Hearts Unbroken eBook PDF

User Reviews

Jessica

Rating: really liked it
I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher (Candlewick Press) as well as from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers. Yes, I ended up with two ARCs because I had sent a review request to the publisher (which they granted) and had entered to win the book on LibraryThing (and ended up winning a copy).

I give this book 3.5 stars which rounds up to 4.

I was so excited to read this book because I have read very few books about the Native American experience and wanted to learn more.

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I loved the premise of the book and the message behind it. Native Americans and their experiences are always swept under the rug when it comes to racial inequality, so it is important to have books like this out there. I learned a lot from this. For example, L. Frank Baum’s racist attitudes towards Native Americans. I never knew that because it never gets mentioned.

I also liked how the author incorporated some Mvskoke words into the story. It was a nice touch.

However, the book’s execution was a bit lackluster. To me it just seemed like there was a lot going on. Not only was there a lot about racism but there were also a little bit of slut shaming and bullying thrown in the mix too. This was all on top of a romance story too. I wished the book would just focus on one main issue, instead of trying to throw it all in. It would have had more focus and been more impactful that way.

Overall, the book had a powerful message despite a few flaws in the execution.

Nina

Rating: really liked it
*Thanks again to Candlewick Press for sending me an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The premise of “Hearts Unbroken“ sounded amazing. We have Louise Wolf, our female main character, who is a Native teen trying to deal with high school and the problems that come with first love. She’s a confident girl who doesn’t take shit from her boyfriend when he insults Native people in front of her and just dumps him via email, also because she’d much rather spend time with friends and family or on the school newspaper anyway.

When I first read the synopsis of this book, I knew immediately that I wanted to read it and hoped it would be as good as I thought it would be. But unfortunately, books sometimes just don’t live up to their synopsis.

I want to start with what I liked about “Hearts Unbroken” before I get into what bothered me about it and lead to my low rating. First of all, this book deals with such an important and interesting topic that we just don’t see a lot in literature. I loved how the main character, her family and other characters were Native Americans. As a European, I have to admit that I don’t know a lot about this group of people that unfortunately is just so underrepresented in literature and I really enjoyed learning more about their culture. Second of all, this was also such a quick read. I pretty much flew through it and if I’d had the time to just sit down and read it in one go, I think I could’ve easily finished it in under three hours.

But that’s already everything that I had on my list of positive things about “Hearts Unbroken” and everything else about this book was pretty disappointing. My biggest problem with this novel was definitely the writing. This may sound harsh, but if this hadn’t been an ARC, I don’t think I would’ve ever read the novel because at the end of its first page, I already knew that the writing just absolutely wasn’t for me. “Hearts Unbroken” was very poorly written which I think was also the main reason why I just never really got into the story.

Furthermore, I also really disliked how short most of the chapters were. Usually, I’m someone who definitely prefers shorter chapters over long ones, but Smith just often tended to end chapters at very important points and just threw the reader into a completely different scene which really interrupted the reading flow. Also, the chapters that were longer were usually just longer when Louise did interviews for the school newspaper and while I found some of her articles quite interesting, I often felt like I was just reading someone’s summary of their journalistic work instead of a proper novel about Louise’s life.

One last thing I then really had a problem with concerns the characters in this book. Firstly, there are way too many characters in this novel. In almost every chapter new characters - that ultimately aren’t even important to the story - are introduced and at the end of the book, I still hadn’t fully understood who was who. Secondly, there was also zero character development for many of the main characters in this book which was quite sad because I feel like if Smith hadn’t added quite as many characters to the book, she would’ve easily had time to focus more on those that were important for the actual story the novel tells.

So altogether, this was a book that deals with a very important topic but that is just very poorly written. If this had just once again been about some random topic you find in so many other YA contemporaries, I would’ve without a doubt only rated this one star. But due to the premise of this novel and because I definitely learned some interesting things while reading it, I decided to give it 2 out of 5 stars.

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Carmen

Rating: really liked it
Joey cocked his head. "Nobody's fucking GETTING to ME."

"Language," Ms. Wilson echoed, sounding impressed. Because he was a badass, too. pg. 44

Miracle of miracles, I actually liked this. I liked a YA book. Wonders never cease. Good thing I ignored the GR reviews of this, which mostly painted it as mediocre, and tried it out for myself.

