Heart The Lover Is So Much More Than A TikTok Book Trend
The world is in turmoil, so unsurprisingly, the need to dive into a novel brimming with love-tinged nostalgia is extreme. We’re in full-scale escapism mode, longing for real-life human feels. Heart The Lover has them all: longing, angst, eroticism, heartache, grief, but above all, deep-rooted love.
It’s a reminder of all the things that really matter; a story of both young entanglements and mid-life realisation. I challenge you not to fall into the pages of this book and emerge both bereft and yet replete with joy. This is a story that will grip and pull at even the coldest of heartstrings…
What is it about?
Heart the Lover throws the reader into the academic world of three university students. Sam, his best friend Yash and the unnamed narrator are the central characters. Days are spent drinking beer, playing card games, and dissecting contemporary literature, while an underlying haze of desire and conflict simmers. Bonds are tight, especially with an air of sexual tension sizzling in the background. Relations are built, broken and rebuilt.
Reviewers have referenced a love triangle, but I’d say it’s more a discord of morals and wants. Life decisions have lasting repercussions. Graduations, career changes, babies… and missed opportunities.
Like all of us, they dabble with doubt, dance with the ‘what ifs’ and reminisce with intensity.
Ashling, Contributing Style & Interiors Editor
Throughout the novel, the scene moves from the States to Paris and then back to the US. Serving as backdrops to monumental stages in their lives, we live through the characters’ dreams and ambitions. We grow into adulthood with them. And then crisis hits, making each one of them question how they got there. Like all of us, they dabble with doubt, dance with the ‘what ifs’ and reminisce with intensity.
Yes, this is a love story with two at the heart of it. But it’s also a love story about friendship, marriage, parenthood and all those you meet along the way. Like the works of fiction our three central characters studied, this book has the power to influence, shape, and stay with us.
Why should you read it?
The words from this book seem to unconsciously envelope your soul. You quickly lose yourself within the youthful unease, contrasting bravado and relationships. King doesn’t just bring us into the realms of these young people; she drops us right in the midst of the torn pizza boxes and card games. It’s relatable on so many levels, which brings you even closer to the protagonists. But even the surrounding characters are both strong and colourful, making this unfolding drama feel all the more real.
Heart the Lover reveals both the ecstasy and heartbreaking loss that comes from love so deep it hurts.
King is a beautiful writer, an award-winning one, too, so I’m elated to have found her. She writes effortlessly, taking us on a journey against a backdrop of academic and literary references, easily nodding to the great writers of our time – Joyce, Dylan Thomas, and Shakespeare. I watched Wuthering Heights before reading, and, honestly, it only served to enhance how great this truly authentic love story is. Minus the bustiers, Heart the Lover reveals both the ecstasy and heartbreaking loss that comes from love so deep it hurts.
On top of that, King transports us through time and generations. From the heady days of university life to those blissful yet unpredictable years of open possibilities, set in Paris, and then settling into grown-up responsibilities. It has the potential to feel bleak, foreboding even, and yet, somehow it doesn’t. There is hope keeping it afloat. Ultimately, this novel, in a time of uncertainty, tells us to soak up every last drop of life. Using the couple’s literary bond and often quoting other influential writers, this story stays with you. “He hadn’t said goodbye properly, he hadn’t appreciated what they’d had together. It was beautiful. Full of regret.”
Verdict
In this case, the buzz is warranted. This gem of a novel broke my reading rut.
There’s no denying that TikTok has boosted the publishing industry and brought authors to the fore. But sometimes I’m wary. In this case, the buzz is warranted. This gem of a novel broke my reading rut. For one, it’s not long, so void of the intimidation generated by those thick tomes weighing down your bedside table.
Secondly, it has you hooked immediately. Opening with, “You knew I’d write a book about you someday.” Who? Why? From that second, I’m all in, rooting for these friends. I’m angry. Sad. Frustrated. I’m shouting at the pages. And then I’m crying. Big, bulbous tears careering down my cheeks. Lily King has the ability to cut deep without you realising until she’s touched your very core. For me, the short time with these slightly tormented yet genuine characters reignited my belief in humankind, goodness and deep, deep, beautiful love.
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