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A review by brinchen
Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard
4.0
4 Stars
Read this and other reviews here: Brina and the Books
Fierce Fragile Hearts (FFH) wasn’t very high up my TBR after reading Beautiful Broken Things (BBT), book one, last year. I liked BBT but something held me back from picking up FFH – until last month. Now, I’m actually glad that I read it because I really enjoyed the story.
This time around we get to read the story from Suzanne’s POV who moves back to Brighton in the beginning of the story. Just like BBT, the main focus is the girls’ friendship – this time around it’s a long distant friendship though, since both Rosie and Caddy move away to study in different parts of the UK. The issues the friends have to face, e.g. finding new friends, having your first real relationship, finding out who you truly are with a possible change of character, staying less in contact with old friends, are pretty accurate and were presented very well by Barnard. Change is never easy and it’s difficult for everyone but it’s inevitable and sometimes necessary to grow as a person and as friends.
What I enjoyed the most was getting to know Suzanne properly. Even though she was already a main character in the previous book, the reader only got to know her through Caddy’s POV. The reader never had the chance to look behind her always tough and happy façade – until now.
Suzanne is a really interesting and complex character. I understand her better now and also finally know the reason for the things she did.
There were only a few characters in this book that I didn’t like: Suzanne’s mom and Caddy. Whereas Suzanne’s mom was simply a bad person, Caddy was mostly annoying and a bad friend in my opinion.
I really liked Dilys and Rosie. Is there a book planned for Rosie?
Besides tackling friendship issues and living alone for the first time, FFH is also about accepting yourself for who you are, conquering your fears and demons, and coming out stronger on the other side. It’s easy for some of us and difficult for others, but I believe that choosing yourself in certain life situations is the key to being happy. Choosing yourself is not selfish and it doesn’t mean that you think others are not important. It simply means that you value yourself because you are important too and you should do what’s best for you and not for others.
“This is your only life, and it is short. Surround yourself with people who love you.”
To me, FFH is different than other typical YAs these days. The story is refreshing but mostly real, and honest. I didn’t think I would enjoy FFH as much as I did. But those are the best books right?
“Of course I’m scared of [love]. How can I not be? That’s what I don’t understand. Giving yourself to someone that way, exposing all the vulnerable parts of you. How could you ever trust anyone that much? How could you ever trust yourself that much? Letting someone love you like that is giving them ammunition to destroy you. The more you care, the more it hurts.”
**********
I enjoyed this way more than book 1!
RTC!
Read this and other reviews here: Brina and the Books
Fierce Fragile Hearts (FFH) wasn’t very high up my TBR after reading Beautiful Broken Things (BBT), book one, last year. I liked BBT but something held me back from picking up FFH – until last month. Now, I’m actually glad that I read it because I really enjoyed the story.
This time around we get to read the story from Suzanne’s POV who moves back to Brighton in the beginning of the story. Just like BBT, the main focus is the girls’ friendship – this time around it’s a long distant friendship though, since both Rosie and Caddy move away to study in different parts of the UK. The issues the friends have to face, e.g. finding new friends, having your first real relationship, finding out who you truly are with a possible change of character, staying less in contact with old friends, are pretty accurate and were presented very well by Barnard. Change is never easy and it’s difficult for everyone but it’s inevitable and sometimes necessary to grow as a person and as friends.
What I enjoyed the most was getting to know Suzanne properly. Even though she was already a main character in the previous book, the reader only got to know her through Caddy’s POV. The reader never had the chance to look behind her always tough and happy façade – until now.
Suzanne is a really interesting and complex character. I understand her better now and also finally know the reason for the things she did.
There were only a few characters in this book that I didn’t like: Suzanne’s mom and Caddy. Whereas Suzanne’s mom was simply a bad person, Caddy was mostly annoying and a bad friend in my opinion.
I really liked Dilys and Rosie. Is there a book planned for Rosie?
Besides tackling friendship issues and living alone for the first time, FFH is also about accepting yourself for who you are, conquering your fears and demons, and coming out stronger on the other side. It’s easy for some of us and difficult for others, but I believe that choosing yourself in certain life situations is the key to being happy. Choosing yourself is not selfish and it doesn’t mean that you think others are not important. It simply means that you value yourself because you are important too and you should do what’s best for you and not for others.
“This is your only life, and it is short. Surround yourself with people who love you.”
To me, FFH is different than other typical YAs these days. The story is refreshing but mostly real, and honest. I didn’t think I would enjoy FFH as much as I did. But those are the best books right?
“Of course I’m scared of [love]. How can I not be? That’s what I don’t understand. Giving yourself to someone that way, exposing all the vulnerable parts of you. How could you ever trust anyone that much? How could you ever trust yourself that much? Letting someone love you like that is giving them ammunition to destroy you. The more you care, the more it hurts.”
**********
I enjoyed this way more than book 1!
RTC!