My Heartbeat

As she tries to understand the closeness between her older brother and his best friend, fourteen-year-old Ellen finds her relationship with each of them changing.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be : stupid. And in two : very stupid.

First of all, it was completely pointless. And I mean it. It started out alright, I guess, but as the book went on, the plot didn't evolve. It stayed where it was, and maybe even backed up. Nothing was going better for anyone at the end, there were broken hearts, frustrated people, broken friendships, nothing was going well at all. There wasn't even any good drama of any sorts, it was just a maddeningly pointless and plot-less book.

Secondly, it left me depressed, which is very hard since my usual state of mind is super-hyper-happy. This is one of the only books that ever made me curl up on the couch and listen to happy music on repeat. No, I wasn't was because the story was sad. That kind of sad is one I actually like. But in this case... The book itself frustrated me from its complete lack of anything good at all.

Next, I was unable to feel attached to the characters AT ALL. I hated the protagonist, wait a second, I already forgot her name... Ellen. Her voice was nothing like a fourteen-year-old's. Her brother was downright frustrating and useless. And of course, James was equally frustrating, though he was probably the character I preferred.

I don't like ranting very much, but this one time I had to vent off steam. I honestly suggest you stay very far away from it.

I only have one last comment. Because this is a book with gay themes, it seems everyone praises it very highly, yada yada yada. But if we take that factor away, if I compare it to other books that do not have gay themes, it sucked. It seems that everyone is biased by the fact there are possibly gay characters. This makes me so mad, you have no idea. I might review a few really, really good gay books because this, honestly, is a book a absolutely hated.

Sorry if I offended anyone, I needed to get that off my heart.

-Aithen

My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr Rating: 4/10