Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

26 reviews

blackveilbeccy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I liked this book but it was a much heavier read than the other two. I felt the female lead had way more screen time than the male lead and would have liked this a bit better balanced. The family dynamics of the female lead were challenging for me as they were so toxic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Ableism, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity, Violence, Classism, Cursing, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

bookcasey's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, Classism, Body shaming, and Cancer

Minor: Sexual harassment

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, and Cancer

hazelsnoot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Ableism, Death of parent, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Death, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness

kitausu's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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

3.0

There were a lot of things I liked about this book, but I also found myself getting really frustrated and upset. This is a much more serious book in the series than the others. It deals with many important and difficult topics and I think I just wasn't prepared for that when I went into that and it hit me wrong. 

That being said, Helen Hoang is a wonderful writer and I plan to continue to read whatever else she writes! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Ableism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity

sausages416's review

dark emotional funny 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

4.75

this book was great. i love helen hoang and when i started this book i knew it would be different from the others in this series. it wasn’t as light and honestly i loved how she touched on the topics that she did. i also like that we get to see a deeper side of quan that isnt at all seen in the other books. i also just loved anna and was rooting for her the whole time. i guess my one gripe (which honestly feels kind of petty so you can disregard) is that i wish quan had an easier time. like i love this book and am glad it exists in the form it does but simultaneously part of me also wishes his story was a little lighter. might be just me. i love you helen!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, and Excrement

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

travelthrupages's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

kayladaila's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Torture

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

Minor: Cursing, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, and Xenophobia

acelodie's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Self harm

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional

4.0

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 3 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death, Medical trauma, and Bullying

Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Sexism, and Excrement

Minor: Vomit