A review by siobhanward
How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 This was fun and cute - definitely felt a lot like YA a lot of the time as Shanni could be self-centred and immature. However, she also was born in this millennium so she's young enough I won't hold it against her. I loved Raphael and Beatrice, although I wish we had learned more about Shanni's great grandmother, or honestly any of her family in general.

The romance plot was cute - it was very surface-level, but also I get it. This was definitely a book where a lot of the secondary characters were more interesting than the protagonists, so I wish we'd seen more of them, but it was still a fun read. 
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