Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: How To Build A Heart
Author: Maria Padian
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Puerto Rican family and main character!
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Genre: YA Contemporary
Recommended Age: 14+ (some rock throwing, slight gore, a gun, death, and healing)
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Pages: 352
Amazon Link
Synopsis: One young woman’s journey to find her place in the world as the carefully separated strands of her life — family, money, school, and love — begin to overlap and tangle. All sixteen-year-old Izzy Crawford wants is to feel like she really belongs somewhere. Her father, a marine, died in Iraq six years ago, and Izzy’s moved to a new town nearly every year since, far from the help of her extended family in North Carolina and Puerto Rico. When Izzy’s hardworking mom moves their small family to Virginia, all her dreams start clicking into place. She likes her new school—even if Izzy is careful to keep her scholarship-student status hidden from her well-to-do classmates and her new athletic and popular boyfriend. And best of all: Izzy’s family has been selected by Habitat for Humanity to build and move into a brand-new house. Izzy is this close to the community and permanence she’s been searching for, until all the secret pieces of her life begin to collide.How to Build a Heart is the story of Izzy’s journey to find her place in the world and her discovery that the choices we make and the people we love ultimately define us and bring us home.
Review: Oh my God what can I say about a book that carved its way into my heart to deceptively that I found myself thinking about it at 1am this morning? This book was an absolute delight and I was so happy to read it! The book was well written with all the feels and the characters were very well developed. The world building was wonderful as well and the pacing is on key. This book will be one of those that will make you want to pick up a hammer and go help people like Izzy and Roz.The only issue I had with the book is that sometimes the chapters will end with Izzy having to make a choice or something will happen, then in the next chapter it will skip forward to a different time and in that time ahead she will recount what happened after the event in the previous chapter. It’s a lot less complicated than what I’m making it out to be, but it was kinda weird to get into.
However, I did like that approach to storytelling and found it very genuine to how some people think.
Verdict: A book that will build a house in your heart.
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