I really wanted to love this book, sadly that wasn't the case. It was more the writing style that I didn't enjoy. I did however like the characters, but the writing style just wasn't there. I needed more. If I'm being honest, which I always am when it comes to reviews, this just wasn't a book I would remember after finishing.

Book: How To Build A Heart
Author: Maria Padian
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Algonquin Young Readers, for sending me an ARC.

So, this book has been on my radar for about a year now. The publisher has been talking about this book with me saying that they think that I will really enjoy it. They were right. Yes, I do normally read more fantasy than anything, but I do like hard hitting contemporaries and this is just what I’m looking for. Whenever I’m reading a contemporary I do expect an easier read, but I also want to get something out of it. Yes, I do like cute reads and there was a lot of cute parts here, but I want it to mean something. This book gave me that punch that I am looking for. We have a super cute romance, but we also have real issues at hand here.

So this follows Izzy who is a high school girl pretty much from the wrong part of town. She attends a Catholic school where everyone seems to have everything. She keeps saying that she’s not ashamed of who she is, but she does seem to hide it. I can see a lot of people being upset by this, but she is a sixteen year old girl surrounded by rich people. Their world seems so prefect and hers doesn’t. I mean, think back to when you were sixteen. I bet you may have tried to do something similar if you were in her shoes.

I really enjoyed the family element of this story. Izzy is multi-cultural. Her mother is from Puerto Rico and her dad is from the south. Not only do we have that going on, but her father was killed in the service. So now she is being raised in a single parent home. They really don’t see anything of their other family members so they are pretty much on their own. They are picked for Habit for Humanity, which is supposed to be a good thing. However, Izzy doesn’t want word to get about this. I can see a lot of people labeling Izzy as a brat about this, but just remember what we know about her character. Also think back to when you were a teenager.

I just really love the strength and seeing how the characters bond throughout the book. To me, it’s the characters that really made this book. We see how they all need each other and how sometimes you really do have to let go of toxic people. I like how they always manage to find their way back to each other.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. This is going to be one of my blog’s spotlight books in January, so check it out.
So, this book comes out on January 28, 2020.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/fRc8rNMXMqE

Maria Padian’s new novel, How to Build a Heart, shows one girl’s struggles as life constantly tries to test her with hardships, staying true to herself, and being honest with those that she cares about.
Sixteen-year-old Izzy Crawford just wants is to feel like she really belongs somewhere. Her father, a marine, died in Iraq when she was ten years old, and Izzy’s family has moved to a new town nearly every year since, far from the help of her extended family in North Carolina and Puerto Rico. When Izzy’s hardworking mom moves their small family to Virginia, all her dreams start clicking into place. She likes her new school, even if she hides her scholarship-student status hidden from her well-to-do classmates, and is smitten with her new athletic and popular boyfriend. When Izzy’s family is selected by Habitat for Humanity to build and move into a brand-new house, Izzy finally feels like she’s found a home. But what will happen when all the secret pieces of her life begin to collide and the truth starts slipping through her fingers.
This novel tells a great story about a girl dealing with a lot of change in her life and struggling to find the balance between her old life and new life. Izzy’s story deals with her splitting her life up into all of these pieces: her school persona, her home persona, and her friend persona. She tries so hard to keep these pieces of her life separate and eventually it all comes crumbling down as the all start to mix together. Izzy must also find the courage to stand up for herself and not be embarrassed about who she is. As money, social class, school drama, and relationships swirl around in Izzy’s mind, she loses sight of what’s truly important and what separates true friends and family from phony ones. Izzy’s perseverance and strength during the hardships in her life is admirable and truly shows that you need to set the truth free in order to make things right.
While it seemed a bit cliché and predictable at times, fans of YA will fall in love with this book! With first love, self-discovery, and self-acceptance being major themes in this story, readers will resonate with Izzy’s story and fall in love with this book.

It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but I really enjoyed it! Izzy is dealing still with the grief of her father's death 6 years prior; she lives in a mobile home with her younger brother and their mom, who does everything in her power to make her children's lives better. Izzy's best friend, Roz, complains often about the rich people living not to far from their trailer park--and Izzy finds herself caught in both worlds as she befriends someone from that world of wealth.

