A review by matcha_pages
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If you're looking for a light hearted romance don't read this book. It deals with some heavy topics, which is fine...but not something I want in romance books.
 It starts off fun and exciting but quickly becomes Anna's journey with her autism diagnosis, family acceptance, and learning how to standup for herself. It gets really heavy and dark at points, especially with how Anna's family views her neurodivergence as weak and lazy character flaws. There's also a fair amount of family gaslighting going on. These experiences were incredibly raw and left me angry, emotionally drained, and appreciative of Hoang's vulnerability. 

Given the above it felt wrong trying to enjoy the hot smutty scenes. And it didn't gave space for Quan to make mistakes, he felt stifled being perfectly patient and even keeled for Anna. I was really hoping we'd get other sides of him or learn what it was like being Khai's older brother. 

I feel like Anna's story was strong enough to stand on its own.
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