Perhaps the reason I liked it so much is because I have such low expectations for YA. I expect YA to be terrible, so when it's not terrible I'm always pleasantly surprised.

Louise is a Muscogee (Creek) girl (woman) who is in her senior year of high school. She turns 18 22% of the way through the book. I like that the book is about an older teen. I think I find 18 easier to deal with than 16, although I guess it all depends on how a book is written, and I like Smith's writing style and she's also pushing all my buttons, in a good way.

Louise breaks up with her boyfriend, a jock with a pampered-prince complex. She's been carrying him through whatever emotional immaturity he demonstrates, but when his mom makes some racist comments about her oldest son's fiancée (who is Kickapoo) and Cam agrees with them, it's the last straw for her, and she dumps him over e-mail.

I don't believe in breaking up in people over text or e-mail (unless the person is abusive) and I was upset with her for not doing it face-to-face. But the wonderful thing is that Smith also acknowledges this, and there's fallout from it, so it's ok.

Louise doesn't become a cheerleader senior year because of this break-up. Instead she joins the school paper, and it's one of the best decisions she's ever made.

Her little brother gets cast as the Tin Man in the school's production of Wizard of Oz, thanks in part to a revolutionary theater teacher employing 'color blind' casting. This causes quite a backlash in this majority-white town in Kansas. Especially since Dorothy is going to be played by a Black girl.

The book also focuses on Louise's budding romance with fellow journalist Joey.
...

OK, so first off, this book is just so relevant. I know it was penned in 2018, but a lot of the issues it talks about are big news today. Sadly. Book-banning in school libraries is one example. Book-banning and censorship are very big right now and both public libraries and school libraries are facing a lot of heat from 'conservatives' who think all books about LGBTQIA+ individuals should be banned. Or etc. And the racism. It's very easy to imagine a group of 'concerned parents' banding together and forming a group to keep school theater white, saying casting Black people or other POCs in lead roles is 'reverse racism.' Never mind that the Black girl is the best actor for the part of Dorothy, Dorothy is WHITE, okay, and can only be played by a WHITE GIRL. Sadly this is very, very realistic and almost could be ripped from 2021 headlines. It's a very topical book. How about Louise, a brown girl, being targeted with threats and harassments saying "Go Back Where You Came From," her family's tormentors apparently ignorant enough not to see the irony of telling American Indians to 'go back home.' They are too stupid to grasp this, also racists are not very discerning about the differences between various ethnicities of brown people. Perhaps they think she's Latina.

The idea that anyone who is not white is 'not American' is still very prevalent and it's clearly presented in this book. "Dorothy is a Kansan!" the pastor's wife insists, when asked why a Black girl shouldn't be playing Dorothy. "Chelsea was born in Kansas," Louise calmly points out. This insidiousness is still rampant today. IDK, when you present an 'All-American Boy' as a Black boy everyone is still shocked, they picture All-American as blonde hair and blue eyes, even though that's radically not true.

I realize that the book's description and what I wrote above could be considered that this is 'a woke book' or some SJW crap or something, but it's not. Trust me, I have no tolerance for sap, preachy books or garbage writing that exists merely to hammer in a point. Instead, Smith is surprisingly nuanced.

One thing that helps is Louise's calm and levelheaded nature, which I adore. She takes everything in stride. She even has amazing patience even with her scummy ex and his shennanigans. Although she is a fighter with ovaries of steel, she's not reactionary and she always approaches things with calm and rationality. I loved it.

Smith also makes everything so nuanced. Louise isn't perfect, she fucks up. She's definitely not a Mary Sue. Racism is treated with nuance and care. I feel like it's very easy to say, "Racism is bad. All racists should be shunned and punished. Zero tolerance." But IRL racism is often complicated and messy and tied in with people we love deeply and there's so many factors that it's a very tangled web. Smith shows this. She doesn't make the racists in this book one-dimensional, she showcases all kinds of racists and all the different paths that lead to racism, and how hard it is to be a child in a racist family. Even though Louise (and others) face racism to varying degrees throughout the book, it could be racism from a hateful stranger, racism from a loving friend, racism from a beloved friend or lover's parents, and to many varying degrees from "I want to kill you and your family" to "Aren't all American Indians alcoholics?" and everything in between. Louise's cool head and calm nature makes her better equipped to deal with this than, say, someone younger and more raw like her little brother.

