A review by marisazane
The Boy with a Bird in His Chest by Emme Lund

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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

5.0

Owen is born with a heart murmur so severe and baffling that doctors expect he might not live long and want to keep him in the hospital to run tests. His teen mom is terrified her son will be taken away, so she leaves the hospital, hoping to keep Owen under the radar at home. Within a few days, something happens that confirms for his mom she made the right move. A hole develops in Owen’s chest with a small bird inside. He’s a Terror - a person who hosts an animal in their body, and if one dies, so does the other. Owen’s mother knows it’s not safe for anyone to find out about the bird in his chest, ever, so she keeps him inside the house for years, not even letting him venture into the backyard. Owen only has his bird, Gail, to keep him company. One day when he’s older, Owen goes outside and isn’t immediately snatched by an army of police and doctors waiting to run experiments on him. He grows more curious about the outside world but runs into trouble when he has an asthma attack while exploring during wildfire season. His mom has no choice but to take him to a clinic for a breathing treatment, where his secret is discovered by a doctor who decides in an instant he wants to be known for exposing a Terror to the world. Owen escapes, and his mom drops him off at her brother’s house “for his safety” and leaves. He attempts to hide in plain sight as he enters his teen years. Never exposed to society before, Owen (and Gail) try to figure out where they fit in the world, who is a friend, who is dangerous, and if life is even worth living if you have to hide the literal core of your being. 
—
This is a coming of age story about someone who feels so drastically different from everyone around him that he isn’t even sure if the world is safe for him. Sure, this could have been about a kid who feels like they don’t fit in for all the normal things we know of, but making his difference A BIRD IN HIS CHEST, where the reader has to suspend their disbelief, made the story so much richer. And even though Owen is a Terror, and his a bird in his chest, this book was so much quieter than I expected, and I loved that. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️