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carleneslibrary 's review for:
A Heart Sufficient
by Nichole Van
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
This was a sweet ending to the Penn-Leith series. I had mixed feelings about it as I read it, but ultimately the payoff was worth it.
Obviously I was thrilled for a villain redemption story, and the premise promised a delicious slowburn, enemies to lovers. This is not that - it's more of a star-crossed lovers/fated love book. Those aren't my favorite, and most of what I didn't enjoy about this book comes down to personal taste around that. If you do enjoy that, you will adore this book. It also took me a little longer to like Isolde, but that was easily remedied since Tristan adored her and I liked him from the start.
That said, I still adored so much about this book. Tristan, the villain that was so easy to despise the rest of the series, was so easy to love from the moment we heard his point of view. His values weren't ones I agreed with to start but they always made sense considering the pain and flaws of his upbringing and it made his character arc that much more satisfying. If you couldn't already tell, the absolute best part of this book was Tristan's character arc, growth as an individual, and redemption. The story makes you work for it - I felt all the feelings and there were plenty of moments I was frustrated with both Isolde and Tristan, but I promise it all came together, was all worth it, and the ending did make all the work it took to get there more than worth it. I also so appreciated that the focus of this romance shifted from two people falling in love, which is usually what we love in romance books, to two people navigating real life and real problems in their marriage. It felt more realistic and satisfying in ways I didn't know I usually missed in romance books because they had to learn love, forgiveness, compassion, and life in more ways than typical romance books. It reminded me of my own real life romance and healthy ways to communicate and navigate problems that I so appreciated.
All this to say, Nichole Van once again proved her unique voice and storytelling style leaves me with books I adore and characters I want to follow throughout their whole life.
One thing that did bother me is that Tristan kept insisting that he'd loved Isolde from the moment he saw her. No he didn't! You don't try to destroy and ruin the family of someone you love. That's not love. I kept hoping that later on in the book he'd acknowledge this or say he loved her the best he knew how at the time based on his twisted upbringing and ideals of love but it never happened. Even to the end he said he'd always loved her with his full chest and it irked me that he never grew enough to acknowledge that he hadn't truly loved her until he'd changed and what he felt for her now was love but the beginning was not. Not the end of the world, all things considered, but it did bug me.
Obviously I was thrilled for a villain redemption story, and the premise promised a delicious slowburn, enemies to lovers. This is not that - it's more of a star-crossed lovers/fated love book. Those aren't my favorite, and most of what I didn't enjoy about this book comes down to personal taste around that. If you do enjoy that, you will adore this book. It also took me a little longer to like Isolde, but that was easily remedied since Tristan adored her and I liked him from the start.
That said, I still adored so much about this book. Tristan, the villain that was so easy to despise the rest of the series, was so easy to love from the moment we heard his point of view. His values weren't ones I agreed with to start but they always made sense considering the pain and flaws of his upbringing and it made his character arc that much more satisfying. If you couldn't already tell, the absolute best part of this book was Tristan's character arc, growth as an individual, and redemption. The story makes you work for it - I felt all the feelings and there were plenty of moments I was frustrated with both Isolde and Tristan, but I promise it all came together, was all worth it, and the ending did make all the work it took to get there more than worth it. I also so appreciated that the focus of this romance shifted from two people falling in love, which is usually what we love in romance books, to two people navigating real life and real problems in their marriage. It felt more realistic and satisfying in ways I didn't know I usually missed in romance books because they had to learn love, forgiveness, compassion, and life in more ways than typical romance books. It reminded me of my own real life romance and healthy ways to communicate and navigate problems that I so appreciated.
All this to say, Nichole Van once again proved her unique voice and storytelling style leaves me with books I adore and characters I want to follow throughout their whole life.