Heart bones (Cœurs et Ames)

French edition : Hugo New Romance

American edition : Simon and Schuster

Number of pages : 370

Genre : Romance, Young Andult

Publication year : 2023

Author : Colleen Hoover

Summary

    Beyah’s mother has just died. That’s the reason why for her last summer before college, Beyah will have to move to her father’s house and meet her new family. The problem is that Beyah never had a family, she has learnt to stand on her own two feet since she was a little girl. During those two months she will discover a new life with a new family and new people. Among those meetings, a boy named Samson will hold Beyah’s attention. How will she react ? What is going to happen during this so special summer ?

Critique

    First of all, I have to say that I was not convinced by this book. In a first time, I will explain to you my negative points about the book and then I will give you my positive ones.

    To begin with, I was expecting a somber story (it was the case and it was well done) but not to that extent. This participated in the fact that I was not taken with this story because I prefer “light” stories. It was a great experience to read this book because it is something I am not used to. I discovered a new universe. Besides, I was a little bit disappointed because I had a lot of expectations concerning Colleen Hoover’s books. To me, a lot of things happened too fast. I had the impression that I was touching on the story. Some points and details were not as developed as I wanted it to be. According to me, there was like a lack of profoundness in some parts (not all !) of the story. To my viewpoint, it was the same phenomenon with characters, especially with Beyah and Samson. Both have a heavy past. Both are “broken from the inside”. Both are wounded. Both have a lack of self-confidence. However, despite all of this, their evolution is too fast according to me. It feels that they heal themselves and solve all their problems in a very short time thanks to a close relation. I think it is a pity because characters in themselves have a lot of potential ! To me, it would be really interesting if there were more details about the way they grow, the way they spread their wings, the way they become at peace with themselves… But this is only my viewpoint (I entirely respect the author, the work of Colleen Hoover on this book is huge) ! What is yours about this book ? I am curious, let me know in the comments !

    Now, let’s continue with the positive points of this book ! Firstly, I think some aspects of the story are very well described and explained to us. There is a kind of awareness campaign about some values. We can see that the author is committed to her writing. The way poverty is treated in this book makes us react. We feel shocked and horrified about what Beyah had to face since her young age. We even feel revolted and want things to change in the world because, it is sad to say, but it still exists. The second thing we are raised awareness to is drug and alcohol addiction. Thanks to Beyah’s mother we realize how dangerous this disease is. It is very difficult to help alcoholic people when they do not want to. Because of those addictions, Beyah had to endure dreadful events because her mother was not in a condition to take care of her. That is awful because when we think about it, we can realize that Beyah’s mother is so lost and so addicted that she is unable to care of her daughter. Thanks to this book we catch a glimpse of those people’s distress and have a better understanding of them. Colleen Hoover’s way to raise people awareness about poverty and addiction is brutal. Yet, it is efficient : we are forcibly immersed in the core of the problem. There is no other better way to make us react intensely. There is also this self-made man value which is represented in the book. Indeed, our main characters possess nothing and almost no one can help them. But at the end, they managed to shape their personality and blossom. By the way, this is another positive thing I have to mention : the characters. Indeed, I found them HUMAN, especially the father. They are not “unreal” like movie characters or book characters (even if they are actually, ahah), we can easily identify ourselves to them. If this story was happening in our world, they may be someone we know, someone in our entourage. I think they seem so human to me because they have defaults and qualities. That is the reason why the identification is easy (even if at a given moment of the story, the past of our two main characters is so heavy that it may slow us down). For instance, Beyah’s dad made mistakes, he is aware of this. But, he does not try to fix the past, he only wants to help his daughter and know her better now. He wants to become a better father. Moreover, the role of stepmother acted by Alana and the one of stepsister interpreted by Sara are not exaggerated and biased. Alana is not a cruel stepmother and Sara is not a little pest. They are sweet to Beyah and have good relations with her. It does you good : it is unusual compared to lots of other books.

Final conclusion

    I heard a lot about Colleen Hoover and I wanted to make my own mind about her, that’s why I chose this book (and also because of the cover which was wonderful too). Even so, I was not convinced (I know I’ll hurt Colleen Hoover fans and I’m sorry !)… But maybe I have to try again with another book. Which one do you advise me to read ?

So are you going to read it ?

Other information

    Colleen Hoover has a website. It looks really good and gives you information about the order to read her books.

The song

Runaway, Jack and Jack. I think it is a good sum up of Beyah’s situation and feelings.

My note : 7/10

Characters : 1/2                 My taste: 1/2

Story : 2/4                       Originality: 3/2