Reviews with content warning for Cursing - The Heart Principle

Once again Hoang doesn’t disappoint! And there she goes, onto my too favorite authors list. I am just sad that there is no more books of hers I can read. She is a brilliant romance author.

Now onto this book. There were moments where Anna made me a little frustrated, but I do not struggle with the same mental issues as she did and I think that frustration that I felt made me a little closer to the main character since clearly that is what she felt a lot of the time. This book deals with a lot of triggers so be sure to be in a good mind set when reading this book. Now onto Quan. Quan,Quan,Quan. Life would be so much better if everyone had a Quan in their life. Hell, I wish my husband could take a couple lessons from him in dealing with people with compassion and understanding like he does. Wow! This is definitely a make me feel good book, especially for someone that does deal with mental health issues.

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amissabellator's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

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micaelamariem's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-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

4.0

I just finished this book in the airport and am sobbing. It was so emotional and dealt with so much tougher topics than Hoang’s previous romances, which I appreciated but was not emotionally ready for. Through it all, the main theme was about self-compassion, learning to say no, and learning we don’t need to be perfect.

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zoiejanelle's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

(listened to audio book from library)

REVIEW TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK!

i devoured this book. i was up until 3am reading this and good LORD was it worth it.

i would definitely classify this as contemporary fiction and not a romance because the main focal point was Anna’s struggle to accept and honor herself, not the love story. though i liked the love story—which added fantastic levity to the serious topics presented here despite also being pretty rocky—i was completely sold by Anna’s arc: her diagnosis, accepting a caretaker role, the epiphany about her needs, her growth.

once again, Helen Hoang perfectly captures the neurodivergent experience. Anna’s relationship with her family, her friends, herself, and her art were so relatable and heart-wrenching. i can only describe my feelings/reactions towards the ongoing conflicts related to her autism as VISCERAL. chapter 41 literally caused me to sob into a pillow. i am not kidding. i had to try very hard to stifle my weeping.

the ending, though extremely fast-paced was satisfying and realistic. i appreciated that, unlike The Bride Test, not every plot point received a sparkly, happy conclusion. grief and healing are not linear, and it makes sense that Anna‘s experiences with them were not either.

i will admit, criticisms of Quan’s story are valid. though i liked that his chapters were brief, i would happily read an entire novel about his journey surviving cancer. i did not feel like his POV was needed at times, which led me to want his storyline to be fleshed out more, to be more on par with the tone and severity of Anna’s. i think each arc could have better paralleled the other and his story could have had a stronger impact. maybe Anna’s story was heavy enough and Helen Hoang felt the need to write something lighter to help the reader escape that darkness, but i think it still could have worked.

wrt the sex scenes: this book was much steamier and more satisfying (wink wonk) than The Bride Test. it also showed realistic sexual dysfunction and healthy communication of boundaries/needs. i liked the pining as much as i liked the sex scenes themselves, and i never turned the page and felt let down or disappointed by how the scenes ended. they all tended to make sense and feel complete.

overall this was a fantastic, quick read that i recommend to nd romance readers looking to see and authentic story in a new genre.

CW (not included below): autism meltdown, autism burnout, career burnout/career issues

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pointlessmoss's review against another edition

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lighthearted sad medium-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

3.0

For days now, I've been feeling so conflicted about how I should rate this book - but beyond that, my thoughts and feelings on the story itself. This was a very worthwhile read for me, especially because I could relate to the characters' experiences in some ways. I was really invested in the characters, but some parts of the story felt underdeveloped or rushed, and by the end that took me out of the story somewhat. The tone shift from the first to the second part was so quick and so extreme that it's hard to think of them a one cohesive narrative, even though I was right there with the ups and downs pretty much the whole time. Part of the book was quite difficult to read (

warning: dark themes. Ex. caring for a sick person, caregiver burnout, depression, referenced suicidal ideation

) and while I enjoyed the story as a whole, I still would have liked to get a closer look at the characters and I wish things had ended differently - still happily, but in a different way.

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peachani's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative sad 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

4.25

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0701mango's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a really touching book about family, love, and life. Both Anna and Quan are unique and lovable in their own ways. They are so different and Helen Hoang makes their chemistry work. I also appreciate Hoang writing main characters on the autism spectrum.

Though it saddened me, I appreciate that Hoang left Anna and Priscilla's relationship at the end unresolved. Sometimes this kind of thing never resolves, or if it does, it happens over a decade or more. A bit sad, but realistic all the same, and something to appreciate.

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ashleynewman's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

Basically the same book as The Kiss Quotient (Quan and Michael are extremely similar, as are Stella and Anna). but TKQ was one of my favorite books of the year so I’m not complaining. However I’m putting this a star lower because it’s so freaking sad! And not in a sweet romantic way…the tragedy comes from Anna’s family and how much they completely suck (and never get better). This book has seriously heavy material that I was not expecting from a romance, especially in this series. My least favorite of the 3, but TKQ and The Bride Test are hard to beat.

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