Reviews - The Key to My Heart

491 reviews for:

The Key to My Heart

Lia Louis

4.03 AVERAGE

carolynlovesbooks's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 40%

I might try again later. I like Lia Louis a lot, I just couldn’t get in to the book.

readtotheend's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective slow-paced

I was really interested by the premise of this book - someone leaves meaningful sheet music for Natalie Fincher, who is a widow working through losing her young husband. I thought this book showed such a realistic side to grief and the non-linear journey that people often take after the loss of a loved one. I think this one feels more like realistic fiction and not as much romance. There is some romance in it but it felt like it was more the sideline to the grief journey. The friend group in this book did not pass my vibe check! It was a pretty quick and easy read but it did feel a bit slow and slightly repetitive at times. I really enjoyed Dear Emmie Blue and absolutely did not like Eight Perfect Hours so this one feel right in the middle for me.

andshe_reads's review against another edition

4.0

Oh my heart! My heart got broke.. taped up.. broke again.. more tape needed... then the end... my heart was so full!!

I truly loved Natalie and her story seeing her character develop through the Grief. It was so real and honest and raw. Grief lasts a lifetime in different forms and the author portrayed all of that within Natalie.

I enjoyed the secondary characters too I felt they played an important part for the story to really piece together.

The story was paced really well and I loved how it had everything.. heartache, love, romance, friendship, kinship, deceit, humour.. the works.

Love love loved it!!!

Huge thank you to Netgalley & The Orion Publishing group for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

morgansharesjoy's review against another edition

3.75

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

3.75⭐
G for like one kiss at the end of this book?

It is I, here to report on another British contemporary fiction novel published in the past few months that has a cute looking wintery illustrated cover... But is actually not that wintery and includes a dead family member and is just barely a romance. Whoever did the marketing for Lia Louis and Emily Stone's book this year did NOT understand the assignment.

Natalie's husband died two years ago and she's still picking up the pieces of her life when she finds someone left the piano music to her husband's favorite song in a train station for her. And that catapults Natalie to start finding ways out her grief, meet new people and find healing.

This journey is so important and I am glad Lia put this on paper so that it can resonate with others, but I also found a lot of time that the inaction of the narrator was driving me up a wall. I was left wishing for better pacing and for Natalie to go to therapy with a professional counselor (beyond her musical therapy sessions) rather than rooting for Natalie to find love.

There were some very profound and heartfelt moments in this book, but they were watered down by how this relied to heavily on a predictable twist and several flat side characters. I wanted to love this one but it just wasn't quite for me. If you like a sad girl Brit contemporary like Mhairi McFarlane or Emily Stone, this may be for you.