A review by ami_yokoyama1
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

3.0

The story follows Anna, a professional violinist in a creative rut. Her trouble stemmed from unexpected fame and people's expectations weighing her down. Anna is recently diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Anna's family values prestige and toughing it out (typical Asian stereotype..), which forces Anna to hide her true self and be an obedient daughter. Coincidentally, Anna's boyfriend Julian suggests an open relationship, which prompts Anna to go look for a one night stand for once and meet Quan, her new love interest.

It was difficult to get through scenes where Anna is hurt because her family and Julian won't accept her for who she is. But it was a pleasure to read about the connection between Anna and Quan - it felt so genuine and powerful! I couldn't keep my eyes off Anna's arc on opening up and standing up for herself. I didn't see some of Anna's actions coming because I would never think of doing those things (like when Anna went to Quan's apartment to apologize). Such occasions were a surprise in a good way and motivated me to keep reading.

On another note - I've read a decent amount of books with Asian protagonists. Honestly I started to become tired of reading about conflicts between strict Asian immigrant parents vs. their children with aspirations that the parents don't approve of (there are so many of these kind of books now that it's become a cliche, and I don't like that). Reading this book felt better as the protagonist is an adult and there was a solid boundary between her and her parents, and such conflicts weren't the main focus of the book.