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A review by laurel00
How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Oh my god.
When I say that I had extremely high hopes for this novel, I mean it. I had been following Arlow for months while they were marketing their book, and every time I saw another post about it I got more and more excited. So when I tell you that it managed to greatly exceed my expectations... that's a truly outstanding feat.
I really do feel like this book stared deep into my eyes, crawled into the deepest parts of my soul and gave me a much needed hug, it was amazing. I felt so seen by this, I cried so much reading it and I have yet to figure out if they were happy or sad tears (probably—definitely—a bit of both).
Usually when I tab my books, I go out of my way to make it clean and organized. I don't want to have multiple tabs per page and I don't like when they overlap over one another. But when I was reading this book, I was so engrossed in it, I felt like every single paragraph was specifically written for me, the whole thing is a mess of pink tabs and tear stains.
I adored the characters and Shani is exactly the kind of lesbian MC that I love to read about: kind of messy, has her issues, but at the end of the day, just wants to be happy and loved. I cried with her, I laughed with her, I gay panicked over May with her. I love her with all my heart and I want to give her the world.
I was also really happy to read about not only the romance between the characters, but all their other life experiences as well. They felt super fleshed out, very complex and real—the exact kind of socially awkward bundle of nerves that I was in my first year of college. I'm always going to sob over characters dealing with complicated relationships with their parents, and this was no exception.
I really don't know how else to express my love for this novel. It was absolutely worth the wait and I would without a doubt reread this a million times, over and over again. Go pick it up now!
When I say that I had extremely high hopes for this novel, I mean it. I had been following Arlow for months while they were marketing their book, and every time I saw another post about it I got more and more excited. So when I tell you that it managed to greatly exceed my expectations... that's a truly outstanding feat.
I really do feel like this book stared deep into my eyes, crawled into the deepest parts of my soul and gave me a much needed hug, it was amazing. I felt so seen by this, I cried so much reading it and I have yet to figure out if they were happy or sad tears (probably—definitely—a bit of both).
Usually when I tab my books, I go out of my way to make it clean and organized. I don't want to have multiple tabs per page and I don't like when they overlap over one another. But when I was reading this book, I was so engrossed in it, I felt like every single paragraph was specifically written for me, the whole thing is a mess of pink tabs and tear stains.
I adored the characters and Shani is exactly the kind of lesbian MC that I love to read about: kind of messy, has her issues, but at the end of the day, just wants to be happy and loved. I cried with her, I laughed with her, I gay panicked over May with her. I love her with all my heart and I want to give her the world.
I was also really happy to read about not only the romance between the characters, but all their other life experiences as well. They felt super fleshed out, very complex and real—the exact kind of socially awkward bundle of nerves that I was in my first year of college. I'm always going to sob over characters dealing with complicated relationships with their parents, and this was no exception.
I really don't know how else to express my love for this novel. It was absolutely worth the wait and I would without a doubt reread this a million times, over and over again. Go pick it up now!