Author Kristina Forest is known for writing warm, resonant romance for teens and adults. In Heartsick, a rapidly paced, YA romantic mystery, Black teens Margot and Isaac discover a pharmaceutical company is lying about the dangerous side effects of their extremely popular drug.
Senior Margot Whitman's college plans don't align with those of her controlling parents: Margot is serious about being a journalist, but her parents believe "jobs in print media aren't reliable anymore." They insist she intern at Healing Hearts Inc., the pharmaceutical company "responsible for the ingestible pill that can cure a person's heartbreak." Margot has even considered taking the $500 pill herself after her recent breakup with artistic Isaac Fisher. Nonetheless, she is shocked when Isaac shows up at Healing Hearts. Isaac, whose focus has been failing after the breakup, immediately regrets his decision when he sees Margot. He bolts, and Margot retreats to a back room where she overhears a one-sided conversation in which the COO mentions "patient complaints," "migraines," hospitalization for vomiting, and assures someone that these individuals "won't talk anymore." When Margot is discovered eavesdropping, Isaac helps her escape the center, but the teens are now on the run from a powerful corporation. Isaac, Margot, and all their complicated feelings must team up to tell people the truth about Healthy Hearts.
Forest (Zyla and Kai) provides a rapidly moving chase and sentimental love story with both mystery and thriller elements. Through the protagonists' first-person points of view, readers are invited to consider the morality and ethics around the idea of erasing heartbreak. Heartsick is a heart-healthy read for fans of Nicola Yoon and Jenny Han. --Natasha Harris, freelance writer