Christianity is also nuanced and layered here. Louise is a Christian girl, it's not glossed over in here. She's Christian. The people who run the hate group that terrorize people and aim to make the school theater a white haven again are also 'Christian.' Louise meets with the pastor's wife, who tells her "I am a a Christian woman. Jesus has filled my heart with love." This from a woman who basically runs a mafia-style harassment campaign against anyone who believes in equal rights for "minorities."

I rarely see a Christian MC written like this. Most YA books with Christian MCs are insufferable. And the MCs are unlikable and sanctimonious. Not so here. Louise is a Christian girl but is also a normal teenager. She swears. She contemplates losing her virginity to a loving boyfriend. She's not judgmental of others' beliefs, religious or otherwise.

What else? Joey's not perfect, my romantic heart wishes he was more of a mensch, but I guess he's more on the realistic side for a teenaged boy. Louise's ex is also layered and complex, much deeper than just being a racist and a lying asshole, I love the complexities spilling over this book. Smith rarely makes a character a simple asshole, usually they contain multitudes, even if they are not what you would think of as good or likable people. I thought the part where Louise finally brings up having sex with Joey was pretty funny, and (view spoiler) I need more of this in YA, and less drama.

Not that everything is perfect. Smith has some plot holes here that are glossed over. For instance, when Louise suddenly purchases two Dachshund puppies. It makes no sense. For one thing, she doesn't have a paying job. Where did she get the money? Dachshunds are expensive. And she just brings the puppies home to her family, and they're just like "OK, we have two dogs now." I can't see this going down without a family discussion, bringing home two puppies unannounced as a unilateral decision wouldn't be tolerated, but perhaps that's just how I was raised. And even though Louise is 18, her parents still limit her screen time. As a senior in high school?! I'm just baffled by this. There's other weird occurrences that make no sense but pop up and then quickly are ignored, with no discussions or explanations by the author.

TL;DR No hand-wringing, no unnecessary drama DESPITE the heavy subject matter in this book. This may be one of the calmest and most levelheaded books I've ever read concerning racism, Christianity, and slut-shaming. Smith shows amazing restraint in not painting most characters with a broad brush. They are flawed. They are complex. They have layers. Someone may be an asshole but do something good, someone may be a good person but do something bad. It's incredible, especially for the YA genre.

Refreshingly not preachy. I liked the levelheaded and rational MC. I liked the low-drama nature of the book, which was surprising. I liked the complex characters.

It wasn't perfect but it was enjoyable and I think Smith did a good job.

NAMES IN THIS BOOK:
(view spoiler)

Aimee ♥ | Aimee, Always

Rating: really liked it
i love this heroine already????

"When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail."

yaaaas you go girl

Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)

Rating: really liked it
4.5 Stars

Really fantastic YA contemporary with a romance plot! Hearts Unbroken follows Louise Wolfe, an indigenous teen girl who has just broken up with her boyfriend because of comments he made about native people. Now white parents in their small town are in an uproar about the inclusive casting of a high school production of The Wizard of Oz. Meanwhile Louise and her colleague on the school paper (a cute Lebanese-American boy named Joey) slowly develop a romance while engaging in journalism about the casting and other issues at the school.

This book is a great blend of romantic coming of age story, and exploration of the microagressions people of color face in their everyday lives. It's compelling and thought-provoking with a smart heroine who isn't afraid to go after what she wants and stand up for herself. Definitely would recommend.

Kristy K

Rating: really liked it
This book touches on such an important matter and underrepresented voice; however, I feel that if this had been about anything else, it would not have been published. The writing was poor: it read like a laundry list of things that happened with moments of dialogue to break it up. Nothing was fleshed out. Within the first ten percent of the book multiple Native American stereotypes had been mentioned (by a white character making a comment about it), and Louise would be upset and then end scene. I know people go around saying racist or insensitive comments but this was just weird and seemed like the author was doing a sort of info-dump of all negative things people think about regarding Native Americans.

I would have loved to seen Smith pick one or two of the issues presented and develop a strong story and character around that instead of trying to tackle all of the racial things people say in one go.

Reading this made me realize how little I’ve read where the MC is Native American. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!

