I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Great coming of age story

This was a really great contemporary! It was hard-hitting and emotional while also being upbeat and happy at the same time. I really liked the writing and the characters and think this is a really fantastic read!

I couldn’t get into this book. I tried multiple times and it just didn’t grab my attention. I skimmed through hoping something would grab me but nothing ever did.

It's hard to get into this author's style but she does show a Native identity that we don't often see - suburban middle class kid yet close to their Native roots and subjected to all the microaggressions of our society. I also loved how she realized she could be kind of an asshole too.

DNF

Not terrible but seems like it's going to be VERY preachy, which is fine if it feels authentic but it feels very forced here. Hard to believe this girl would be dating the infamous boyfriend from the beginning in the first place, since he was consistently douchey.

This book seemed to have too much going on for one book, such as racism, slut shaming, bulling, etc. I think the execution of the book would have been better if the author focused on one main issue. That being said, I did love this story and the powerful message that it portrayed, and I loved the characters. Would definitely recommend.

I really loved this contemporary YA romance with a Native (Muscogee) heroine! I love the complicated intersections at play here--and I love that as a reader, we 100% get why Louise is a little bit self-righteous, and I love that we get to see her learn to see where other people are coming from a little bit; but never to give up her own pride in her culture or her desire for justice.

It's also a great read for fans of teen journalists & teen theater kids.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This was a great book.

It was like High school all over again! Great coming of age story! Highly recommended! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

Unique writing and story that kept me interested. A story that had me wanting to read more. Relatable characters and a good flow. Would recommend!

I yearn (and many of my customers do too) for more books with Native American characters, for more diverse books in general and this book succeeds on that front. A good story with a great main character. Unfortunately, a lot of the story felt unrealized and not fully flushed out.

Hearts Unbroken was absolutely a 5 star read, so I have five pros and no cons.
This book has some really cool thoughts on color-consciousness and how much society objects to letting kids of color have things and be center stage and show their talent.
Louise! She was so confident in her identity, and learned from her mistakes. Brave and bold and amazing.
Hughie was so sweet, and I wanted to protect him ALL the time. He grappled with loving acting and The Wizard of Oz, but at the same time coming to terms with the racism of the creator. I think that struggle was done well, and I definitely learned something new about Frank L. Baum’s history.
I want to emphasize again the importance of listening and learning in this story. Empathy for others’ experiences can’t be achieved alone, it must be a collaborative process especially when trying to correct misunderstandings, and I loved that that message is included here. Every character had the chance to change.
​Lou’s immediate and extended families were warm and supportive, which used to be rare in YA. I’m glad we’re seeing more loving families for our main characters.
​Overall, 5/5 stars and definitely a recommendation for those seeking to read more YA starring Native teens.

This was a lovely, character-driven story for fans of contemporary romance. I loved the Native rep (a reflection of the author, so OwnVoices), and her refusal to be erased or denigrated because of her culture and heritage. More books like this need to be published.

I DNF this book, but I don't know if it was just my mood or if it was actually the book because one of my librarian friends absolutely loved it. I will be giving it another try.

There are few authors writing strong contemporary fiction about young Native American women as effectively as Smith does, and readers who have been waiting a long time for another story as illuminating and poignant as "Rain is Not My Indian Name" was nearly two decades ago will be happy to see her back in action.

I really really like this story. It's very well written
I voluntarily reviewed an Reader Copy of this book which I received through Netgalley.

There's so much smart stuff in this book about race, class and identity and how that interacts with everything that happens in your interpersonal life, especially love from Lou's perspective. Lou is dating in high school and trying to handle how she talks about her own Native identity and tribal enrollment, which is really important to her but can also cause trouble. She winds up with a great boyfriend who has Lebanese background, so he should understand. But are they communicating well? The love parts of this book were great, although some of the parts describing Lou's wider world got very confusing, about why her cousins suddenly entered the story. Then again, I always love cousins in a story so I was willing to forgive some of the confusion.

This is an important addition to many conversations about racism and white privilege in our society today. An #ownvoices story which will hope spark deeper thought about what’s happening right now. I almost wish the story had been written from Hughie’s point of view, or that she writes a follow-up with him as the focus.

