Scan barcode
tasha_16's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
theamyleblanc's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars if I could.
I enjoyed this story. It's a queer coming-of-age story and it's both heartbreaking and sweet. David, Chance, and Ridley are wonderfully full characters. It has great pacing and tackles a lot of different topics. Death Putt sounds fantastic -- I wish I could go!
While I understand why the story is only told from David's PoV, he did get annoying at times. He clearly has things to work on but his constantly assuming what Chance's life is like without asking got old. He couldn't get out of his own way. And maybe I'm a little too old for these characters but I think I would've found it tiring at 17, too.
Though that ending? *chef's kiss*
3.5 stars if I could.
I enjoyed this story. It's a queer coming-of-age story and it's both heartbreaking and sweet. David, Chance, and Ridley are wonderfully full characters. It has great pacing and tackles a lot of different topics. Death Putt sounds fantastic -- I wish I could go!
While I understand why the story is only told from David's PoV, he did get annoying at times. He clearly has things to work on but his constantly assuming what Chance's life is like without asking got old. He couldn't get out of his own way. And maybe I'm a little too old for these characters but I think I would've found it tiring at 17, too.
Though that ending? *chef's kiss*
justforqueerbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This was one of my quickest reads of 2022. It was short, sweet and read like a fanfic, which is something I loved most about it!
I have to admit, I gave this 3.5 stars. Although I enjoyed the fic aspects of it, there was a lot of growth that these characters needed to go through that they ultimately didn’t. It’s YA, so it’s messy, its dramatic and filled with angst, which I adore about YA. In this particular book, however, I feel like I just kept reading the same issues over and over again.
The two main characters didn’t hash their feelings out until about 3/4 of the way through and kept having issues because of that. They didn’t talk about their individual struggles with themselves or each other and kept it in until it all blew up. Again, this is YA, so that’s understandable and I actually liked how everything was cleaned back up after the initial falling out. But, again, I wish there was a conflict in here that made sense. Because all I got was that one of them was mad because he felt abandoned and the other was upset because he felt like all his friend cared about was fame.
I also didn’t like the sterotypical “straight best friend who’s a girl” that they did in this book. She honestly felt like she was just tossed in there as an afterthought and didn’t contribute much, if anything to the storyline. She could’ve been a bystander and it would’ve made more sense, but overall, I think having her here was a little unnecessary.
So, once again, I wish there was something that forced them to look at each other and hash things out to start with and then a different conflict to get through the rest of the book.
Aside from that, however, the rest of this book was pretty well done. The characters, collectively, were interesting. One of the main characters was also written as being "built like a football player" and "having a little pudge" which I think is something that really needs to be shown more. There's a lot more body diversity written for women/feminine people, but not nearly as much for men/masculine people and I really liked the fact that it was written into this book.
Merged review:
This was one of my quickest reads of 2022. It was short, sweet and read like a fanfic, which is something I loved most about it!
I have to admit, I gave this 3.5 stars. Although I enjoyed the fic aspects of it, there was a lot of growth that these characters needed to go through that they ultimately didn’t. It’s YA, so it’s messy, its dramatic and filled with angst, which I adore about YA. In this particular book, however, I feel like I just kept reading the same issues over and over again.
The two main characters didn’t hash their feelings out until about 3/4 of the way through and kept having issues because of that. They didn’t talk about their individual struggles with themselves or each other and kept it in until it all blew up. Again, this is YA, so that’s understandable and I actually liked how everything was cleaned back up after the initial falling out. But, again, I wish there was a conflict in here that made sense. Because all I got was that one of them was mad because he felt abandoned and the other was upset because he felt like all his friend cared about was fame.
I also didn’t like the sterotypical “straight best friend who’s a girl” that they did in this book. She honestly felt like she was just tossed in there as an afterthought and didn’t contribute much, if anything to the storyline. She could’ve been a bystander and it would’ve made more sense, but overall, I think having her here was a little unnecessary.
So, once again, I wish there was something that forced them to look at each other and hash things out to start with and then a different conflict to get through the rest of the book.
Aside from that, however, the rest of this book was pretty well done. The characters, collectively, were interesting. One of the main characters was also written as being "built like a football player" and "having a little pudge" which I think is something that really needs to be shown more. There's a lot more body diversity written for women/feminine people, but not nearly as much for men/masculine people and I really liked the fact that it was written into this book.
I have to admit, I gave this 3.5 stars. Although I enjoyed the fic aspects of it, there was a lot of growth that these characters needed to go through that they ultimately didn’t. It’s YA, so it’s messy, its dramatic and filled with angst, which I adore about YA. In this particular book, however, I feel like I just kept reading the same issues over and over again.
The two main characters didn’t hash their feelings out until about 3/4 of the way through and kept having issues because of that. They didn’t talk about their individual struggles with themselves or each other and kept it in until it all blew up. Again, this is YA, so that’s understandable and I actually liked how everything was cleaned back up after the initial falling out. But, again, I wish there was a conflict in here that made sense. Because all I got was that one of them was mad because he felt abandoned and the other was upset because he felt like all his friend cared about was fame.
I also didn’t like the sterotypical “straight best friend who’s a girl” that they did in this book. She honestly felt like she was just tossed in there as an afterthought and didn’t contribute much, if anything to the storyline. She could’ve been a bystander and it would’ve made more sense, but overall, I think having her here was a little unnecessary.
So, once again, I wish there was something that forced them to look at each other and hash things out to start with and then a different conflict to get through the rest of the book.
Aside from that, however, the rest of this book was pretty well done. The characters, collectively, were interesting. One of the main characters was also written as being "built like a football player" and "having a little pudge" which I think is something that really needs to be shown more. There's a lot more body diversity written for women/feminine people, but not nearly as much for men/masculine people and I really liked the fact that it was written into this book.
Merged review:
This was one of my quickest reads of 2022. It was short, sweet and read like a fanfic, which is something I loved most about it!
I have to admit, I gave this 3.5 stars. Although I enjoyed the fic aspects of it, there was a lot of growth that these characters needed to go through that they ultimately didn’t. It’s YA, so it’s messy, its dramatic and filled with angst, which I adore about YA. In this particular book, however, I feel like I just kept reading the same issues over and over again.
The two main characters didn’t hash their feelings out until about 3/4 of the way through and kept having issues because of that. They didn’t talk about their individual struggles with themselves or each other and kept it in until it all blew up. Again, this is YA, so that’s understandable and I actually liked how everything was cleaned back up after the initial falling out. But, again, I wish there was a conflict in here that made sense. Because all I got was that one of them was mad because he felt abandoned and the other was upset because he felt like all his friend cared about was fame.
I also didn’t like the sterotypical “straight best friend who’s a girl” that they did in this book. She honestly felt like she was just tossed in there as an afterthought and didn’t contribute much, if anything to the storyline. She could’ve been a bystander and it would’ve made more sense, but overall, I think having her here was a little unnecessary.
So, once again, I wish there was something that forced them to look at each other and hash things out to start with and then a different conflict to get through the rest of the book.
Aside from that, however, the rest of this book was pretty well done. The characters, collectively, were interesting. One of the main characters was also written as being "built like a football player" and "having a little pudge" which I think is something that really needs to be shown more. There's a lot more body diversity written for women/feminine people, but not nearly as much for men/masculine people and I really liked the fact that it was written into this book.
nutata_10's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a solid 4.5 stars for me.
But... OH. MY. GOD. I stayed up all night yesterday trying to finish the book, and when I was unsuccessful, woke up at 7 am just to finally finish it. Darkhearts really pulls at your heartstrings and doesn't let go. It's one of those books that when you finish, can't stop thinking about for a week straight. It's one of those books you're so emotionally connected to that your brain refuses to read anything else for DAYS. It's so beautifully written that I can cry.
The funny parts are perfect (though sometimes too cheesy to deal with) and the sad parts are the best... or the worst. I did shed a tear at the end, but not enough for me to call this a 'sad book'. And... a happy ending? It's too good to be true.
But what stopped me from bumping this up to a 5 stars are the annoying character traits.
For example, David's annoying friend Ridley got on my nerves, especially at the climax. She started up an argument and made it all about her, when David and Chance weren't ready to come out yet. As much as I loved David and Chance and all their flaws, David just crossed the line a few times for me to dislike him a bit. David was a very life-like character and definitely not cookie cutter, and it reminded me of what proper book characters should be written as.
But I also was kind of fuming behind the book at his jealousy and tendencies to make everything about him. Chance was a people-pleaser, so I understood everything he did, but he also did cause something unnecessary which made me dislike him a bit too.
Overall, I'd definitely read this again. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but also so fun to read.
But... OH. MY. GOD. I stayed up all night yesterday trying to finish the book, and when I was unsuccessful, woke up at 7 am just to finally finish it. Darkhearts really pulls at your heartstrings and doesn't let go. It's one of those books that when you finish, can't stop thinking about for a week straight. It's one of those books you're so emotionally connected to that your brain refuses to read anything else for DAYS. It's so beautifully written that I can cry.
The funny parts are perfect (though sometimes too cheesy to deal with) and the sad parts are the best... or the worst. I did shed a tear at the end, but not enough for me to call this a 'sad book'. And... a happy ending? It's too good to be true.
But what stopped me from bumping this up to a 5 stars are the annoying character traits.
For example, David's annoying friend Ridley got on my nerves, especially at the climax. She started up an argument and made it all about her, when David and Chance weren't ready to come out yet. As much as I loved David and Chance and all their flaws, David just crossed the line a few times for me to dislike him a bit. David was a very life-like character and definitely not cookie cutter, and it reminded me of what proper book characters should be written as.
But I also was kind of fuming behind the book at his jealousy and tendencies to make everything about him. Chance was a people-pleaser, so I understood everything he did, but he also did cause something unnecessary which made me dislike him a bit too.
Overall, I'd definitely read this again. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but also so fun to read.
sofisuns's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
this was.. okay. there were plenty of things I both liked and disliked that make my feelings for it sort of conflicting. this wasn’t a horrible book by any means but it just wasn’t good either.
David is a very unlikeable character which I often enjoy reading about, if they get some sort of character development, which wasn’t the case in this. Also I feel like the death of Eli was primarily used as a plot point to get Chance and David back together. This could’ve worked well but it felt unnecessary with the fact that it was barely talked about after a while. David barely had a sympathy for Chance who was actually sort of grieving with the situation.
Despite some qualms with the book, it wasn’t horrible and I did like the romance. It was messy and fun in many ways. I also really enjoyed the fact that both main characters are unlabeled since we don’t see that much.
Overall, this is a quick queer read with messy characters. I don’t know if I’d personally recommend it but I’d suggest checking it out for yourself if you’re interested in the premise!
this was.. okay. there were plenty of things I both liked and disliked that make my feelings for it sort of conflicting. this wasn’t a horrible book by any means but it just wasn’t good either.
David is a very unlikeable character which I often enjoy reading about, if they get some sort of character development, which wasn’t the case in this. Also I feel like the death of Eli was primarily used as a plot point to get Chance and David back together. This could’ve worked well but it felt unnecessary with the fact that it was barely talked about after a while. David barely had a sympathy for Chance who was actually sort of grieving with the situation.
Despite some qualms with the book, it wasn’t horrible and I did like the romance. It was messy and fun in many ways. I also really enjoyed the fact that both main characters are unlabeled since we don’t see that much.
Overall, this is a quick queer read with messy characters. I don’t know if I’d personally recommend it but I’d suggest checking it out for yourself if you’re interested in the premise!
deluneth's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 I am actually crying at 10pm on a Tuesday because of the ending of this book! Sorry, if my review is all over the place, I’m writing through the tears!
