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A review by balletbookworm
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Zipped through this on audio for our romance book club at the store. I had a DRC of this but since I really didn't like The Bride Bet much, I'd backburnered it for a while.
And it's a really great story about a woman learning to be her authentic self and finding the people who will support you and believe in you throughout your journey. I loved how Anna's journey to learn about ASD and unlearning the masking behaviors that were exhausting her was so complicated, finding that label wasn't a light switch that made everything better but rather the open door she could step through. CW that if you've had to go through losing a parent to an illness that required 24/7 care, end of life discussions, quality of life discussions, etc., almost the entire back half of the book will be a tough read. I thought the author handled that remarkably well. (Julian and Priscilla can get into the bin and stay there.)
My one criticism is that I feel like we didn't get enough Quan and Quan+Anna together. The balance of the book falls very much toward Anna's side of the story. And while we get a chunk of Quan's backstory as a cancer survivor and how that impacts his current view of relationships, it didn't feel equal. Which made the development of the romance between them feel a bit undercooked and rushed at the end. We get the start of the HFN, and it's confirmed in the Epilogue, but it just didn't feel good to leave it right at the start.
The audiobook production was excellent.
And it's a really great story about a woman learning to be her authentic self and finding the people who will support you and believe in you throughout your journey. I loved how Anna's journey to learn about ASD and unlearning the masking behaviors that were exhausting her was so complicated, finding that label wasn't a light switch that made everything better but rather the open door she could step through. CW that if you've had to go through losing a parent to an illness that required 24/7 care, end of life discussions, quality of life discussions, etc., almost the entire back half of the book will be a tough read. I thought the author handled that remarkably well. (Julian and Priscilla can get into the bin and stay there.)
My one criticism is that I feel like we didn't get enough Quan and Quan+Anna together. The balance of the book falls very much toward Anna's side of the story. And while we get a chunk of Quan's backstory as a cancer survivor and how that impacts his current view of relationships, it didn't feel equal. Which made the development of the romance between them feel a bit undercooked and rushed at the end. We get the start of the HFN, and it's confirmed in the Epilogue, but it just didn't feel good to leave it right at the start.
The audiobook production was excellent.