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internationalreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Self harm, Sexual content, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
ollie_again's review against another edition
DNF at 71% I just can't deal with it. CW: gaslighting, caretaking for a family member who's paralyzed and nonverbal at that point, infantilization of said person by his own daughter, mentions and brief conversations about infertility and cancer
I'm sorry but I just cannot finish this. I wanted to get to the happy ending and maybe I'll finish it someday but reading it in one go got me angry, frustrated, sick to my stomach, nauseous, and possibly caused me an anxiety attack. I was prepared that this is not a fluffy nice read like the previous books in the trilogy, but I was not prepared for the contents. I heard that it deals with Anna finding out she's autistic and dealing with that, I haven't heard a mention about the caretaking aspect of this book, which takes most of the story and is quite detailed. And traumatizing to read about.
On top of that, Julien, Anna's not-quite-ex is as gross as they come, gaslighting and manipulative, and while sure he can be all that, Anna's family standing behind him the whole time, twisting the words and situations they haven't witnessed and manipulating Anna because they like him for her, is too much for me to handle and I just can't. I hated pretty much every character in the story except from the two MCs and those from the previous books.
I don't mind harder reads, but I didn't sign up for this. I still enjoyed Helen Hoang's writing and will pick up her next book, but The Heart Principle feels like a book from a different series and genre altogether.
I'm sorry but I just cannot finish this. I wanted to get to the happy ending and maybe I'll finish it someday but reading it in one go got me angry, frustrated, sick to my stomach, nauseous, and possibly caused me an anxiety attack. I was prepared that this is not a fluffy nice read like the previous books in the trilogy, but I was not prepared for the contents. I heard that it deals with Anna finding out she's autistic and dealing with that, I haven't heard a mention about the caretaking aspect of this book, which takes most of the story and is quite detailed. And traumatizing to read about.
On top of that, Julien, Anna's not-quite-ex is as gross as they come, gaslighting and manipulative, and while sure he can be all that, Anna's family standing behind him the whole time, twisting the words and situations they haven't witnessed and manipulating Anna because they like him for her, is too much for me to handle and I just can't. I hated pretty much every character in the story except from the two MCs and those from the previous books.
I don't mind harder reads, but I didn't sign up for this. I still enjoyed Helen Hoang's writing and will pick up her next book, but The Heart Principle feels like a book from a different series and genre altogether.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, and Cancer
jkiranjot's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content
Minor: Classism
xxrosedarlingxx's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Referente a toda la trilogía creo que el romance sucede más rápido de lo normal aunque no lo considero algo necesariamente negativo
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, and Mental illness
mamawantsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Bullying
laszlocravensworth's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
CW: cancer, death, mental health, suicide ideation
I am in tears as I write this review. I just finished The Heart Principle and I can absolutely say it is a book that will stick with me for years and years. I really enjoy Helen’s writing and really liked the other two books in this series but this one hit really close to home and that’s why it’s a 5-star read for me. In February 2021 my grandmother came home on hospice and my family dropped everything to take care of her in her last months with us. We wanted to do it, but like shown throughout the book, caregiver burnout is REAL. I’ve carried this extreme guilt over how I felt during that time. I loved my grandmother so much and I would drop everything again to take care of her but the sadness you feel while taking care of someone who is declining is overwhelming. I was constantly exhausted, angry, frustrated and sad. It is HARD taking care of sick loved ones. After her passing, I fell into a deep depression, just like Anna did. Those really really bad thoughts pop up in your head, even if you don’t mean for them to. I didn’t really come out of that depression until a few weeks ago. I’m still extremely sad and angry and frustrated and I feel so alone. But to see this played out for me in a book really showed me that so many people who care for someone go through these same emotions and I was not a bad person for feeling overwhelmed while it was happening. It is really hard to pick yourself up when you are that low, and I love that Anna was able to reconnect with her mother after. I’m so glad she had Quan there for her. It really does help when you have someone by your side.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
rosegoes3's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
theespressoedition's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
When I found out that Helen Hoang was adding another novel to The Kiss Quotient series, I was so excited. I honestly didn't think anything could compete with my love for The Bride Test, but this book completely blew me away.
One of the things that I find incredibly impressive is when an author can flawlessly mesh really heavy, challenging topics with humor and romance. That is a skill that I don't see very often if I'm perfectly honest, which is why so many of the romantic comedies I read are rated with only three stars. They're fine, they're cute, but they're not great.
Helen's writing is great.
