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carroq's review
4.0
I love the ridiculousness of this story. A young woman gets a heart transplant and then starts to see the man that the heart used to belong to. After years of playing things safe, she decides to let loose and go on a crime spree using the knowledge imparted to her by the organ donor.
So the concept is a bit out there, but the characters are really well done. Callie and Mercer are a good team, and made me think of Bonnie and Clyde a little bit. It's fun to see the toll their relationship takes on Callie over the course of the book, both physically and mentally. The supporting members of their crime family add some sanity to this crazy idea and even hint at the state of Callie's mind a few times.
I like the art. There isn't anything stand out about it, but it is solid work. There are a few instances where it really drives home some of the concepts used in the book. This is a fun, quirky book with a vibe similar to Ocean's Eleven or The Italian Job.
So the concept is a bit out there, but the characters are really well done. Callie and Mercer are a good team, and made me think of Bonnie and Clyde a little bit. It's fun to see the toll their relationship takes on Callie over the course of the book, both physically and mentally. The supporting members of their crime family add some sanity to this crazy idea and even hint at the state of Callie's mind a few times.
I like the art. There isn't anything stand out about it, but it is solid work. There are a few instances where it really drives home some of the concepts used in the book. This is a fun, quirky book with a vibe similar to Ocean's Eleven or The Italian Job.
demimancy's review
5.0
Oh, Y'ALL.
Look--HEARTTHROB is 100% my kind of book. For starters, Christopher Sebela & Robert Wilson IV are a fantastic team, and I adore them both. Plus, I know intimately what it's like to have in-depth conversations with an imaginary friend even when you're long past the age that stops being acceptable. (I was a lonely, inventive teen.) Also, I love Blondie, David Bowie, and Fleetwood Mac. So when you hand me a book that is a seventies-era, music-inspired, speculative fiction heist book, I'm so many kinds of here for it.
Plus, it's done incredibly well. Every part of this book is just damn good, and I can't wait for all of you to read it. You're going to read it, right?
Look--HEARTTHROB is 100% my kind of book. For starters, Christopher Sebela & Robert Wilson IV are a fantastic team, and I adore them both. Plus, I know intimately what it's like to have in-depth conversations with an imaginary friend even when you're long past the age that stops being acceptable. (I was a lonely, inventive teen.) Also, I love Blondie, David Bowie, and Fleetwood Mac. So when you hand me a book that is a seventies-era, music-inspired, speculative fiction heist book, I'm so many kinds of here for it.
Plus, it's done incredibly well. Every part of this book is just damn good, and I can't wait for all of you to read it. You're going to read it, right?
diamondxgirl's review
4.0
Such an unexpected gem. Everything from the art to the story to the link with the music of the 70s...absolute perfection.
anahammack's review
3.0
A cool idea that didn't really go anywhere. It felt very formulaic once we laid out the situe and main characters. I did really like Callie as a protagonist, but this could have been so much more. Deeply philosophical, but without a clear cut plot to back that up. I don't think I'll continue with this.
marisacarpico's review
3.0
Didn't end up like this as much as I'd expected—which is probably why it took me so long to finish. The art was decent, but something about it didn't quite work for me, perhaps the lack of variation in the characters' facial features. Everyone looks a little too alike. The narrative itself is interesting, but the actual construction is often confusing and the dramatic beats don't always land as they should.
theresidentbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
10 Reasons You Should Read Heartthrob, Vol. 1
1. Heartthrob, Vol. 1 tells the story of Callie Boudreau, who receives a new lease on life after receiving a heart transplant. However, she also receives some other side effects, mainly the spirit of her heart donor, Mercer. They fall in love, and he encourages her to break free of her dull and unhappy life. Mercer was a thief before he died, and he teaches Callie how to be a criminal. The couple travels the country, pulling jobs and planning heists, but fractures start to occur in their relationship as Callie gets more skilled than Mercer. I won't spoil anymore, but that brief summary is only a fraction of what happens in this volume.
2. The writer, Christopher Sebela, is adept at balancing the serious with the comical. Callie's pain and loneliness is never belittled or treated as a joke, but Sebela still manages to imbue her voice with humor and sarcasm. Some of the book is extremely campy, but it always feels grounded somehow by our main character.
