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A review by qgg
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
5.0
Helen Hoang is, again, an #actuallyautistic writer, writing romance from the autistic perspective in the character of Anna. She’s also an #ownvoices writer, writing from the Vietnamese-American perspective in the character of Quan.
Anna is a Chinese-American violist who does not know she is autistic and partially in autistic burnout at the beginning of the story. She is obsessively practicing a musical piece seeking perfection and starting over every time she doesn’t quite hear it. She’s masking her autism in her relationship and with her family. It’s not until she meets Quan that she starts to be honest in her interactions with another person. Then a family tragedy forces her into a situation where she’s masking more than ever and sinking deeper into burnout.
Quan has his own issues in this book that make his character very different from the previous books in the series. I do wish we were able to see more of his perspective and growth in this book. He is so sweetly patient, understanding and giving.
The criticisms I’ve seen of this title are:
1. it's not a romance title. I would agree that this book is heavier than every romance book I've read. I appreciated that aspect.
2. it needed trigger or content warnings. I did not feel that was necessary, but this may be a generational thing.
3. that Anna doesn’t deserve Quan and/or needed to do all of her healing before they could get together. I don’t think neurotypical readers understand how ableist this criticism is. I will admit that it was hard to watch Anna struggle through varying depths of autistic burnout in a romance title. However, people of all abilities and disabilities deserve love. Quan knows what autism is like through his brother. Anna’s symptoms are different than Kai’s, but Quan has a lot of love and comfort to give, and it is his choice.
Anna is a Chinese-American violist who does not know she is autistic and partially in autistic burnout at the beginning of the story. She is obsessively practicing a musical piece seeking perfection and starting over every time she doesn’t quite hear it. She’s masking her autism in her relationship and with her family. It’s not until she meets Quan that she starts to be honest in her interactions with another person. Then a family tragedy forces her into a situation where she’s masking more than ever and sinking deeper into burnout.
Quan has his own issues in this book that make his character very different from the previous books in the series. I do wish we were able to see more of his perspective and growth in this book. He is so sweetly patient, understanding and giving.
The criticisms I’ve seen of this title are:
1. it's not a romance title. I would agree that this book is heavier than every romance book I've read. I appreciated that aspect.
2. it needed trigger or content warnings. I did not feel that was necessary, but this may be a generational thing.
3. that Anna doesn’t deserve Quan and/or needed to do all of her healing before they could get together. I don’t think neurotypical readers understand how ableist this criticism is. I will admit that it was hard to watch Anna struggle through varying depths of autistic burnout in a romance title. However, people of all abilities and disabilities deserve love. Quan knows what autism is like through his brother. Anna’s symptoms are different than Kai’s, but Quan has a lot of love and comfort to give, and it is his choice.