Lily Herman

Rating: really liked it
This was a fun one! Cynthia Leitich Smith created a YA novel with a ton of heart, a breezy writing voice, and teens who are way too pithy for their years (which I see as a lively departure!). Louise was such an original character, and I loved how Leitich Smith unpacked her background and created such a rich environment around her.

There were two things I struggled with in here. First, the chapter lengths were uneven, and some were super long while others were maybe half a page, which made it hard to get in a rhythm sometimes; it also meant a few plot points were either too abrupt or too drawn out. Second, there were a lot of characters to keep track of; I had to circle back not infrequently to make sure I understood who people were and how they related to the plot.

I definitely recommend Hearts Unbroken though for YA fans who want something sweet and a little different. This one's around 3.5 stars for me.

Kelly

Rating: really liked it
It's been a long time since I've read a YA book with a female main character who is Native (and specifically in this case, Muscogee). This book follows Lou as she navigates her new work on the school newspaper with rampant racism in her suburban Kansas school. When the school play is being cast as inclusively as possible, local parents begin to speak out against "reverse racism,"; this impacts Lou personally not just because of her work on the newspaper and her desire to report it, but also because her younger brother had been cast in one of the roles for "The Wizard of Oz."

The book explores student journalism and racism, the way they weave together, and it also touches upon the ways that Native history and culture has been eviscerated in American history. More, it digs into creators who are problematic and how it is possible -- if it's possible -- to navigate a love of art with knowledge of a creator's horrific history (see: "The Wizard of Oz" and what Baum has said about genocide).

Both Lou and her brother also practice Mvskoke throughout, and there's a short reference in the back of the book for readers who want to learn more. Leitich-Smith is, herself, a beginner, so this feels like a nice addition for readers of all backgrounds. Her author's note, too, is really worth reading.

But perhaps what I liked most was this: Lou is a little self-righteous, and it makes sense why. She's got to fight harder, work longer, and speak more bluntly in order to be seen and heard. She's proud of her heritage but also knows it's a stumbling block for many, including an ex-boyfriend. However, when Lou goes to tell the current boy she's dating about her Muscogee background, she does so in a way that's racist against Arab Americans (her boyfriend is). It's not until someone else explains this to her does she have the ah ha moment about how oppression isn't a game of comparison. It's awful no matter what it is. It also changes how she chooses to talk about her Native experiences -- and how she chooses to share them with people like her boyfriend.

Debbi Florence

Rating: really liked it
As a fan of Leitich Smith's contemporary work - Jingle Dancer, Indian Shoes, and especially Rain Is Not My Indian Name, I was thrilled to get a hold of the ARC of Hearts Unbroken. Louise Wolfe breaks up with her first boyfriend after he disparages Native people. While working on the school paper, she's paired up with Joey who Lou finds both aggravating and attractive. Attention is on the high school play, Wizard of Oz, and the diverse cast, including Lou's younger brother as the Tin Man. Some people in the small town of Kansas are offended by this. Threats are made, and Lou struggles with anger and hurt. She wants to speak up and do the right thing, but ends up hurting Joey with her words. I loved this story about trust, dealing with discrimination, love, and family. I also learned a LOT. I highly recommend this book!

Whitley Birks

Rating: really liked it
Writing for impression, not scenes

So, it took me a long time to get into this book because of the writing style, and I suspect that'll be the same for a lot of other readers. However, once I understood what the book was trying to do and adjusted my own reading habits, we clicked a lot more. I have a habit of reading in between tasks and letting the book tell me where to stop, with chapter breaks or somesuch, and that just didn't work in this book because the scenes are so short. Reading a handful at a time didn't work because they don't build on each other. My ADHD brain couldn't handle it!

But I noticed that I also couldn't stop thinking about the book after I put it down. When I decided to carve out some weekend time and just sit and read, when I let the whole of the book flow continuously, I was really happy with it.

I felt like the writing in this book is built for making an impression more than following a 'traditional' storytelling style. The rapid-fire nature of scenes, the repetition of certain points, the way things get cut off, is individually frustrating but altogether evoke some pretty powerful feelings and impressions. I got a sense of the ever-present underlying racism much better from having short instances brought up repeatedly than I ever could from one "well"-developed scene. I felt Lou's exhaustion from leaving these things unchallenged much more from the way scenes ended than I ever could from any narration she might have delivered. It was storytelling via structure, and I find it fascinating.

