is either the dumb/vain cheerleading type or a bitchy mean girl/bully. In this story, Court does not have a girlfriend persay but a ex-girlfriend with an ego who bullies our protagonist and her best friend. I seriously hate this trope with a passion! It comes across just as cheap and shallow as a poorly written villain. No one likes a villain when all they do is evilly cackle as they plan to blow up the whole world for no good reason. For the same reasons, I don’t like antagonists without proper motivations and I really don’t like poorly developed female character who perpetuate stereotypes. This was a major problem for me.

The plotline was also a little bit too… all of the place. I wished the story had focused on one thing and ran with it. I liked that Mim’s relationship with her mother was central to the story and I wouldn’t have minded if we solely focused on that. I think adding in friendship drama, blackmail, secret potion-making escapades and romance was a bit too much at times. Maybe just because it felt like Mim’s excursions were excuses for romantic scenes with Court rather than anything else (and I had no investment in their relationship)? I just wish that the storyline had been more streamlined.

With all that being said, I absolutely adored the aromateur and potion-making aspects of this story. My God, Lee’s writing was just so vivid in these sections! I could practically smell/taste the plants she was describing. I loooved this part of the story so much, and for that alone, I would have been happy to give this book a chance. I did struggle to understand the aromateur culture and the purpose of their rules, especially the one where the cannot profit of their gift. I’m not sure how they were expected to make enough money to live comfortably? But the actual idea of everyone having a distinctive smell and being about to tap into these and weave potions from plant life is just… I love it so much! I would honestly read a boring old handbook about this if Lee published it.

Overall?

The Secret of a Heart Note was my first Stacey Lee book but definitely not my last. I adored her writing style and the vividness of her descriptions. She created an amazing protagonist in Mim who I couldn’t help but adore but while I completely fell in love with some aspects of the story, I really did not connect to Court or the romance. This plummeted my overall enjoyment of the story and made it hard for me to read. I do still recommend this one to readers who think it sounds like their sort of thing but I’m hoping Lee’s backlist titles will be more my thing.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.