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A review by booksofhenry
Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin
4.0
THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE COMFORT BOOK!!
i loved the setting (it definitely made me want to visit some obscure scottish island) and all this diverse rep. friendship is such an important topic here and it melted my heart: it is not seen as something lesser than romantic love and i love how the characters managed to create this lovely found family during their quest, how their mutual trust was supposed to be built and cultivated. as a queer man with anxiety, thomas is one of the most relatable characters i've ever encountered — reading about him almost felt like looking into a mirror; his manners, his insecurities, his legit fears to face a past that frightens him and later his undying loyalty, everything about him hit close to home, and seeing people learning to love his not-always-easy personality made me feel not completely helpless.
some things i didn't love — isla's personality was kinda obnoxious sometimes but overall i appreciated her growth. i am also not a fan of choral books written in first person: it tells you TOO MUCH and sometimes stories need to have an unreliable source, especially when it comes to mystery. i would have preferred not knowing anything about owen's thoughts and more of what the hell happens to him at the end. like, seriously, where has he gone?? the author seems to forget about him after a certain point, a moment that could have been very climatic if only shown.
but yeah in the end i still managed to love this book.
i loved the setting (it definitely made me want to visit some obscure scottish island) and all this diverse rep. friendship is such an important topic here and it melted my heart: it is not seen as something lesser than romantic love and i love how the characters managed to create this lovely found family during their quest, how their mutual trust was supposed to be built and cultivated. as a queer man with anxiety, thomas is one of the most relatable characters i've ever encountered — reading about him almost felt like looking into a mirror; his manners, his insecurities, his legit fears to face a past that frightens him and later his undying loyalty, everything about him hit close to home, and seeing people learning to love his not-always-easy personality made me feel not completely helpless.
some things i didn't love — isla's personality was kinda obnoxious sometimes but overall i appreciated her growth. i am also not a fan of choral books written in first person: it tells you TOO MUCH and sometimes stories need to have an unreliable source, especially when it comes to mystery. i would have preferred not knowing anything about owen's thoughts and more of what the hell happens to him at the end. like, seriously, where has he gone?? the author seems to forget about him after a certain point, a moment that could have been very climatic if only shown.
but yeah in the end i still managed to love this book.