The Characters

There's a wealth of characters in this novel, most of them with small roles but all of whom are distinct and interact with Lou in unique ways, which contributes to a feeling of the world being well-rounded. I particularly really loved her parents, and family in general is a big factor in this book. Not just nuclear family - they visit extended family and mention said family members often. Lou's friends and fellow-paper-students are great, too, and her best friend delivers a great little speech to Lou at the end.

In fact, that little speech is one of my faves, because throughout the book Lou can feel a little bland. But she's not. The narrative just did such a thoroughly good job of putting me in Lou's mindset that it felt completely naturally and kind of invisible. And then when her flaws get called out near the end, I had a real sense of 'oh shit, I totally got sucked into that' which was very interesting.
The one time realism maaaaaybe isn't the best

The plot on this one is...a smidge underwhelming? There's just not a lot going on, to the point that writing a summary for it was hard because, well, to come up with something longer than a sentence you basically have to list everything that happens. Ish. Because of the repetition and the vignette nature of the structure, it takes very little plot to get an actual lot of pages. Every beat is repeated over and over, but with different throw-away characters. Add to that there's a lot of threads that seem like they're building up to something and then just...kind of stop just short of a climax and then fizzle out.

Which, to be fair, is thoroughly realistic, not every act of racism ends in something huge and dramatic. Everything in this book feels very real. It just...doesn't quite feel very story. That'll annoy different people to different degrees, but it did leave me feeling a bit 'wait, that's it?' after the end.

Zoë ☆

Rating: really liked it
I couldn’t get into this... Maybe it was the writing, maybe the characters or even both.. I can’t really place it. I appreciated the effort though, and it had a promising concept. This just didn’t live up to my expectations; it wasn’t really for me unfortunately. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Samantha (WLABB)

Rating: really liked it
Rating: 3.5 Stars

When the new drama teacher embraces color-blind casting for the school's production of The Wizard of Oz, sparks fly in Louise's small town, and she makes a point of getting to the bottom of it, and using her voice to challenge those opposed to the casting choices that were made and threatening her family.

• Pro: Louise was a great protagonist. I loved how fully she embraced her personal identity and was comfortable with it, even when it could cause conflict for her. She was proud of her heritage, fiercely loved her family, and would challenge those who attacked either of those two things.

• Pro: I grew up and still live in a diverse neighborhood, but I personally knew only one Native person. A book like this is important, because not only does it represent an extremely underrepresented group of people, but it reminds those who are not part of that group how damaging things which seem innocuous can be to other people.

• Pro: The Wolfe family was wonderful. They had such a strong bond to one another, and it was such a pleasure to spend time with Louise's immediate and extended family. The warmth, love, and unfailing support they gave each other was the sort of thing I love seeing in YA families.

• Pro: The controversy surrounding the color-blind casting was very relevant, and I thought it was an interesting way to incorporate the exploration of racism into the story. The incorporation and handling of social issues was where I thought the book excelled. Smith did a great job shedding light on many things, and left me with many things to think on.

• Pro: Hughie was such a sweetheart. His enthusiasm, fear, and disappointment radiated from the page. He was probably one of the most vibrant characters in the book. My heart broke for him, but he showed just how mature he was via the many choices he made.

• Pro: The growth Louise experiences over the course of the book was also well illustrated in her acknowledgement of her mistakes and flaws, and the way she attempted to atone for past missteps.

Overall: Another reminder, that although we have evolved a lot as nation, we still have a long way to go.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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Paige (Illegal in 3 Countries)

Rating: really liked it
See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an eARC I got from the publisher via NetGalley as a staff reviewer for YA Books Central.

We don't have nearly enough #ownvoices Native YA lit on the shelves thanks to gatekeepers and the like in publishing. That's a shame since there are so many different stories to be told and so many people know little of what it's like to be Native in the current United States, but we've got one more right here--and it's a knockout!

When Louise's boyfriend Cam first disparages Native people in front of her--specifically his brother's Kickapoo spouse--he isn't aware Louise is a Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen herself. Then he keeps doing it and has the gall to get mad at her for "being too sensitive." The instant Louise breaks up with Cam via email, you'll be feeling relief like you just finished a hard workout. And that's all before she starts her senior year of high school and the drama department's Wizard of Oz causes undue controversy!