Let's start with the main character. She's struggling with her music after going viral, which is something that feels very relatable. Living up to the standard that has been set for you can seem so daunting, so my heart immediately went out to Anna before even knowing much else about her.
Like most of the other books by Helen, there is autism representation and it is incredibly written. While her other books focus on individuals who already know about their diagnosis or happen to meet someone who is on the spectrum, Anna discovers that she is autistic mid-book. It's a different approach and it wrecked me. The way her family treats her, the way she wants to treat herself but doesn't really know how, and of course the way Quan treats her - it crashed down on me like a true wave of emotions.
In the midst of all of this, something truly traumatic happens in Anna's life. In order to touch on this, I'm going to add a spoiler warning because I feel like it's important for me to mention it but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone else.Anna's dad has a stroke. It's fatal. This was the most challenging aspect of the book for me because my own dad had a stroke several years ago and was in the ICU for a prolonged period of time. I related to the up-and-down feelings of coming to terms with saying goodbye only to be told that he's stable the next day since that's exactly what happened with my own dad. However, the death of Anna's dad is beyond heartbreaking because there was so much pain surrounding the way he wanted to be treated and couldn't communicate it with anyone in addition to Anna knowing and not being able to fulfill his wishes. My own dad survived, for which I will never be able to express my full gratitude, but reliving the emotions of that period of time while reading this book was incredibly challenging for me. I'll admit that I nearly DNF'd because of the triggering content, but I knew that it would be better for me in the long run if I continued. And I'm glad I did.
There were so many moments where I wanted to scream at Anna to make a different choice. But I know that my screams mimicked the ones in her own mind. It was a really intense book to read, considering how light so much of it was.
Of course, I need to talk about the lightness and the romance aspect as well! Quan is a dream. Truly, he's an absolutely perfect book boyfriend and I loved him from the minute I "met" him on the page. His desire to meet Anna where she is because of his own "shortcomings" made him all the more wonderful. His insecurities made him feel realistic and he has his own challenges throughout the story too. I really enjoyed reading from his perspective (I love a dual POV in romance) because it gave me a better understanding of just why he was so lovable!
Gosh, I really feel like I could go on forever about this book. It was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. This is a book I'll want to pick up again and again.
One of the things that I find incredibly impressive is when an author can flawlessly mesh really heavy, challenging topics with humor and romance. That is a skill that I don't see very often if I'm perfectly honest, which is why so many of the romantic comedies I read are rated with only three stars. They're fine, they're cute, but they're not great.
Helen's writing is great.
Let's start with the main character. She's struggling with her music after going viral, which is something that feels very relatable. Living up to the standard that has been set for you can seem so daunting, so my heart immediately went out to Anna before even knowing much else about her.
Like most of the other books by Helen, there is autism representation and it is incredibly written. While her other books focus on individuals who already know about their diagnosis or happen to meet someone who is on the spectrum, Anna discovers that she is autistic mid-book. It's a different approach and it wrecked me. The way her family treats her, the way she wants to treat herself but doesn't really know how, and of course the way Quan treats her - it crashed down on me like a true wave of emotions.
In the midst of all of this, something truly traumatic happens in Anna's life. In order to touch on this, I'm going to add a spoiler warning because I feel like it's important for me to mention it but I don't want to ruin anything for anyone else.
There were so many moments where I wanted to scream at Anna to make a different choice. But I know that my screams mimicked the ones in her own mind. It was a really intense book to read, considering how light so much of it was.
Of course, I need to talk about the lightness and the romance aspect as well! Quan is a dream. Truly, he's an absolutely perfect book boyfriend and I loved him from the minute I "met" him on the page. His desire to meet Anna where she is because of his own "shortcomings" made him all the more wonderful. His insecurities made him feel realistic and he has his own challenges throughout the story too. I really enjoyed reading from his perspective (I love a dual POV in romance) because it gave me a better understanding of just why he was so lovable!
Gosh, I really feel like I could go on forever about this book. It was everything I hoped it would be and so much more. This is a book I'll want to pick up again and again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Suicidal thoughts
eicart_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I was invested in Anna and Quan from the very beginning. Even as my heart was being ripped out, as I literally yelled at my phone (listened to audiobook,) as I wanted to reach into the book and snatch Anna away to protect her from the emotional abuse and gaslighting from her family, I loved every second of this story. It was painful and extremely hard to bear witness to their story at times. I cried, but also laughed and swooned, and ultimately adored their unique love story. I highly recommend this, but please be aware of content warnings and take care of yourself if any of them would be challenging for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death of parent and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
shuelace's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Sexual content