I'm really torn on this one. I wanted to love it, but I didn't. I understand that I probably wasn't the ideal reader for this book, since I'm a white woman who's met few Native Americans, but I've read lots of other books by own-voices authors from other marginalized groups that I found much more relatable and understandable. I thought the author did a good job of exposing the many microaggressions that Louise faced and I absolutely don't think anyone "owes" it to the world to debunk stereotypes or defend themselves microaggressions, but it seemed like the same thing over and over: Someone says something offensive or insensitive, Louise is quietly offended, chapter ends, repeat in the next chapter. I just didn't find Louise particularly likable, and as a high school teacher and theatre director, I didn't find a lot of the school parts (particularly the letters to the editor of the school newspaper) to be realistic. It's rare that ANYTHING provokes that much outcry in a high school, and I don't buy that casting actors of color would result in the entire community and school body in such an uproar (or that the former theatre director would go on record saying something so over-the-top). I appreciate the author's intent, and I do want to find more books for my classroom library that accurately and sensitively depict the Native experience, but I don't know if this is the one I'd choose.

<u>Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars</u>

I was very excited when I got the digital Arc for Hearts Unbroken, because the book had been on my radar for it’s interesting premise before! I mean “When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over email. ” sounds pretty intriguing to me, so I knew that I wanted to know more and was grateful that I got to read this book. Sadly, I didn’t end up liking the book all that much. <b>It’s not that the book is absolutely beyond redemption, but I had issues with the execution and story structure, so I cannot say that I enjoyed my reading experience</b>. Therefore, I went with 2 stars, because I had a hard time motivating myself to get through the book.

<b><u>First: The Good Things</u></b>

<b>I really liked reading about Louise and her family</b>. She is Native American and of Muskogee-Cherokee heritage, this aspect is also ownvoices. What I really appreciated is how the book tackled a lot of important social issues, from the microaggressions and prejudices against Native Americans to their impact on Louise and her interactions with the people around her. Another focus of the story was challenging the default of whiteness as seen by the school play that had actors of color cast, causing the white parents to protest, because their “children were being discriminated against”. I also loved Louise and how close she was with her family. Her brother Hughie was really sweet and I’m always a fan of close family relationships in books!

<b>I also loved Shelby and her relationship with Louise</b>. I immediately was fond of Shelby, as she just was a very cool person and I admired how hard she was working. She definitely had to rough, but stayed very strong. I loved the friendship Louise had with her and how later it was discussed that Louise had been taking her for granted along the way and left her hanging a bit when she got into a relationship. I really appreciated that this discussion took place.

<b><u>What didn’t work for me</u></b>

<b>There were too many characters for me to keep apart.</b> There were a few characters that stood out a bit more, but overall there were too many minor characters for me to keep apart. After reading this book I have forgotten about 70% of the characters names and couldn’t tell you the personality or function of any of them either. We were introduced to so many new characters in each scene in the beginning, that I had a hard time keeping up with it all. Even throughout the story, having so many characters impacted the depth of each of them, as we didn’t get to know them up so close.

<b>The scene structure and writing style left a lot to be desired.</b> The writing style wasn’t hard to get through or anything, but it also didn’t particularly impress me and in the beginning I had such a hard time getting into the story as something about the writing felt off to me. My bigger issue here, however, was that the scene structure was very weak and not cohesive at all. The chapters were all pretty short, but the issue were the scene breaks, as they were none existent. We just went from one scene directly into another, so it felt like the scenes were stacked after another, without their being a cohesive narrative for the book. Therefore, the story often felt disrupted when another chapter started and we were thrown into a completely different scene that didn’t feel connected to the one before.

<b>I also got a bit tired of Louise’ involvement in the school paper.</b> At first I was excited that we had a main character with a prevalent hobby in the story, but after a while it just felt like there was too much focus on the school paper. It took up so much of the book and felt more like a report of everything that happened, meaning there was a lot of telling of what happened, that got dry after a while.

<b>IN CONCLUSION:</b> <i>Hearts Unbroken</i> didn’t manage to make me care for its characters and story, because the scene structure was very strange and there wasn’t a cohesive story and narrative that impressed me. I liked that we saw a Native American protagonist with such a close relationship with her family, but <b>ultimately the execution of the idea was very lacking</b>.