
Title: Heart Bones
Series Title: Standalone
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: August 19th 2020
Publisher: Hoover Ink, Inc.
Pages: 338
Genre / Themes: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
SYNOPSIS:
Life and a dismal last name are the only two things Beyah Grim’s parents ever gave her. After carving her path all on her own, Beyah is well on her way to bigger and better things, thanks to no one but herself.
With only two short months separating her from the future she’s built and the past she desperately wants to leave behind, an unexpected death leaves Beyah with no place to go during the interim. Forced to reach out to her last resort, Beyah has to spend the remainder of her summer on a peninsula in Texas with a father she barely knows. Beyah’s plan is to keep her head down and let the summer slip by seamlessly, but her new neighbor Samson throws a wrench in that plan.
Samson and Beyah have nothing in common on the surface.
She comes from a life of poverty and neglect; he comes from a family of wealth and privilege. But one thing they do have in common is that they’re both drawn to sad things. Which means they’re drawn to each other. With an almost immediate connection too intense for them to continue denying, Beyah and Samson agree to stay in the shallow end of a summer fling. What Beyah doesn’t realize is that a rip current is coming, and it’s about to drag her heart out to sea.
MY RATING
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”
GIF MY THOUGHTS


Oh Colleen Hoover. You could do no wrong, can you?
I love Colleen Hoover. I have read most of her books and I loved almost all of them. I disliked one book in particular Ugly Love but overall, her books are amazing, so I wasn’t expecting anything less when I read Heart Bones. I didn’t even read the synopsis for this book, when I saw it on Kindle Unlimited with Colleen Hoover’s name on it, I just read it.
And it was so good.
HOW IT BEGINS:
There’s a picture of Mother Teresa that hangs on our living room wall where a television would go if we could afford the kind of television that hangs on the wall, or even a home with the kind of walls that could hold a television.
WHAT WAS THE STORY ABOUT?
The story follows Beyah (I really wish she should have just used Bea since the pronunciation is the same anyways) who has been living with her mother for as long as she remember, but her mother’s death forced her to temporarily move in with her father and his new family in Texas.
Her plan was to just stay for the summer and then move to Pennsylvania for her volleyball scholarship at a university. That was the plan, yet as we all know, plans don’t always go the way they are planned.
She had no plans of complicating her stay in Texas, but then she met Samson. Someone she didn’t knew she needed. Someone who she didn’t completely knew yet she could feel she had known for a long time.
But she had secrets, so does he.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE STORY:
The story was simple yet complicated at the same time.
Colleen Hoover’s books have a certain formula to it that works for a lot of us romance readers. Heart Bones have the same, yet a complain I had about it was how unbelievable the action of our main character, Beyah, was towards the end. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though, I just had a hard time believing it.
Samon and Beyah just met for this summer, so when it happened, I was shaking my head in disbelief. If it happened to me, I probably wouldn’t have done the same thing knowing that this was just a guy I recently met Don’t get me wrong, they had chemistry. I guess I could say their personalities clicked together maybe because they were both struggling from something individually, but the decision that was made by Beyah towards the end, just made me scratch my head. Nevertheless, I enjoyed their story even when the ending kind of felt a bit far-fetched.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WRITING:
No doubt, Colleen Hoover could write. Even when I hated a book she written aheeem. Ugly Love, I couldn’t deny the fact that her writing style is addictingly intoxicating. She definitely knew how to keep her readers interested. She writes stories that her readers would want to read about, plus she adds very relatable characters.
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE CHARACTERS:
I liked the characters in the story. Beyah and Samson were both damaged people, not in the same way, but they both were.
Damaged people recognize other damaged people. It’s like a club you don’t want a membership to.
They were good people but their circumstances changed them. I liked how they were able to pull strength from each other to help them overcome whatever it was that made them damaged people. They wanted to change for the better.
Samson, in particular, won my heart when he said something to Beyah towards the end of the book. His selflessness really won me over. He wanted what was best for Beyah and I loved that so much.

As for the side character, Sara (the half-sister) was definitely a favorite. It’s so refreshing to see the step-sister and the step-mom not being vilified in a romance novel. As for Beyah’s dad, you get to understand where he was coming from.. He had his faults and he knows it, but you get him. You really do.
WHAT I LIKED
– The writing. Like I said, addicting as f*ck.
– The connection between Beyah and Samson is undeniable. It feels authentic and real. It never felt forced.
– Sara and Alana. I liked them so much! If I had to have a step-mother and sister, I’d want it to be them.
– I’ve always been for stories that are simple. I don’t like convoluted stories where drama branches from all sides, Heart Bones wasn’t like that. Both characters had their issue, but the focal point of the story was their romance and how they were able to fix the issues that they both have in their lives. They weren’t dependent on each other, instead they drew strength from each other which was beautiful.
– Normally, I don’t like cheezy stuff, but when the meaning of heart bones were finally revealed, I was like…

It was cheezy as f*ck, but I liked it.
– Like most of Colleen Hoovers books, this made me tear up. Not the ugly crying that mostly happen but just tears…
– Good deeds to pay off it seems. I love a good happy ending.
– I liked that one of the characters had to pay for what they’ve done. It wasn’t brushed off or anything, this person had to be accountable for the things they did and I liked that.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
– The family aspect was brushed off a tiny bit. I would have liked it to be a more prominent focus, but then again, this is romance so I can’t really complain.
– Like I said, I found the ending a bit unbelievable. If it was me, or probably anyone I knew, they wouldn’t have done the same thing.
– I really dislike the “I’m-not-pretty-but-she’s-really-is-gorgeous” trope. This has that in the beginning.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
You could probably tell that I liked this. A lot. I was happy with the characters, I was happy with the plot and how things eventually ended. Colleen Hoover you have done it again!

Fabulous review! Definitely need to check this book out when I can, I love Colleen Hoover! She writes so amazingly.
Thank you!! And yes she does. I’m so glad I ended up liking this 🙂
You’ve convinced me. It on my TBR now.
Let me know what you think once you’ve reviewed it. 🙂
I finally had a chance to read it and it was so good. I have been trying to stay away from sad books and this book is so melancholic but I couldn’t stop turning (swiping) the pages. I do agree with you on a lot of things. I liked Sara and appreciated how she was not the evil stepsister Beyah expected. The focus was on Samson and Beyah so it meant less development around connecting with her new family. Even though there were a few moments, much of it felt surface level and brushed aside. Yes, I agree that ending seemed too good to be true but I was happy with the HFN ending. I was a bit skeptical about the choice that Beyah made but I guess when you find the one then maybe even time cannot dull your feelings. Overall, it was a good read. I am glad your review convinced me to read it because I may not have picked it up otherwise.
Awesome!!! Glad you liked it too. And yeah, that was my problem with the ending, it was too good to be true, especially since it was her first time falling in love. Sure, there might be some who find it the first time around, but her not having good influences on how to handle relationships, it was a bit impossible to me that he handled hers so well without issues. It was a pretty nice read nonetheless. 🙂
I can’t seem to view your page. Is it still koosreviews.wordpress.com?
I thought I fixed that. Sorry. It is just http://koosreviews.com
I think you need to update that on your wordpress profile. 🙂 its still showing as the wordpress one. Thats for linking that.
Thanks! I will fix it. Thanks for checking out my blog.
It has been years since I’ve read a Colleen Hoover book. I have a hit and miss relationship with her book, but I like that this one doesn’t vilify the step-sister and the step-mom. Her writing is definitely addictive and I’m a sucker for a happy ending, though from the sounds of it it also sounds like an insane ending. Brilliant review. 😀
I had one of her books that I absolutely hate and another meh one but her writing is so easy to read so I enjoy them. It’s so refreshing to have nice step sibling and parents that arent bad isnt it? 😅 i look forward to your review of this! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I’ve never read a Colleen Hoover book, but you’ve convinced me (with those gifs, especially! :D) to try this one out! Plus, I LOVE the cover. Awesome review! ❤
You should! I would recommend starting with It Ends with Us, November 9, Confess, and Maybe Someday (which has its own real songs… the songs were so good!). Thank you! 😊 lemme know if you end up reading any of her books!