Things We Know by Heart

MY THOUGHTS
This book was one of my most anticipated releases this year! It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I discovered a wonderful contemporary with an interesting premise!

Around a year ago, Quinn's boyfriend, Trent, died in an accident. Trent's organs were donated to different people and Quinn has been able to contact almost all of the people, except for the boy who has Trent's heart. Quinn actually goes to find him and ends up becoming friends with him. She begins to have an attraction for him, but is it for him or for the heart he carries? And how can she carry on with this without telling him about Trent?

What intrigued me about this book in the first place is basically the entire premise. The idea of a girl trying to find a boy who has her boyfriend's heart? It's something that I've never read before! Many contemporary books seem to be very similar to one another and this one was something completely new! This book touches on the subject of grief, but it's not all depressing. It has the aspect of moving on and while I don't have any experience, I do think it was done quite well. There is also a distinct amount of just lain hopefulness in this book. All these things added together being in a heaping ton of emotions while reading, but I think it was done brilliantly.

Quinn is a great main character. She's extremely realistic. I had issues with her choices, though, as she kept putting off telling Colin. Colin had no idea that Quinn knew about his past heart problems and that she was Trent's girlfriend. I really wanted her to tell him, because I knew that the longer she put it off, the outcome would not be great. While this bothered me, it did make her more real.

As for romance, this book does have a theme of it, but I feel like it's not what this book is about. Still, the relationship between both Trent and Colin is very important. I really liked Colin and I liked how Quinn and Colin's relationship grew throughout the book! I thought it was really sweet and I was rooting for them!


IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was a fantastic contemporary! It's new and it brought so many emotions! This is my first Jessi Kirby book, but it most certainly won't be my last!

Quinn has been unable to move on since the death of her boyfriend Trent. She hopes meeting the people who received his organs will help but whoever received his heart, the person Quinn truly wants to meet, never replies. So Quinn does her own research and tracks down nineteen-year-old Colton, recipient of a heart transplant the same day Trent died who lives only a few hours away. She plans on just watching him but instead, an small accident brings them together in ways Quinn never expected. In order to let Colton in – she’ll have to let Trent go.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this book. The cover was very cute and seemed to promise a light read but the synopsis promised more of a healing journey. It turned out to be a little bit of both with a mix of family time and some uncomfortable moments due to secrets kept thrown in.

Part of the time I liked Quinn and part of the time I wanted to shake her. She did a good job at pulling me into her world, understanding her love for Trent and why she couldn’t move on, why she felt she needed to meet Colton. Her need for closure drove her to do something desperate and then she kept digging herself in deeper. I could see why she fell for Colton. He was such a sweet guy and genuinely cared about her even when she was a complete stranger. Even with all the secrets between them, they had a connection.

I really liked the family bond that was shown in this book. We didn’t see a whole lot of Colton with his family but there was still that close feeling from the blog his sister had kept during his health problems. Quinn’s family appeared a lot more. They were obviously close but mostly did their own things, but were always there if someone needed advice or needed a little push or tough love.

The romance was mostly light, even with all the secrets being kept between them. I really liked Quinn and Colton together but had a hard time letting myself get completely lost in them as a couple. It was the way Quinn had tracked him down and the secrets that kept me from becoming too invested in them together. Instead of enjoying them falling in love, I found myself wondering when everything would blow up in their faces and if their growing love would survive. It ended up being a bit predictable but still enjoyable.

The writing was so great. There were many beautiful passages about love, grief, moving on, family. It was a huge part of why I enjoyed reading this book. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had been sold on the romance but I liked the characters and the struggle to move on with life both main characters showed.