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A review by gen_wolfhailstorm
Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard
5.0
Thank you Netgalley for the early digital copy. All thoughts are my own.
I am a blubbering mess. The tears were held back for so long but now I've reached the end they are flowing!!
I was so excited to get to this book. I remember reading Beautiful Broken Things in my tent at VFest, 2016 and that was an emotional roller coaster, so I was hoping this companion novel would not disappoint.
This is one of those books I just couldn't help skipping ahead to see what happens and then running back to see how it built up, yet on the contrary to that, it also got to the point where I didn't want to know what happened because my heart couldn't take it. This was mostly down to Suze's self sabotage when all I could think was "you deserve this, please believe it. Please let people in", which I totally understand was easier said than done.
So of course, seeing Suze, Caddy and Rosie grown more had me so conflicted; there were times when I loved them and times when I thought they were selfish, made stupid choices and were irritating and then it clicked that they're so realistic. They're flawed in different ways and it was just me, adjusting to seeing them as adults and how they handled life, that was the struggle. They are relatable and feel so real and raw and they did things that made my heart race and made me laugh along and it honestly felt like I was with them on this journey. The fact that I'm typically weary of books set a few years later is enough to emphasise how well I believe this was done, overall.
We are seeing this whole book from Suzanne's perspective so I actually looked at some of the older characters differently than I think I did in the first book. Especially when Rosie and/or Caddy we're concerned. There were times where I thought they were going to argue and I realised it was just teasing, but all I could think of is how that would annoy me if someone spoke to me like that xD But to be fair, I feel during these times there was a level of tension. I also found it a little strange to see how Caddy's personality developed once she started uni. She came across unsettingly hardfaced at times, which I mean is completely justifiable in relation to how Suze pushes people sometimes. Nevertheless, all their growth was amazing and fascinating to explore and the new characters had so many layers too.
I loved that music had such a big theme in it, different kinds, both in the form of Dilys and Matt and of course Suze. I think this was in the first book too, with playlists etc. It just made me happy and learning more about it from Suze's perspective gave even more depth to her character. I didnt think we could get any deeper but she is so complex, as is the whole story. I actually wish I had listened to the chapter songs as they came, but I'm going to have an amazing time listening through them all, especially hearing some of the songs I've not heard before.
And also the underlying respect the nurses and carers got was such an amazing theme here too.
The amount of times my throat got so tight with emotion, trying not to cry, I'm surprised I still have a throat left!
I only ended up highlighting one quote, but I would highlight the whole book if I could. Barnard is a writing genius. There were multiple times where I just couldnt help smiling for Suze, but there was a specific scene which I felt was too listed. I thought at first it was an intentional writing style, which I still think it was, but I still would have preferred to have been living it more than feeling like "we did this, after we did that, then this". I totally understood that perhaps this was Suze's voice as she was spiralling into turmoil and panic and the build up to bad things, which is a very interesting tool and I do like it, I just felt like it was a bit overused in that one chapter and so offhandedly felt a little lazy, which I know it wasn't.
However, despite that, Barnard isn't flowery, or poetic necessarily (all good things in small doses for me), but she doesn't need to be. She's raw and blunt with her writing and how her characters voice themselves and it's honestly beautiful and hits me harder than a lot of the other writing styles can.
Near the end it started to hit me, these books have made me feel some slight nostalgia. It reminds me of how I felt when I read books like Kiss and My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson. I realise now that I briefly mentioned this for the first book too. So that, mixed in with all the emotions this novel has made me feel again is why I must say that Barnard is a phenomenal author.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén
I am a blubbering mess. The tears were held back for so long but now I've reached the end they are flowing!!
I was so excited to get to this book. I remember reading Beautiful Broken Things in my tent at VFest, 2016 and that was an emotional roller coaster, so I was hoping this companion novel would not disappoint.
This is one of those books I just couldn't help skipping ahead to see what happens and then running back to see how it built up, yet on the contrary to that, it also got to the point where I didn't want to know what happened because my heart couldn't take it. This was mostly down to Suze's self sabotage when all I could think was "you deserve this, please believe it. Please let people in", which I totally understand was easier said than done.
So of course, seeing Suze, Caddy and Rosie grown more had me so conflicted; there were times when I loved them and times when I thought they were selfish, made stupid choices and were irritating and then it clicked that they're so realistic. They're flawed in different ways and it was just me, adjusting to seeing them as adults and how they handled life, that was the struggle. They are relatable and feel so real and raw and they did things that made my heart race and made me laugh along and it honestly felt like I was with them on this journey. The fact that I'm typically weary of books set a few years later is enough to emphasise how well I believe this was done, overall.
We are seeing this whole book from Suzanne's perspective so I actually looked at some of the older characters differently than I think I did in the first book. Especially when Rosie and/or Caddy we're concerned. There were times where I thought they were going to argue and I realised it was just teasing, but all I could think of is how that would annoy me if someone spoke to me like that xD But to be fair, I feel during these times there was a level of tension. I also found it a little strange to see how Caddy's personality developed once she started uni. She came across unsettingly hardfaced at times, which I mean is completely justifiable in relation to how Suze pushes people sometimes. Nevertheless, all their growth was amazing and fascinating to explore and the new characters had so many layers too.
I loved that music had such a big theme in it, different kinds, both in the form of Dilys and Matt and of course Suze. I think this was in the first book too, with playlists etc. It just made me happy and learning more about it from Suze's perspective gave even more depth to her character. I didnt think we could get any deeper but she is so complex, as is the whole story. I actually wish I had listened to the chapter songs as they came, but I'm going to have an amazing time listening through them all, especially hearing some of the songs I've not heard before.
And also the underlying respect the nurses and carers got was such an amazing theme here too.
The amount of times my throat got so tight with emotion, trying not to cry, I'm surprised I still have a throat left!
I only ended up highlighting one quote, but I would highlight the whole book if I could. Barnard is a writing genius. There were multiple times where I just couldnt help smiling for Suze, but there was a specific scene which I felt was too listed. I thought at first it was an intentional writing style, which I still think it was, but I still would have preferred to have been living it more than feeling like "we did this, after we did that, then this". I totally understood that perhaps this was Suze's voice as she was spiralling into turmoil and panic and the build up to bad things, which is a very interesting tool and I do like it, I just felt like it was a bit overused in that one chapter and so offhandedly felt a little lazy, which I know it wasn't.
However, despite that, Barnard isn't flowery, or poetic necessarily (all good things in small doses for me), but she doesn't need to be. She's raw and blunt with her writing and how her characters voice themselves and it's honestly beautiful and hits me harder than a lot of the other writing styles can.
Near the end it started to hit me, these books have made me feel some slight nostalgia. It reminds me of how I felt when I read books like Kiss and My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson. I realise now that I briefly mentioned this for the first book too. So that, mixed in with all the emotions this novel has made me feel again is why I must say that Barnard is a phenomenal author.
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén