YA Contemporary

Shivaun Plozza is an Australian writer who is new to me, but the plot interested me so I couldn’t wait to delve into this book.

Tin Heart is a contemporary novel that follows 17-year-old Marlow Jensen who, suffering from a congenital heart condition, had come to accept the fact that she was going to die…and soon. But that all changes one day when she receives the call that a heart from a 17-year-old boy has become available for transplant.

The transplant is a success, and our story opens one year after the operation during which Marlow is trying to figure out who she is and how she fits into her world. After both she and her peers had thought of herself for so long as “sick girl” or “dying girl,” she’s now at a loss to figure out who she really is.

In her search for meaning, she’s resolved to discover who her anonymous heart donor is, hoping to contact the family in order to express her gratitude. Though transplant recipients are forbidden to contact donor families, Marlow pursues forward with some interesting — and sometimes cringe-worthy — results.

In addition to the intrigue surrounding Marlow’s heart transplant and her search for the donor family, we also delve into Marlow’s unique family. Her mother is a passionate vegan activist who opened a vegan shop next to the neighborhood butcher and has taken up the personal mission of protesting in front of the butcher shop whenever possible. Naturally, this has created quite an enemy of the shop’s owner. She also expects her children to support her and adhere to the same high moral standards as herself. But when the rivalry between Marlow and the butcher’s son Leo (whom she has nicknamed “Butcher Boy) turns into romance, all sorts of humorous hijinks ensue.

Then there’s Marlow’s upbeat always-smiling crossing-dressing younger brother Pip who dresses up for school as though every day were Halloween. I laughed out loud many times at the descriptions of his outrageous and flamboyant costumes, and I found him to be one of the most interesting and likable characters of the book.

Overall, Tin Heart was a beautiful story about a sensitive subject that the author handled with grace. It was a potent story about grief, organ donation and second chances, as well as the importance of family. It was riveting to follow Marlow’s transition from being given a death sentence to that of a recovering survivor, and I loved seeing how she moved from victim mentality to that of a self-confident and resilient young adult — although she made a few morally questionable decisions along the way.

The topic of this novel was an intense one, especially as Marlowe struggled and finally came to terms with the fact that the only reason she is alive is because someone else had to die. Organ donation is one of those subjects that people rarely think about or talk about until disaster strikes, and I don’t recall ever having read a fiction novel where this particular subject matter played a central role. So in this way, the book encourages us to think about this important topic and perhaps even paves the way to discussion with friends and family.

Though the storyline was no doubt a serious one and pulled at the reader’s heartstrings in many places throughout the novel, the story was also sprinkled with plenty of humor, lighthearted banter and wit, rendering it an especially enjoyable and satisfying read.

All in all, Tin Heart is a well-crafted, stunning contemporary novel of many layers, with a huge heart and an important message and is the kind of book that will hit you right in the heart (pun intended). Recommended.

A huge thank you to Shivaun Plozza and Flatiron Books for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

You can check out Tin Heart here at Amazon

Perfect Ten follows Sam Raines, who after having broken up with boyfriend Landon, two years prior, is lonely. He’s ready to find a new boyfriend, but that’s not an easy task given that there’s only one other gay kid at his school that he knows of. His best friend Meg, who is a Wiccan, offers to perform a love spell for Sam. All he has to do is make a list of the top ten traits that he wasn’t his new boy to have and then petition the Goddess.

Now Sam is not a believer in Meg’s religion but decides to give a go, figuring his love life could use all the help it can get. So in a midnight cemetery ritual involving candles, the elements and a spell recited in Latin, Sam burns his list, thus sending out his intent to the universe. Much to Sam’s surprise, the spell seems to have worked — but not quite in the way he’d hoped. Instead of bringing one perfect guy to his doorstep, the spell brings three of them. There’s Gus, the debonair and swoon-worthy new French exchange student; Travis, the super-sexy and flirtatious bisexual rockstar with a huge heart; and Jamie, the adorable angelic-looking artist whose face lights up every time he sees Sam. Oh, and there’s also Sam’s ex-boyfriend Landon who still seems to hold a special place in Sam’s heart causing Sam much confusion.

As it turns out, all of them make a play for Sam’s heart, and now all Sam has to do is choose.

What I Liked

First off, I love the cover. It was eye-catching, aesthetically pleasing and super-cute, letting us know that we’re in store for a sweet and fluffy read.

I was in the mood for something that wasn’t too heavy, and this book fit the bill. It was a fun blend of teen romance with a tad of magical realism thrown in resulting in a swoony young adult romantic comedy. It was fun journeying along with Sam who, wanting to explore his options, struggled to choose a new boyfriend from several equally charming contenders. But of course, it’s not as easy as it sounds leading to much drama and both romantic and sexual tension, all of which renders the story compelling.

For the most part, I liked Sam’s character though there’s no denying that he is flawed like the rest of us and ends up making some stupid mistakes. But he felt realistic to me. He was so caught up in the idea that he now had romantic options that he felt that is was okay to “date around” a bit until he made his decision. Not surprisingly, Sam learned that not everyone was okay with this. Lesson learned. But still — I found it refreshing and fun to read a story featuring a teen who had multiple suitors.

I liked the secondary cast of characters and also found them relatable. I especially enjoyed the friendship between Sam, Landon, and Meg and felt that the events in their relationship demonstrated the ups and downs of friendship nicely, especially how loyalties become tested from time to time. I felt that Landon and Meg were believable, well-developed characters, both of which I could relate to. I also liked how Meg’s and Sam’s dating life and romantic interests led to several interesting and frank discussions about love and sex.

Additionally, I felt the magical realism aspect of the story really lent a feeling of fun and intrigue to the story. Truth be told, it was the magical realism aspect of the story that caused me to pick it up. I liked the premise of high school kids do a spell, the spell works and they have to deal with the fallout and learn lessons in the process.

That being said, I did like the inclusion of Wicca in the story and thought that the author did an excellent job of representing Meg and her involvement with the Wiccan religion in a respectful way. This was especially evident when Meg, explaining her religion says:

“The great thing about Wicca is that you don’t need to use any fancy spells or words if you don’t want to. You just have to speak from the heart.”*

On that same note, I did enjoy the representation in the book. We had several gay characters and at least one bisexual character. I also loved how much of the story focused on art. Sam was a writer (though I don’t recall him having actually written anything), Travis was a musician, and Jamie was an artist, and it was through their creativity they all connected, which really resonated with me.

I thought the ending was well done and enjoyed how it all turned out, especially given that there was a huge “fake-out” at the end. The conclusion was romantic and satisfying, with a HEA.

What I Didn’t Like

One of the main things that I disliked was how the French foreign exchange student’s dialog was written phonetically. I hate it when authors try to write an accent or a dialect in this way, and it rarely works. It certainly didn’t here, and I found it super annoying. I also felt that the author resorted to negative stereotypes in the portrayal of Gus, portraying him more like a French caricature than a person.

While I did find Sam likable (mostly), there were some things about his character that bothered me. He was at times almost over-the-top shallow and self-centered, and he struck me being oblivious to the feelings of others. He often didn’t treat the people in his life all that well. I recall a couple of scenes in the book in which he shames Meg into not losing her virginity with her boyfriend though he regularly had sex with Landon while they were dating. I felt he could as supported her a little better and at times, he didn’t feel like he was a very good friend.

Okay, maybe it’s just me, but I’m surprised that nobody had an issue with 21-year-old Travis trying to get 17-year-old Sam in bed. In fact, just about every conversation between Travis and Sam revolved around sex. I just found it surprising that none of Sam’s friends took issue with Travis’s age, especially considering that it is illegal in most states for an adult to have sex with someone who’s underage.

Verdict

In spite of our main character being a tad bit too self-centered, I thought that Perfect Ten was a sweet, lighthearted gay romance that I overall enjoyed. In fact, I read the book in a couple of sittings because I couldn’t put it down, so that says something about its strength as a story. I especially enjoyed the heart-warming conclusion that gives you all the right feels so in this way, it was quite an engaging story. I probably would give this one 3.5 stars.

Purchase Perfect Ten at Amazon

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This book was a collaboration by four authors: Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul, which was was originally a Broadway play that I unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to see. But from my understanding, it was quite well received.

Introducing Evan and his letters

So the book follows Evan, a high school senior who has horrible social anxiety. Under the direction of his therapist, he writes a letter to himself each day that starts out with:

Dear Evan Hansen,

Today’s going to be an amazing day and here’s why…

A letter ends up in the wrong hands

But things don’t go so well for Evan one day when one of those letters to himself ends up in the wrong hands. And, it just so happens that this particular classmate commits suicide with a copy of Evan’s letter in his pocket.

Now the letter in question was a rather dark letter, a letter detailing Evan’s doubts, depression and his particularly somber view on life at the time it was written.

Evan meets the parents…and tells a lie

What results is a series of misunderstandings due to one simple lie. We then follow Evan along with the deceased student’s parents on a heart-wrenching journey through grief and mental health.

You see, Evan knew that the student’s parents were hurting deeply, so he chose to tell one little white lie because at the time, he felt it was the right thing to do. It was a simple lie — a lie meant to help rather than to hurt.

And the lie grows….and grows….

But this lie grew and grew and grew, spiraling out of control until it became a social media sensation. It turned into a story that Evan couldn’t put away and ignore. It became…almost a mythology that was way past the point of going away on its own — it becomes a story that Evan can no longer escape from.

Because of this and his strong urge not to cause the student’s parents any more pain or take away their hope, Evan tells even more lies to keep the story going, and he gets in deeper and deeper and deeper.

Thrust into the Spotlight

This book also portrayed in a somewhat frightening way, the power that social media plays in our lives and how it has the capacity to cause real harm as well as promote healing.

So because of this misunderstanding and Evan’s lie, Evan, a boy who preferred to move through his day unnoticed and invisible, is suddenly thrust in the spotlight. Now on the positive side, he does find acceptance among his peers and for the first time, is propelled forward with a new purpose.

On the negative side, this new world of Evan’s is about to unravel and come crashing down, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.

My Verdict

I ended up enjoying this book — although I don’t feel “enjoying” is the proper word to use about a book whose subject deals with the aftermath of a suicide. Let’s me just say that it was a compelling read and was very disturbing and heartbreaking at times.

The story dealt with some very tough topics such as suicide, bullying, isolation, mental health, loneliness and lying but it didn’t do so in an After-School-Special hit-you-over-the-head kind of way. Rather, the topics were handled with dignity rather than in a cringy, in-your-face way.

Though…I will say that the situation that Evan found itself in made me cringe on several occasions, but it was a cringe of embarrassment for Evan rather than because the tone of the book was preachy.

All in all, I felt that this was a powerful well-told story that illustrated wonderfully the ups and downs of life in high school and how the course of our life can change from one simple decision, for good or for ill. I ended up giving this book four stars. Recommended!

Purchase Dear Evan Hansen at Amazon

Purchase Dear Evan Hansen at The Book Depository