Dang, I just wish people were better at communicating.
Let me be more specific: Dang, I wish men were better at communicating.
Then maybe there wouldn’t be so many shoulda coulda wouldas.
Then again, none of that matters if you believe in presentism.
Lily King’s “Heart the Lover” was on my TBR list late late year I had really enjoyed her previous “Writers & Lovers.” (And now wait just one gosh darn minute now that I went back to my review for that book to link it here, I read back over it and my mind is blown and I have to think this through first but there may be some parallel universe action going on here …)
Having made its way to the top of my pile, I was quickly drawn (once again?) into Casey’s world as an early-life-crisis college student trying to find her way, as she befriends a couple of classmates and is drawn into a romantic relationship with one of them at the get go.
This is a girl just trying to figure it out. And the men in her life, namely Sam and Yash, aren’t making it any easier. Sam’s inability to be completely vulnerable and … yes — communicate his feelings, leads to heartbreak, repeatedly.
And once Casey takes up with Yash, he too, can’t seem to get his act together entirely. Somehow, though, King is able to do it for him, as readers can feel exactly how much Yash loves Casey. And how special that relationship is to the both of them. Until that inability to communicate destroys it, at the very worst time.
Casey survives, as all of us who have ever been heartbroken do, and honestly, if my parallel universe theory pans out, it really was destiny anyway. Years later when Yash and Casey see each other again, she’s with (clearly) her soulmate, Silas.
King then asks readers the big question — do you believe in presentism or eternalism? For Casey, there’s merit to both, but to move forward, it’s better to choose one and go with it. Presentism FTW.
“Heart the Lover” is a very sweet story about friendship and love, love and friendship, and finding the right balance to make a relationship work. I really, really liked this a lot and seriously need to go back and pick up Writers & Lovers again to see if I missed a clue somewhere. I kinda like this Casey and Silas journey we might be on. Don’t pass it up.
LitzyDitz 