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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
This story read like quite the typical ya contemporary but despite the lack of originality I absolutely loved it. I was completely invested in the characters and though both the obstacles and solutions in the plot were very predictable I was somehow at the edge of my seat throughout. The characters were so realistic I felt like i knew them and could laugh along at their jokes; they all made me very emotional.
upon reread: wow. so fucking funny.
upon reread: wow. so fucking funny.
this book was like. everything i didn't know i wanted in a book, and yet it was so perfect. it was the book i needed when i was in high school, pulling the same shit as Claudia.
Literally everything about it - the friendships, the relationships (THE FACT THAT THE RELATIONSHIP TOOK A BACKSEAT TO ALL THE FRIENDSHIPS!!!), the video games, the siblings, hte family, THE FACT THAT THEY DID A MIDSUMMERS NIGHTS DREAM??? ugh. this book was legit written for me.
i'm so so so happy that i dropped the book that had been making me feel ick for something that warmed me up from the inside out. goodness. if you haven't read this then PLEASE do yourself a favor and read it.
Literally everything about it - the friendships, the relationships (THE FACT THAT THE RELATIONSHIP TOOK A BACKSEAT TO ALL THE FRIENDSHIPS!!!), the video games, the siblings, hte family, THE FACT THAT THEY DID A MIDSUMMERS NIGHTS DREAM??? ugh. this book was legit written for me.
i'm so so so happy that i dropped the book that had been making me feel ick for something that warmed me up from the inside out. goodness. if you haven't read this then PLEASE do yourself a favor and read it.
I want to thank Macmillan US for providing me with this copy of Foolish Hearts. This didn’t influence my rating or my review in any way.
I can’t believe I actually enjoyed my first physical ARC. With my luck, I was certain I would absolutely hate it. BUUUT, I absolutely adored it, if I could give Foolish Hearts – a thousand stars, I would. I hugged this book a hundred times and I laughed so much even though I was nursing a cold. I mean it, it was amazing.
Why Foolish Hearts will be your next favourite book (a list) :
#1 : Claudia (the main character) is very relatable.
She’s a gamer, a hard-working student, someone who cares a lot about her family, someone who has a few friends and values the ones she’s got. I just adored it. I think I related a lot to her fear about being regular – it just spoke to me. Claudia felt like she wasn’t enough for love, her fear came from a relationship gone wrong. She basically felt like she wasn’t exciting enough to have someone interested in her for more than just a few weeks, months. I think this resonated so much with me because I hate feeling like I’m regular (and it’s not neccessary about dating, it extends to everything), I just want to know that I’m more than that.
#2 : The love interest (Gideon) was a very kind and considerate one.
I adore kind love interests, I feel like they are kind of rare because nice love interests aren’t seen as being as interesting as bad boys. Though, I like to think this trend is dead or at least, not as huge as it used to be. So, please writers give us more of these funny, considerate and swoon-worthy guys. Gideon was all these and I loved how he interacted with Claudia, their respective senses of humor worked so well together and their chemistry was effortless. I’ve been rooting for them to get together so much. (I guess I have another otp to add on my looooong list).
Another funny thing about Gideon is that my first impression of him was along these lines ‘Oh, god, I can’t believe Claudia is going to fall for a jock. WHYYY?’ and then they got closer and I saw more of Gideon and I think I fell in love with him.
The best thing about Gideon probably is how loyal he was to Noah. I literary loved how I got this feeling that they would die for each other. ALSOOO, I love Noah. Thank god there were no fuckboys in this novel.
#3 : Gaming was a passion that Claudia shared with her family
You have no idea how much I screamed (out of happiness, of course) when I read this. Claudia’s sister got her into gaming, not a boyfriend, not a friend, but her sister. You’re probably rolling your eyes at me and mutter ‘move on, we got it’, but you know how much I love family dynamics especially in YA where they are so scarce.
I adored how the book gave a subtle nudge to the stereotype that gaming is only for boys, Claudia absolutely didn’t care about this. She just did her thing. And god, was she passionate about gaming. It likes watching a mirror, not because I’m passionate about gaming (because I’m not, unless you count visual novels, lol), but because she reminded me of myself when I go on and on about books. You know what I’m saying. I’m sure you do it too.
#4 : Friendships were so unique and unexpected
This book has one of the best characters ever – Iris, I know she’s presented in this book as being selfish and not trying enough and so on. But I actually really loved her. Iris is snarky and she isn’t the most agreeable person, but she also cares a lot about people. I just loved her. And I adored how Claudia and her clicked because it seemed like such an unlikeable friendship at first. (So, yes, this book has positive female friendships)
#5 : The cast was so cool, I wanted to befriend each and every one of them
This one doesn’t need much of an explanation, they were so cool. Anytime they hang out together (all of them), I felt like I wanted to be there too, I wanted to be a part of this squad.
#6 : There was a f/f ship in here (a secondary ship)
And they got their happy ending!!! And I was so happy, I wish we got to see more of them, though. But I’m grateful for anything that I’ve got from them.
#7 : There was Shakespeare and theatre involved.
Now I’m not a big fan of Skakespeare, but the play helped the plot move along and it felt amazing to see all those characters work together.
#8 : Just so many funny scenes.
I haven’t laughed so loudly for a looong time. Now this one is purely subjective, but I think you will laugh just as much as I did. (or I hope so)
All in all, I will definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a contemporary read. It’s something light, very funny and the characters are clever, the dynamics are so much fun and you will adore the ships.
