Anu Recommends #44
Anu Recommends #44
I recommend hearts that break, cut... and heal
Dear reader,
Did January also feel like the longest month to you? Not that I’m complaining, given that I read some fantastic books, worked on interesting projects, and started to get excited about writing my own fiction again.
Today, I have two of those fantastic books to recommend—both by Storyteller alums, how exciting is that! 😃 (huge thanks to both publishers, Wednesday Books and Razorbill, and authors for my Advance Review Copies)
Alums in question:
Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn (pub: February 6, 2024)
Publisher’s blurb
A heart-buckling ride of a romance by beloved author Erin Hahn, Even If It Breaks Your Heart is about two teens finding out that sometimes, the hardest part of discovering what you want is getting the courage to pursue it.
The only thing keeping nineteen-year-old Case Michaels together after the death of his best friend, Walker, is a list Walker left behind of things he wants Case to accomplish in his absence. So far, though, Case hasn’t even been able to continue riding bulls in the rodeo circuit, something he’s done his entire life, balking at the thought of competing without Walker by his side. But the list? Case is determined to follow it to the letter—and he follows it all the way to Winnie Sutton.
Eighteen-year-old Winnie Sutton just wants to keep her family together. She graduated high school early to work long shifts at the Michaels family ranch so she can support her younger siblings and a father who’s more than happy to let Winnie fill the responsible parent role. If she sometimes sneaks out to ride the horses herself and forget about life for a while—well, that’s no one else’s business—until the day she crashes headfirst into Case Michaels. Case sees her riding skills and immediately ropes her into competing for the ranch and becoming his friend.
Winnie and Case couldn’t be more different, but Case can’t help but be inspired by Winnie’s badly-hidden passion for riding and competition. And there’s something about Case that makes Winnie want to try grasping onto a dream for herself, whether that’s a shot at a rodeo trophy, the annoyingly handsome rancher’s son who won’t leave her alone, or maybe both.
This is Erin’s softest, tenderest, messiest-in-the-best-way YA book to date. You'd Be Mine remains my top YA book by her, but this new one, her last YA for now, comes so very close.
Both Case and Winnie are wonderfully real—their flaws, their problems, their fears, their grief, their hopes and dreams, their ability to contain multitudes—and very easy to root for. This book felt raw and honest, and both characters' struggles as well as their slow friendship that later blossoms into something more reads authentic. Erin really knows how to craft complex, human, teens (and yes, that means showing that they can be level-headed and mature, among all the other things).
Before and even after anything romantic, watching Case and Winnie learn to trust each other, become each other's support systems, tease and navigate their way through what turns into a strong, solid bond is sweet and heartfelt. In true Erin style, this also has a cast of endearing supporting characters. Special shoutout to the horse Queen Mab, and Winnie's younger siblings, especially Garrett, her whip-smart, funny, and earnest baby sister.
There's a lot of horse, ranch, and rodeo talk, which isn't really my thing, but it is testament to how beautifully Erin's written these characters and their stories that I was still so invested, and I felt what they felt—what's more relatable than working to find your place in the world above and beyond the expectations of everyone (especially your loved ones), than working to discover and embrace the things that make you happy, the ones that you were born to do?
Hearts that Cut by Kika Hatzopoulou (pub: June 4, 2024)
Publisher’s blurb
In this heart-pounding, much-anticipated sequel to Threads That Bind, Io will face threats even more dangerous and players even more powerful as she discovers what it will mean to follow—or defy—her fate.
It’s been five weeks since Io left Alante to follow the golden thread, and she’s no closer to finding the god on the other end. She spends her days in constant, grueling travel and her nights worrying over the fate-thread she shares with Edei—which seems to be fraying. Making matters worse, she and Bianca soon realize that their only lead has shaken them off, snapped the golden thread, and disappeared. But not before Io gathers some crucial clues. Her investigation leads her to a new mystery, a rash of sibling disappearances across the Wastelands that seems to be connected to the murders in Alante. And all signs point to Nanzy, the golden city, as the center of the whole conspiracy. As Io and Bianca make their way to Nanzy, they face powerful enemies, find allies new and old, and uncover a horrifying plot that traces back centuries. The more Io learns, the more she begins to suspect that the future of the world may truly rest on her shoulders. But she will have to determine how much of the future is her choice—and how much is simply her fate.
This was as good a sophomore novel as you'd want when the first book was so fantastic (read my review here). It picks up a short while after book 1 ends and there are even higher stakes right off the bat. But Kika does a wonderful job of developing the relationships between new and old characters without letting the pace of the plot slip. I loved reuniting with my favourites—Io, Edei, Nico, Bianca—and seeing how far they’d come from the people we first met in Threads That Bind. Io, especially, was the star, for more reasons than just being the one seemingly fated to save or destroy the world. She burns and shimmers fiercely in this one, bravely faces up to a wretched, impossible choice, and takes charge of her own destiny even as she learns to let go in other ways. Her relationship with Edei and the fate-thread between them is, of course, a key part of the duology’s story, and their own, and I couldn’t love their journey more, tumultuous as it was for so many reasons out of their control.
Fate, choice, change, sacrifice, privilege, ambition, personal desires, love, and the sometimes impossible nature of the “right” way, especially in a kill-or-be-killed world were the themes of Book 1, and here we follow these threads, pun intended, to their world-shattering conclusion. I applaud Kika for balancing this level of emotional and intellectual depth along with a tight, forward-moving, detailed plot and worldbuilding.
Hearts That Cut is a deeply satisfying conclusion to this duology; an ending that isn't neatly wrapped up but with enough of a resolution to feel complete. I love this complicated world with these complicated characters who face complicated choices. I hope you give them a chance too 💜
Please feel free send in recommendations—books, movie, TV shows, authors to interview, ideas of what you’d like me to write on, rants/ramblings/excited monologues, GIFs and memes (especially them) and more. Just drop me a line and turn this into a conversation, even if just to say hi and let me know what you thought of the latest issue. Or share this with someone you think might enjoy it. I always enjoy hearing from you 😊
Take care and I’ll see you next on February 18! There is a special book review and interview waiting for you then.
Anu
You can find me on Twitter at @AnuNande (follow for all the football chatter) and on Instagram at @booksinboston.