oraclereadings 's review for:

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

3.5

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<“It’s not winning the race that’s important. It’s this moment right here, when I’m lying in the mud staring up at the dark sky with rain falling in my eyes. It’s facing the pain, facing failure, facing myself, and finding a way to make it to the end.”

✧*:･ﾟ✧

Disclaimer: I didn’t know that this was “technically” part of a series. That being said, I don’t feel like I missed anything important and didn’t feel confused. I will check out the other two books as soon as I can just to make sure.

There was a lot more sex in this book than I anticipated. This is usually why I tend to read more young-adult books rather than adult or even new-adult. The sex scenes weren’t awfully written, I'm just not a big smut reader.

Anna has been masking her entire life without even realizing it. When her boyfriend says that he wants to see other people before settling down, Anna decides that she wants to venture out as well. She meets Quan through a dating app and they set up to hook up. Their hookups keep failing and they keep trying, but they start to grow feelings for each other. Anna struggles with the idea of getting back with her ex, the identity of her diagnosis, and her family falling apart.

I related so much to Anna that, at times, it felt like this book was personally attacking me. Struggling with saying no, learning about her diagnosis, her family constantly putting her down and pressuring her into things that she doesn’t want to do? Same.