I can’t believe I actually enjoyed my first physical ARC. With my luck, I was certain I would absolutely hate it. BUUUT, I absolutely adored it, if I could give Foolish Hearts – a thousand stars, I would. I hugged this book a hundred times and I laughed so much even though I was nursing a cold. I mean it, it was amazing.
Why Foolish Hearts will be your next favourite book (a list) :
#1 : Claudia (the main character) is very relatable.
She’s a gamer, a hard-working student, someone who cares a lot about her family, someone who has a few friends and values the ones she’s got. I just adored it. I think I related a lot to her fear about being regular – it just spoke to me. Claudia felt like she wasn’t enough for love, her fear came from a relationship gone wrong. She basically felt like she wasn’t exciting enough to have someone interested in her for more than just a few weeks, months. I think this resonated so much with me because I hate feeling like I’m regular (and it’s not neccessary about dating, it extends to everything), I just want to know that I’m more than that.
#2 : The love interest (Gideon) was a very kind and considerate one.
I adore kind love interests, I feel like they are kind of rare because nice love interests aren’t seen as being as interesting as bad boys. Though, I like to think this trend is dead or at least, not as huge as it used to be. So, please writers give us more of these funny, considerate and swoon-worthy guys. Gideon was all these and I loved how he interacted with Claudia, their respective senses of humor worked so well together and their chemistry was effortless. I’ve been rooting for them to get together so much. (I guess I have another otp to add on my looooong list).
Another funny thing about Gideon is that my first impression of him was along these lines ‘Oh, god, I can’t believe Claudia is going to fall for a jock. WHYYY?’ and then they got closer and I saw more of Gideon and I think I fell in love with him.
The best thing about Gideon probably is how loyal he was to Noah. I literary loved how I got this feeling that they would die for each other. ALSOOO, I love Noah. Thank god there were no fuckboys in this novel.
#3 : Gaming was a passion that Claudia shared with her family
You have no idea how much I screamed (out of happiness, of course) when I read this. Claudia’s sister got her into gaming, not a boyfriend, not a friend, but her sister. You’re probably rolling your eyes at me and mutter ‘move on, we got it’, but you know how much I love family dynamics especially in YA where they are so scarce.
I adored how the book gave a subtle nudge to the stereotype that gaming is only for boys, Claudia absolutely didn’t care about this. She just did her thing. And god, was she passionate about gaming. It likes watching a mirror, not because I’m passionate about gaming (because I’m not, unless you count visual novels, lol), but because she reminded me of myself when I go on and on about books. You know what I’m saying. I’m sure you do it too.
#4 : Friendships were so unique and unexpected
This book has one of the best characters ever – Iris, I know she’s presented in this book as being selfish and not trying enough and so on. But I actually really loved her. Iris is snarky and she isn’t the most agreeable person, but she also cares a lot about people. I just loved her. And I adored how Claudia and her clicked because it seemed like such an unlikeable friendship at first. (So, yes, this book has positive female friendships)
#5 : The cast was so cool, I wanted to befriend each and every one of them
This one doesn’t need much of an explanation, they were so cool. Anytime they hang out together (all of them), I felt like I wanted to be there too, I wanted to be a part of this squad.
#6 : There was a f/f ship in here (a secondary ship)
And they got their happy ending!!! And I was so happy, I wish we got to see more of them, though. But I’m grateful for anything that I’ve got from them.
#7 : There was Shakespeare and theatre involved.
Now I’m not a big fan of Skakespeare, but the play helped the plot move along and it felt amazing to see all those characters work together.
#8 : Just so many funny scenes.
I haven’t laughed so loudly for a looong time. Now this one is purely subjective, but I think you will laugh just as much as I did. (or I hope so)
All in all, I will definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a contemporary read. It’s something light, very funny and the characters are clever, the dynamics are so much fun and you will adore the ships.
This book is a solid 3.75 stars. I really enjoyed the writing style, and it would have been a full 4 stars if the reader were not kept at such an arm's length from the characters. I loved the fast-paced plot and how it was truly a slice-of-life without anything externally remarkable, but that almost made it feel a bit bland. I have such conflicting feelings about this.
Gideon is definitely a big reason why this is rounded up to a 4 though, just saying.
All in all, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go back to high school for a bit, or for people who enjoyed Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi, which is still one of my all-time favorite books.
Gideon is definitely a big reason why this is rounded up to a 4 though, just saying.
All in all, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go back to high school for a bit, or for people who enjoyed Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi, which is still one of my all-time favorite books.
This was so cute?? And it revolves around a high school Shakespeare production and the mc was a crew member??? I’m still processing this. So good. So cute.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
We are rarely all on the same page. More often than not, they’re all on one page, and I’m on a completely different one.
About the struggles in making friends, and opening up to people. I feel this sentiment so much. And I couldn’t put the book down! It was so charming, so funny, and so relatable. The author really gets me.
emma mills is one of the queens of contemporary. i absolutely love her books, definitely one of my fav authors now 💛 can’t wait to read more of her books when they come out.
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Emma Mills’ books are pretty relaxing and are nice to read when you don’t want something really intense.
3.5
Such cute wholesome fun! It warmed my cold dead heart.
Such cute wholesome fun! It warmed my cold dead heart.
This is one of those coming of age books about friendship and finding yourself but really doesn't have a plot. Stuff happened. It was cute.