Like Louise, I was on my high school's tiny student newspaper. Senior editor, whoop whoop! If it wouldn't dox me by my former name, I'd link to a couple of the many pieces I wrote during my two years on staff. Leitich Smith really captures what it was like to practice high school journalism in a school where it's underappreciated. Heck, Louise's adventures in reporting on happenings around school almost made me miss being on the paper!

Almost. I don't miss the constant anxiety about ads and getting literal nonsense articles from one classmate/reporter who probably let predictive text write her first drafts rather than writing them herself.

ANYWAY. Hearts Unbroken is a novel that makes the effort to represent what our schools and teens look like in 2018--and knows exactly where we are in 2018, for better or for worse. You decide to do colorblind casting for one student production of a play and suddenly half the town is allied with Parents Against Revisionist Theater because a black girl will play Dorothy. Louise's little brother Hughie also has a role in the play as the Tin Man, so she's got an especially personal stake in what happens!

Throughout the book, Leitich Smith confronts Native stereotypes and makes clear what life is like when you're a Native person living in the current United States. Whether it's Louise feeling bad that she dumped that racist ex over email (which no, that was appropriate and he has no right to be upset, the racist almost-man) or Hughie struggling with anti-Native racism that Wizard of Oz creater L. Frank Baum spouted during his life, readers come to better understand an underrepresented population.

The local uproar over kids of color being cast in roles typically played by white people has great parallels to Hamilton and discussions of how much of our negative, racist history can be reclaimed through such productions. Words like "queer" have started to be reclaimed by the people whom the word was long used against, but not everyone wants to reclaim it. It's simply done too much harm to them.

For instance, say someone adapted an Orson Scott Card novel into a play, made a ton of characters queer as a statement, and encouraged queer actors to audition. Considering Card's rampant homophobia over the years, I can understand queer actors who'd love to take part in order to make Card mad. I can also understand those who wouldn't be able to put Card's beliefs aside and act in it in the name of reclamation.

And that's not even remotely on the same scale as race. It's complicated and Hearts Unbroken makes no bones about it.

Louise's romance with new guy/newspaper rival Joey rubbed me the wrong way in a manner that's 100% personal, nothing to do with the novel or the character. See, I knew a guy named Joey in high school. He was emotionally abusive to his girlfriend, sexually harassed me "jokingly" whenever I wore a skirt (we were partners in science class), and told me I was something like 47% demon for a ridiculous reason. The name Joey is just ruined for me because I just kept seeing the awful guy I knew instead of this book's own Joey!

Also, I got giggly during a very intense part of the novel when it probably wasn't intended. Joey and Louise are out covering a marathon when a tornado hits. Like everyone else, they take shelter underground--specifically in the underground level of a parking garage. While waiting for the storm to pass, they start rounding the sexual bases to pass the time.

Is this what people do in the Midwest when they've got to wait out their regular tornado? Really??? (Of course not, I know better. It just makes me laugh.) Mind you, this is a probably-not-real regional behavior getting laughed at my a resident of Florida. We're the state of tossing reptiles into fast food drive-thru windows and yet these two screwing around in a Jeep as a tornado passes over the area is what makes me laugh!

Okay, okay, I think I'm done. Solidly written with plenty of heart, Hearts Unbroken both stands on its own merits as an entertaining, educational novel and would make a great substitute for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (which was written by a dude who sexually harassed a ton of women, btw).

Becca

Rating: really liked it
Note: I received a copy of Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted so badly to enjoy Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith; I loved the fact that this book had Native American representation — something I rarely see in Young Adult fiction. I loved the fact that this book touched on very important topics such as racism, bullying, and slut-shaming. I just couldn’t get behind the execution. Cynthia Leitich Smith’s idea was good, but in my opinion, the book absolutely failed.

I don’t say this very often, but I absolutely hated reading Hearts Unbroken. I actually exerted a sigh of relief once it was over. Once or twice, I considered throwing this book in the virtual DNF pile, but somehow managed to push through.

The scenes & chapters in Hearts Unbroken are extremely choppy. Multiple times I wondered how we got to a particular scene, because at one point Louise is in one place with someone, and a line down she’s somewhere totally different with no transition whatsoever. I know there’s time to edit between ARC & finished copy, but this ARC read just like a first draft.