3. Callie is a character that is both easy to sympathize with and hard to understand her motivations. She rationally knows that Mercer is not necessarily real, but she loves him anyway. She's willing to do whatever he says, follow him anywhere, but she also starts to gain confidence. Callie has a great character arc throughout the volume, and it makes the ending even more satisfying.
4. Part of what I like about this book and what you will like is the muted, campiness of the art style. It's not quite caricature, but it does have a great cartoony feel to it. The muted coloring, however, gives the story a grittier, real-life feel to the series. I also like that the characters, particularly Callie, are never particularly glamorized.
5. Setting the book in the 1970s leads to great opportunities in storytelling and humor. It makes everything feel a little more plausible such as the heists and the oddities of the aftermath of Callie's heart transplant. After all, what did we know about high-tech security or heart transplants in the 1970s?
6. Sebela keeps the plot line fresh by starting in the past and flashing forward to the future each issue, leaving the reader to wonder what has happened to reach the current point between Callie and Mercer.
7. Heartthrob, Vol. 1 combines crime and romances expertly with a deeply satisfying psychological and/or supernatural twist. It is a book that has some element that everyone can enjoy.
8. Occasionally, there is a great comedic moment. My favorite is Callie running out of a heist and landing in the dressing room of Stevie Nicks, with whom she has a heart-to-heart. It's very funny, but it's also extremely heartfelt.
9. The love story between Callie and Mercer is a complete whirlwind. Their relationship is passionate and high-stakes and complicated. You want to root for them, but at the same times you're always slightly suspicion of Mercer. I always felt like he was holding back.
10. The cover of this volume is everything the series is: cool, vintage, and rooted in the crime genre. If you don't look at the cover and want to read Heartthrob, I would be surprised.
1. Heartthrob, Vol. 1 tells the story of Callie Boudreau, who receives a new lease on life after receiving a heart transplant. However, she also receives some other side effects, mainly the spirit of her heart donor, Mercer. They fall in love, and he encourages her to break free of her dull and unhappy life. Mercer was a thief before he died, and he teaches Callie how to be a criminal. The couple travels the country, pulling jobs and planning heists, but fractures start to occur in their relationship as Callie gets more skilled than Mercer. I won't spoil anymore, but that brief summary is only a fraction of what happens in this volume.
2. The writer, Christopher Sebela, is adept at balancing the serious with the comical. Callie's pain and loneliness is never belittled or treated as a joke, but Sebela still manages to imbue her voice with humor and sarcasm. Some of the book is extremely campy, but it always feels grounded somehow by our main character.
3. Callie is a character that is both easy to sympathize with and hard to understand her motivations. She rationally knows that Mercer is not necessarily real, but she loves him anyway. She's willing to do whatever he says, follow him anywhere, but she also starts to gain confidence. Callie has a great character arc throughout the volume, and it makes the ending even more satisfying.
4. Part of what I like about this book and what you will like is the muted, campiness of the art style. It's not quite caricature, but it does have a great cartoony feel to it. The muted coloring, however, gives the story a grittier, real-life feel to the series. I also like that the characters, particularly Callie, are never particularly glamorized.
5. Setting the book in the 1970s leads to great opportunities in storytelling and humor. It makes everything feel a little more plausible such as the heists and the oddities of the aftermath of Callie's heart transplant. After all, what did we know about high-tech security or heart transplants in the 1970s?
6. Sebela keeps the plot line fresh by starting in the past and flashing forward to the future each issue, leaving the reader to wonder what has happened to reach the current point between Callie and Mercer.
7. Heartthrob, Vol. 1 combines crime and romances expertly with a deeply satisfying psychological and/or supernatural twist. It is a book that has some element that everyone can enjoy.
8. Occasionally, there is a great comedic moment. My favorite is Callie running out of a heist and landing in the dressing room of Stevie Nicks, with whom she has a heart-to-heart. It's very funny, but it's also extremely heartfelt.
9. The love story between Callie and Mercer is a complete whirlwind. Their relationship is passionate and high-stakes and complicated. You want to root for them, but at the same times you're always slightly suspicion of Mercer. I always felt like he was holding back.
10. The cover of this volume is everything the series is: cool, vintage, and rooted in the crime genre. If you don't look at the cover and want to read Heartthrob, I would be surprised.
theromanticace's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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