Date: 19 oktober 2017Author: sanneh1 Reactie— Bewerken
Recently, I read this Young Adult book, for the first time in English from this amazing author named Joanne Carlton!
What is Heart-Beat about?
The book is about 2 good friends, a boy (Jasper, 18) and a girl (Sam, 16). Sam is a bit weird, while Jasper could get anything he wants. And he doesn’t like it. He wants to earn things instead of getting it the easy way. And he goes far for that. Too far at an important basketball game.
In the hospital, Jasper gets told that there is a tumor growing inside his heart and that it will consume him. He doesn’t have much time anymore.
Sam convinces him to pursue his dreams, such as singing in front of a crowd. Together, they go to Londen, where Jasper participates for a singing contest. As the contest goes on, Jasper’s condition gets more worse. He’ll have to choose between pursuing his dream and his family.
Sam knows she’ll have to say goodbye to Jasper soon, but she fully supports him.
My thoughts about the book:
* The cover:
I simply love the cover! As a Belgian, it has this typical English look (don’t ask me to explain, it just does! XD ). There is a certain atmosphere around this book that makes me want to grab it instantly and read it! The colors are beautiful, and the subtitel sounds mysterious! It even makes me think “What would I do?” After you’ve read the book, you’ll understand the choices for the cover and the subtitle even better!
The story:
The story starts with Jasper collapsing during an important basketball game. You get instantly into the story, which is an aspect I love.
The story is also told in first person. Another thing I love, because that way I can more easily get into the story. The narrator changes between chapters though, but that isn’t irritating at all. This way, you can again get in the minds and thoughts of the main characters.
There are many nice plot twists in this story. Another one of those books where you thought you knew what is going on, and then it’s entirely different. I love it!
The story goes on quickly as it’s a real pageturner! Sometimes I had to swallow hard and stop to think. It’s a sad “heartfelt” story, and because of the first person perspective, it intensifies that feeling, but again that is not bothering at all. It makes you think about your own dreams and purposees in life.
The characters were very well portrayed. You have a clear image of who Sam and Jasper are, what they do in the (past) life, what they do now, how they got there. That makes the story very credible.
This book makes you think about your life, your dreams and your purposes. At least for me. That life is too short to postpone things. If you wanna do something, do it now while you can.
For all of the reasons above, Heart-Beat from Joanne Carlton is a great book that you must read NOW!!!
My score:
Cover: 5* / 5
Story: 5 * / 5
“Heart-Beat” by Joanne Carlton
354 pages
Self-published
Available in paperback and e-book on amazon.co.uk