Helen Hoang's emotionally intense The Heart Principle opens with violinist Anna Sun seeking therapy for having hit a mental brick wall. After becoming Internet famous due to a viral video, she can no longer find the joy in playing, and questions why she can't stop trying to please everyone in her life, including the boyfriend who suddenly wants to date other people. Should she do the same?
Quan Diep, Khai's brother from Hoang's The Bride Test, still feels vulnerable after a health scare left him scarred, but his cousin Michael, from Hoang's The Kiss Quotient, convinces Quan to sign up for a dating app to get back in the game. On one app, Quan sparks to Anna, whose profile says, "Looking to spend an uncomplicated evening with someone nice. Just one night, please."
The two arrange to meet up, but Anna panics and the date doesn't go as planned. They end up texting comments to each other while watching nature programs together, safe in their respective homes. Their friendship grows slowly, until a family crisis forces Anna to decide what she wants from life and who she wants to be with.
In the author's note, Hoang says The Heart Principle is half memoir, that "Anna's struggles were mine. Her pain was mine." This statement makes the novel even more commendable, for Hoang doesn't shy away from Anna's struggles with mental health, personal loss and artistic burnout. Anna goes to some dark places, but the author shows that romance can bloom in unexpected ways and reminds readers that happily-ever-after endings are different for everyone. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd