Things We Know by Heart: An Emotional YA Love Story of Organ Donation and Second Chances

This is a book that I feel I could easily come to "know by heart" - pardon all the bad heart puns - but seriously, there is something in this touching, incredibly gut-wrenching, book that just dares you not to love it immediately. This is a novel that'll rip you open and then sew you back together, better than before. The characters are relatable and true to life, the story is unlike any I've read before. (It shares a similar vein with great works like Robin Schneider's Extraordinary Means and John Green The Fault in Our Stars, but manages to remain singular and standout in its own right and way.) Truly, if you're in need of a good reminder of how precious and fragile life is, a gratitude wake-up call, a refresher on the importance of forgiveness (for others as well as for ourselves), or just a solid cry-fest... This is a book you should pick up immediately. I swear, you'll find it impossible to put back down.

I’ve had this book on my radar since this summer and I’ve also heard a lot about Jessi Kirby’s writing in general. Harper Collins had a huge sale on Amazon, and it’s still going on until January actually, on many Kindle books that were published in 2015 and older books as well. You should definitely check it out, I personally went on a huge binge. So back to the book, Jessi’s latest certainly lived up to my expectations and I look forward to reading all of her books. Actually, I immediately picked up “Golden” and loved that one too. What makes “Things We Know By Heart” special is the beautiful writing and the unique plot. Considering the topic, I figured this would be a dark and heavy book that could potentially end up being a drag to read. What I actually discovered was that it was surprisingly light and I never had the urge to put it down once I first started reading it. This is a perfect read for you contemporary romance YA lovers out there! In the beginning, Quinn was a difficult character to relate to honestly. She is a lot different from your typical teenager and it did seem a bit strange to me that she was still barely leaving her house a year after her boyfriend’s death. That might seem harsh since it’s a traumatic thing to happen, but it also seemed like she should still at least be living her life since she’s so young. However, I do believe that we all grieve differently and so I did sympathize with what she was going through. I just felt like some of the things she did in order to contact the boy who had Trent’s heart was kind of dramatic. I might be thinking about these things now after I’ve read it, but while I was reading it, none of that really mattered much to me. I got so caught up in the story and what was going on that it didn’t hinder how I felt about the book. While Quinn wasn’t exactly easy to warm up to at times, Colton was likable from the first time that we were introduced to him. Yes, I imagine that he was a very attractive guy. More than that though, he had an incredible personality and I genuinely enjoyed Quinn and Colton as a couple. I felt like he was so strong and positive, despite everything that he had gone through with his heart condition. Colton desperately needed a heart in order to live, and Trent who also was a young and healthy boy, lost his life tragically. I don’t know how to explain it, but I really loved how Quinn described how tragic it was that Trent was taking his last breaths while Colton was getting his first. This is just a paraphrase of what was said because I’m too lazy to pick out the direct quote, but I truly enjoyed Jessi Kirby’s writing at this spot in particular. To wrap it up, this was a well written novel that was easy to get lost in. I did have problems with Quinn, especially when she kept her connection to Colton a secret from him. I just felt like it was extremely wrong of her to do, particularly considering that Colton didn’t want to connect with the family or loved ones in the first place. The secret was looming over the happiness that the couple was starting to feel and you just knew that things were going to go south eventually. Regardless, I still found this to be a worthwhile read and despite the drama regarding the heart, there wasn’t any unnecessary drama like a love triangle or cheating. Jessi Kirby focused on the things that mattered in relation to the plot and the message that she wanted to send from her work and it paid off tremendously for me!

I haven't written a review on here in a loooooong time, but I also haven't enjoyed a YA this much in a long time. I feel like traditionally published books don't get the review support that the indies get, so I want to do what I can to support a good one when I find it. I've read other reviews about this one claiming it's slow-moving and lacks depth. I feel the opposite. This was one I didn't want to put down and trust me, I don't feel that way often. I felt connected to Quinn's character almost immediately and I thought the ways she dealt with her grief seemed legit. The author did a good job of developing the supporting cast, as well, giving Quinn's parents, sister, and grandma their own arcs and personalities as well. I did feel that Colton's character could have gone deeper with his feelings of being a donor recipient, the pressure he might feel to live a good life, the responsibility of making sure he's worthy and all that. But this book was told from Quinn's POV and I think the best part of a single POV is that we DON'T get to know what the other person is thinking and feeling all the time. The author did brush over the surface of his feelings, but it is up to us to try to understand how deep they went and I prefer it that way. In real life we don't know what everyone else is feeling all the time and single POV stories are more realistic to me in that way. If you're a fan of slow-burning, sweet, wholesome romances and coming-of-age type stories, I believe you'll love this one as much as I did. I'm adding the author's other works to my wish list right away.

Things We Know By Heart is a touching love story, starting from such grief and then pursuing hope with incredibly poignant stops and starts. The characters are so well-developed and the interplay of emotions create a very realistic portrayal. I felt invested right from the beginning and read this book far too quickly.

From the first time I've read Kirby's books, I knew after finishing Golden that I had wanted to read all of her books. Although her first two novels, Moonglass and In Honor, weren't exactly my favourite, Golden and this one, Things We Know By Heart seem to meet my expectations. With every book that Kirby writes, I feel that her writing is getting better and better. I didn't think that the writing in Golden couldn't get any better, but I was completely wrong, Kirby's writing in Things We Know By Heart was stunning and heart-warming. Although I loved Kirby's writing so much and I had wanted to give her five stars for a compelling introduction to the characters and plot, I knocked off a star because I had wished that Kirby had fleshed out her characters more. Things We Know by Heart is a quick read, a little over 300 pages and I wanted more out of the characters. I wanted more character backstory with Trent and Quinn. Then I wanted more Colton and how he managed living with a heart transplant. To me, the characters could've used a bit more of development. Despite that, Things We Know by Heart would've been an easy five-star read. Aside from the romance, another element of the book that I enjoyed was the romance. It was cute and sometimes, my heart would be skipping beats whenever they were together and sometimes, I couldn't stop turning the pages. It was such a joy to write characters who have been through so much and then come together. Having read all of Kirby's books, I cannot wait until her next release

Things we Know by Heart <3 follows the story of Quinn as she learns to deal with the grief of losing her boyfriend rent and dealing with the consequences of getting to know the recipient of his hear Colton. This was a slow story that breaks you with the attention to detail. the picture of grief portrayed by the author is so vivid that it makes this both hard to read but also hard to put down. The reason I didn't rate it more that what I did was due to the fact that the protagonists crushing depression correlated to the level of intimacy or closeness she shared with a significant other. (Not Trent) She went from being unable to get over her dead boyfriend to obsessing with a new one which is a tad unhealthy. Although I do understand that the manner in which she grieved and moved on was central to the plot which is focused around new begginnings