Reviews with content warning for Grief - Change Of Heart

I wanted to enjoy this one since I've been hearing about Lydon's books for a while, but this writing style just isn't for me. I needed a little bit more of everything: character development, plot, and making me believe these characters loved each other; at the end of the day, their connection didn't really work, and the plot twist was obvious and a bit frustrating.

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tikipoupower's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.0

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teaskate's review

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slow-paced

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

1.5

Didn’t really like the story. It was boring and I had to force myself to finish it. I am sorry but the plot twist was idk and they were some weird things that were said by a character. Because off that I just couldn’t root for the relationship. The premises was interesting but the execution was lousy. Also I just saw that this is the second book I read by this author and I didn’t like the first one either so I don’t think I will pick another on up.

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yvonne_cl's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective 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? No

4.0

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kelsey6's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

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parkyparkpark's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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owlsreads's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

Change of Heart started out super cute with its fauxmance premise and Steph and Erin getting to know each other and getting along so well. There were some really funny and sweet scenes between them, as well as a few spicy scenes along the way, and I was having such a wonderful time reading about the two of them navigating their fake relationship. And then the major twist happened.

I do not know why Lydon chose to include a twist like that. I only know I didn't like how it was developed and the sort of conflict it generated. It soured my reading experience and it felt unnecessary. Spoilers ahead:

The big twist that ruined Steph and Erin's relationship for a little while was the fact that Steph, who had a heart transplant, was transplanted with Erin's twin sister's heart. Upon finding this out, Erin was pretty shocked (understandable) and then asked Steph if this meant that them being together was incest (not understandable). I'm not really sure why Erin brought up that question? Steph having Nadia's heart didn't magically make them related. It was such an odd thing to include and to keep bringing up.

The way their relationship fell apart due to the point above was also not fun. And then when I thought they were going to get back together, it was actually just Erin wanting to meet Steph to tell her that no, things were too weird. That was really only included to cause more drama and was so unnecessary. Even more so because, later, then met again and decided to give it a try! It was just such an odd sequence of events and choices that, to me, hurt my reading experience a lot.

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