Pyae Moe Thet War Archives - The Litertarian

I Did Something Bad by Pyae Moe Thet War is not your typical romance. There’s a dead guy in it, for one, not to mention a cover-up, a Vogue expose, and no shortage of commentary on illegal abortion in Myanmar, where the story takes place. I’d say it was one part romance, two parts murder conspiracy & complications thereof.

I Did Something Bad Pyae Moe Thet War Book Review. Figure of a woman in sunglasses, which are reflecting the portrait of a man.

Khin, a freelance journalist, has been offered the job that could make her career (so far): writing the cover story of Tyler Tun for Vogue. He’s a global mega-star actor, and he’s filming a new movie in Myanmar with his best friend Mai. She’s to shadow him for two months, and if she can get a major break for the piece, she’s all but guaranteed a lead journalist job for Vogue Singapore. As a recent divorcee, the opportunity is too good to pass on. When she meets him, she can tell he’s hiding something, but they get on well enough. Then on the first day of shooting, Khin is approached by a drunkard ‘white guy’ who assaults her. She shoves a monogrammed pen in his ear and drops him off a bridge. Tyler finds her and steps in to help at the last minute, and she somehow talks him into pretending nothing happened. When the police show up on set the next day, they team up to get the story straight.

To be honest, it felt like this book was a little confused. I’m not sure what exactly it’s trying to be. It reminded me in some ways of Finlay Donovan is Killing It, except the stakes didn’t really seem that high, and it didn’t have a really high degree of humor. There were detectives, but they were pretty despicable. It was a little odd that they seemed almost more concerned with the article she’d previously written about outlawed abortions than the dead guy in the lake. The romance wasn’t incredibly strong either. I liked Tyler, but nothing about their connection felt very profound.

I was lucky to receive this title as an advanced listeners copy through netgalley from the publisher. I will say I especially enjoyed the voice she chose for Tyler, but I kind of hated the voice she chose for best friend Mai. It wasn’t enough to detract from the story though.

Overall it was an entertaining story, it just didn’t blow me away in any of the several categories it spanned. I’m not really sure what kind of reader I would recommend it to.

Details

Title:: I Did Something Bad
Author:: Pyae Moe Thet War
Genre:: Romance/Thriller?
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Griffin
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 47m
Audiobook Narrator:: Jacqui Bardelang
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: October 8th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars