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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
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
3.25⭐️s. This is a beautifully told story. Very poetic, and it’s been a while since I’ve read poetry. It’s very slow as you follow a lot of the plot. It does come together. Recommend taking your time to appreciate it. Because it was slower, I didn’t connect well with it. Fabulous narration from Kenichiro Thomson. 5⭐️ Narration!
Shuichi is a forty-year-old illustrator who is returning to his family home due to his mother passing away. Enter Kenta. A six year old that has been taking things from the house. Kenya had built a relationship with Shuichi’s mother and didn’t want someone to take everything away. Over time, they form a bond through life in all its grief and difficulties. They will confront their pain and loss, but find hope and friendship. As they travel the the library of heartbeats.
Thank you to Laura Imai Messina, @netgalley, and RB Media for the advanced listened copy.
Shuichi is a forty-year-old illustrator who is returning to his family home due to his mother passing away. Enter Kenta. A six year old that has been taking things from the house. Kenya had built a relationship with Shuichi’s mother and didn’t want someone to take everything away. Over time, they form a bond through life in all its grief and difficulties. They will confront their pain and loss, but find hope and friendship. As they travel the the library of heartbeats.
Thank you to Laura Imai Messina, @netgalley, and RB Media for the advanced listened copy.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The Heartbeat Library is a tender and poignant book which took my breath away! I received the audiobook from Netgalley which I was happy to listen to.
It didn't not disappoint, it has a calming essence and touches on deep themes of grief, loss, growing up and unexpected friendships.
When Shuichi, an illustrator, return home to Kamakura to deal with the aftermath of his mother's death, he was not expecting to deal with a daily intruder to her house. Every afternoon a young boy enters the garage and takes a few objects from the myriad of boxes. What grows from this is a beautiful friendship between Shuichi and Kenta, aged 8. Both the main characters touched my heart in different ways. They are both naive, gentle-hearted and isolated in themselves. But both have beautiful hearts and I loved getting to know them.
Japanese fiction always is a more measured and thoughtful form of literature and this one is no different. It's not about the destination but the characters journey and how they adapt and develop along the way. You expect beautiful descriptions, thoughtful and philosophical prose and that is what you get here. At times I inwardly gasped at some of the beautiful phrasing. I also enjoyed getting to know the background behind of the kanji and how different symbols come together to form the final phrase or word.
This is a melancholy story but one that will touch your heart and stay in your conscious for along time.
It didn't not disappoint, it has a calming essence and touches on deep themes of grief, loss, growing up and unexpected friendships.
When Shuichi, an illustrator, return home to Kamakura to deal with the aftermath of his mother's death, he was not expecting to deal with a daily intruder to her house. Every afternoon a young boy enters the garage and takes a few objects from the myriad of boxes. What grows from this is a beautiful friendship between Shuichi and Kenta, aged 8. Both the main characters touched my heart in different ways. They are both naive, gentle-hearted and isolated in themselves. But both have beautiful hearts and I loved getting to know them.
Japanese fiction always is a more measured and thoughtful form of literature and this one is no different. It's not about the destination but the characters journey and how they adapt and develop along the way. You expect beautiful descriptions, thoughtful and philosophical prose and that is what you get here. At times I inwardly gasped at some of the beautiful phrasing. I also enjoyed getting to know the background behind of the kanji and how different symbols come together to form the final phrase or word.
This is a melancholy story but one that will touch your heart and stay in your conscious for along time.
emotional
medium-paced
Big Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.
'The Library of Heartbeats' is a heartwarming story about mourning and healing.
The story is quite emotional, but it takes a while to settle in and engage the reader. That said, the ending was very strong and the best part of the book, especially when it came to the heartbeat clips.
Another thing that I didn't love was the way the timeline was handled. I was often lost as to where we were timewise and it got me out of the narration's pace.
And yet, the characters were interesting and the audiobook well managed.
'The Library of Heartbeats' is a heartwarming story about mourning and healing.
The story is quite emotional, but it takes a while to settle in and engage the reader. That said, the ending was very strong and the best part of the book, especially when it came to the heartbeat clips.
Another thing that I didn't love was the way the timeline was handled. I was often lost as to where we were timewise and it got me out of the narration's pace.
And yet, the characters were interesting and the audiobook well managed.
”L’isola dei battiti del cuore” potrebbe sembrare, erroneamente, dal titolo un libro dalla trama leggera, quasi romantica. Ebbene, questo di sicuro è un trabocchetto ben architettato per camuffare un libro dalla trama intensa e dai temi importanti.
È una storia che bisogna scoprire con alcuni capitoli che creano degli excursus nel tempo che si capiscono solo alla fine, creando una trama che inizia e finisce in maniera circolare.
I personaggi principali sono due, ai quali si affiancano altri come supporto alla storia. Shuichi un uomo che scappa dalle emozioni della vita e Kenta che si insinua nella sua quotidianità con l’ingenuità dei bambini.
Si parla di lutto, di amore e felicità, della capacità dell’essere umano di andare avanti nonostante tutto, nonostante la vita ti metta di fronte a perdite incommensurabili. Si parla di rinascita, di memoria e di saper assaporare la preziosità delle piccole cose.
“L’isola dei battiti del cuore “ non è un libro leggero, ma un libro intenso dal significato immenso che porta tutti a un momento di riflessione.
È una storia che bisogna scoprire con alcuni capitoli che creano degli excursus nel tempo che si capiscono solo alla fine, creando una trama che inizia e finisce in maniera circolare.
I personaggi principali sono due, ai quali si affiancano altri come supporto alla storia. Shuichi un uomo che scappa dalle emozioni della vita e Kenta che si insinua nella sua quotidianità con l’ingenuità dei bambini.
Si parla di lutto, di amore e felicità, della capacità dell’essere umano di andare avanti nonostante tutto, nonostante la vita ti metta di fronte a perdite incommensurabili. Si parla di rinascita, di memoria e di saper assaporare la preziosità delle piccole cose.
“L’isola dei battiti del cuore “ non è un libro leggero, ma un libro intenso dal significato immenso che porta tutti a un momento di riflessione.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The concept for this book was fantastic, but unfortunately, the execution was poor. This was not helped by the narrator, who was not good at all; their voice was so monotonous that I barely registered anything about the story and just wasn’t invested.
I do have the proof so will try to read it instead, as I think it will be a great story.
That said, the library of heartbeats didn’t materialise until about 75% of the way through so the synopsis is slightly misleading. It might be the translation, but it also felt a bit overwritten at times, although generally the prose is beautiful.
I do have the proof so will try to read it instead, as I think it will be a great story.
That said, the library of heartbeats didn’t materialise until about 75% of the way through so the synopsis is slightly misleading. It might be the translation, but it also felt a bit overwritten at times, although generally the prose is beautiful.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is a quiet meditation on grief and has some beautiful turns of phrase, however, the audio narration was rather dull and didn't differentiate between the various characters so it was sometimes difficult to know who was supposed be speaking.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent