Review: Heart the Lover

A young woman's intellectual blossoming sets the tone for Lily King's Heart the Lover, an enchanting story about the pursuit of love and the exquisite, bittersweet regret of paths not taken. Taking stock of the relationships that shaped her life, a famous writer returns to her senior year of college and to the one great love that got away.

The first part of Heart the Lover is an entertaining romp of a college drama set at an unnamed university. Uninspired by her classes, the narrator is practically sleep-walking toward graduation until she meets two exceptional scholars, Sam and Yash, who ignite her creative ambitions and sharpen her understanding of her potential. What was only "paltry dabbling" before she met them transforms into a mission to complete an honors thesis in creative writing. They take to calling her "Jordan" and it isn't until the end of the novel we learn the narrator's true name, one that fans of King's Writers & Lovers will happily recognize.

Jordan's college experience has been limited by the fact that she works several nights a week to stay ahead of her student loans. Now, she dates Sam, although his celibacy is a point of tension in their relationship, and spends all her time in the house he and Yash share, an elegant home filled with books and belonging to a professor away on sabbatical.

Jordan's awareness that she is "unbearably naïve" is offset by her nonchalant sense of humor and sharp eye for irony, and she holds her own through marathon card game sessions with Sam's friends. Although Jordan is dating Sam, it's charismatic Yash with whom she develops an undeniable connection and whose magnetic pull she can't resist. It makes for a crowded threesome, with one person at the loneliest corner of their triangle at any given time.

Heart the Lover is streaked through with tragedy and betrayal, some of its characters undone by "life's tricks." King (Euphoria) is not one for dramatic plot flourishes; instead she calibrates Jordan's story with superbly timed, understated revelations and dazzling dialogue that will keep readers riveted. Misfortune has a clarifying effect for the characters, exposing the worn and comforting patina of their friendship and forcing a reconciliation with past mistakes. There may not be second chances exactly, but King allows for Sam, Yash, and Jordan's destinies to collide spectacularly far into the future. --Shahina Piyarali

Shelf Talker: In this enchanting story about a student's intellectual awakening and the bittersweet regret of paths not taken, a famous writer reflects on her college years and the one great love that got away.

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