Another thing that really irked me were the amount of characters, and how there’s zero amount of room for development. I cared very little for any of the characters, including Louise. There’s literally no time or reason to connect and grow attached to any of the characters, and for me that’s a very important aspect of a book. I! want! to! love! or! hate! the! characters! By the time I finished this book, I didn’t care what happened to any one.

Relating to the previous statement of zero development & too many characters; the book kind of touches on the relationship between Louise and her best friend, Shelby. & when I say kind of, I honestly had forgotten who Shelby was until she showed back up. The character was extremely pointless to the story. But, I guess so were a majority of everyone else in Hearts Unbroken.

I hate that I can probably keep going with my rant, but then we’d jump into spoiler-ground. I would never recommend this book to anyone. It was just kind of a mess & I’m hoping the finalized copy somehow managed to be 10x better.

Livia

Rating: really liked it
My Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up

Hearts Unbroken is a cute love story about Lou, a Native student journalist living in Kansas dealing with the stress of high school, personal life and just being a teenager. After a bit of a messy breakup with her ex-boyfriend, jock Cam Ryan, who disrespects Native people, and a lot of controversies around the casting of her high school's performance of the musical The Wizard of Oz, Lou is thrown into a bigger mess than just high school politics.

My Breakdown:

- Well, I really liked this book. I think that Cynthia Leitich Smith covered a lot of important topics with a light and fluffy storyline. Smith covered such important topics like racism, hate against Indigenous peoples and even sexism in such a great way that it's easy for any high schooler to understand, as she wrote it in a way where it can, unfortunately, totally happen in a high school. The story was extremely relatable and flowed very well, and definitely kept me up past my curfew!

- I really enjoyed how Lou and Joey came to be. It was kind of like how most high school romances come to be (from my experience and understanding, which is, um, not much). Lou and Joey were real people, and real people mess things up sometimes, and Lou demonstrated that perfectly. Lou also demonstrated the extremely important ability to be able to tell if you are being the toxic one in the relationship sometimes, because yes, we can all be the bad guy. Lou was also able to self-assess and fix herself and make amends, which is an important skill for anyone to learn.

- This book also covered a lot about racism, "go back to where you came from" messages, and much more about that. The school production of The Wizard of Oz featured BIPOC as some of the main characters, and the teacher in charge received a lot of backlash from it, as they live in a pretty conservative town. It was interesting and powerful to see the students not step down from the roles just because some parents on an imaginary high horse is telling them to. Anyone can be anything if they put their heart in it, and this book showed just that.

- This book also taught me a lot about how Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz , wasn't exactly a good guy. He often advocated for the genocide of Indigenous Americans and was a white supremacist. I didn't know that before and I definitely won't be seeing him in the same light again.

- What made me give this book three and a half stars instead of five was because the chapters were often a bit too short and there were too many characters. Many of the characters had little relevance to the story and they just kept appearing like bunnies in mating season. It got to the point where they all started blurring together a bit, but I was able to look past that and focus more on the story. Lou also would hear people be racist towards Native Americans, get upset, and then the scene would end right there. I think if Lou had a bit more agency and stood up a bit more, the message would have come across a bit better. (Yes, I'm saying Lou was a little bit of a pushover.) Otherwise, I just gobbled this story up for the romance.

- I am glad that such an underrepresented voice came to be the main character in this novel, but there still were quite a few issues with it. The writing could have been a bit better and the end of the chapters was kind of like half sentences; I expected Lou to elaborate on what she was talking about instead of leaving it there and moving on. There were also quite a few scenes that were a bit irrelevant, such as the scene of Lou getting the book from the librarian's assistant, that could have been cut out. (I mean, it was never mentioned again for the whole book!) A lot of the things happened in this book just for convenience and for making the book longer but were not actually relevant and the book could have used with cutting some of those pieces out.

- I don't read critically, I read to enjoy, and sometimes I like to enjoy books that are not necessarily fantastic (like The Selection series, it was very trashy but I still enjoyed it anyway). This book was not the best written, but I was able to be hooked from the blurb on the front and just came along for the ride.

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Rep: Native American, bisexual, Lebanese/Arab American, poor/lower middle class
TW for the book: hate against Indigenous peoples, racism, Islamophobia, sexism

Detail

Hearts Unbroken

Must be read