Darkhearts is a friends to enemies to strangers to friends to lovers romance that has all the reminiscent feelings of falling in love with your first major love. I feel I cannot say more without spoiling it, but this story definitely sucks you in! I said I would read for an hour and suddenly I was 60% and it was midnight!
The only downside I had was it was very hard to remember David and Chance are high school age. While Chance can be explained as growing up on the road, David acts older than the other characters and sometimes I would forget! There is also a little dip right before the climax thst is hard to get through but the ending brought me back around!
I would definitely recommend for those who love famous person x hometown best friend stories!
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!
Darkhearts is a friends to enemies to strangers to friends to lovers romance that has all the reminiscent feelings of falling in love with your first major love. I feel I cannot say more without spoiling it, but this story definitely sucks you in! I said I would read for an hour and suddenly I was 60% and it was midnight!
The only downside I had was it was very hard to remember David and Chance are high school age. While Chance can be explained as growing up on the road, David acts older than the other characters and sometimes I would forget! There is also a little dip right before the climax thst is hard to get through but the ending brought me back around!
I would definitely recommend for those who love famous person x hometown best friend stories!
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!
talesbetweenthepages's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
writtenechoes's review against another edition
2.0
Well. First off this is not remotely comparable to RWRB. I wish publishing houses / authors would stop putting that in their blurbs just because it has LGBTQIA+ characters or enemies to lovers vibes. It’s misleading to readers that might pick this up solely for that reason alone.
I never really connected with David or Chance. And I struggled with believing the whole background story of them. Friends starting a band together in their tweens that went famous and two of them left David behind. One died of alcohol poisoning so the remaining member returned home. Chance and David spent much of their time “reconnecting” but I found them both insufferable most of the time. Also… this book doesn’t deal with the grief of losing a best friend at all. If anything Eli’s death was just a plot device. Poor Eli! I didn’t find the humor that funny and the characters weren’t lovable. I also found a lot of the characters just stereotypical in kind of an offensive way. Gruff dad and the female best friend. So I really struggled.
And this isn’t really a romance in any way. It’s about two teens struggling to find themselves in two very different worlds. And tbh David was kind of a jerk through the entire novel, which was the point, but his redemption came too late in my eyes. He was a little jealous shit through 90% of the novel. I think Chance forgave him far too fast. And the HFN was lackluster too. Left me hanging in the air. Overall the writing was okay but I never connected with the story or characters. And I found most of it too unbelievable to suspend my disbelief.
I received an arc from Wednesday books and this is my honest review.
I never really connected with David or Chance. And I struggled with believing the whole background story of them. Friends starting a band together in their tweens that went famous and two of them left David behind. One died of alcohol poisoning so the remaining member returned home. Chance and David spent much of their time “reconnecting” but I found them both insufferable most of the time. Also… this book doesn’t deal with the grief of losing a best friend at all. If anything Eli’s death was just a plot device. Poor Eli! I didn’t find the humor that funny and the characters weren’t lovable. I also found a lot of the characters just stereotypical in kind of an offensive way. Gruff dad and the female best friend. So I really struggled.
And this isn’t really a romance in any way. It’s about two teens struggling to find themselves in two very different worlds. And tbh David was kind of a jerk through the entire novel, which was the point, but his redemption came too late in my eyes. He was a little jealous shit through 90% of the novel. I think Chance forgave him far too fast. And the HFN was lackluster too. Left me hanging in the air. Overall the writing was okay but I never connected with the story or characters. And I found most of it too unbelievable to suspend my disbelief.
I received an arc from Wednesday books and this is my honest review.
hannah_fink_'s review against another edition
4.0
My friend loaned this book to me, and I’m so glad they did! Darkhearts was the perfect followup to Imogen, Obviously as a queer coming of age story in a modern setting. The characters are lovable and interesting and the circumstances of their friendship builds a perfect backdrop to the story.
It warms my heart to know that queer youth are growing up with these stories and representation of healthy, loving, queer relationships. I couldn’t recommend it more.
It warms my heart to know that queer youth are growing up with these stories and representation of healthy, loving, queer relationships. I couldn’t recommend it more.