Izzy was easy to empathize with, and I really liked her relationship with her little brother Jack, and her mom. There are two female friendships in this novel--with Roz and Aubrey--but I will admit it felt a bit weak. I didn't love the treatment of Roz for part of the novel, and there is some girl hate that can just be summarized as "she's dating the boy I like, what a bitch" . . . which is not the greatest. Beyond that, I liked the romance--though for the life of me, I can't think of a single thing they had in common other than finding each other hot.

A cute and sweet novel in some regards, I think the family aspects were the strongest. Still, I really enjoyed the novel.

The book itself touches on classism, racism, and poverty-esque issues, such as “living in a trailer park”. It also deals a lot with family, friends, and how we treat those around us.

The main character, Izzy, is, essentially, ashamed of the fact that she lives in a mobile home with her mum and young brother. Her father, a Marine, died six years previously, and it has taken its toll on Izzy.

There are a lot of social and familial topics in this book which I think is especially important in books, especially books that have such heavy topics, as I think it’s something a fair amount of teenagers in low socio-economic backgrounds would be able to relate to.

There were parts of this book that I didn’t connect with, but on the whole, the story was enjoyable.

It was a solid 3 star read for me.

"Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres." I know I heard that growing up. This book covers all different kinds of relationships and was a wonderful read.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Classic story about teenage girl who is poor but this rich, handsome boy is totally into her. So now she has to hide her poverty in order to also hide her embarrassment of being poor. But somehow it works because she manages to create a new life for herself without her trailer park friend Roz. Being with Sam feels like the death of her father and the cramped trailer home doesn't exist. However, things don't go as planned of course. Izzy realizes there are some things she doesn't have control over and there are other decisions she can make.

Her mother has successfully applied for Habitat for Humanity. The dream of having their own home is finally here. Izzy can't believe their "luck" especially when the boy of her dreams starts taking her out on dates and him breaking up with his equally hot girlfriend for her is a possibility. I don't know about that and it really doesn't look too good. Let's just skip over the cheating details. After all the lies, Izzy gets the boy, a house, reconnects with her father's side of the family, and even gets her Roz back without apologizing although they both suck.

While I like the concept, there's not many people who I root for in the story aside from her mother. Izzy is constantly lying and doesn't really own up to it but expects others to understand this is what it takes to climb up the social ladder. She also is white passing so it's easier for her to do it. Take what you will from that detail. Roz is so hateful but I guess what do you expect from a teenager? Sam is a cheater and just thinks Izzy isn't like other girls because she doesn't care about her looks or whatever. Then we have Aubrey who gets brushed aside when she no longer serves her purpose as the catalyst to get the two together.

I have to admit the story does take many surprising turns and I enjoyed Izzy confronting her father's family. The house building alongside all the people in their live gathering together actually did melt my cold heart. Not enough to make me ignore the shadier parts of the characters though. I recommend this for fans of feel good books. There's so many points to touch on in terms of race, class, and maybe even gender. While it's not deeply explored in the book, I think we do get the feeling Izzy cares to some extent and it's "handled" in an assimilating sort of way meaning glossed over.

Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers for an advance reader's copy in exchange for a fair review!

How to Build A Heart is about family, friends, loss and much more.

It was different to what I expected, which was something more like a lighter YA read but I still enjoyed it for the most part. I found the beginning difficult to get in to as I was just thrown in to a conversation. And it felt a little superficial.

I liked the writing style and I liked how the story played out. It covers some serious issues too.

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great read that encompasses a lot of important and heartfelt themes. It tells the story of Izzy, a teenager who is struggling with the grief of her father's death and the financial burdens that have been placed on her family. While learning to grow, she faces the cultural clash and trying to figure out her identity. It's empowering watching her find herself while coming to understand what friendship is and experiencing her very first romance. It was a heart felt read that I definitely recommend

This one was a heart breaking story to start with, but by the end it was an uplift tale. I will say that this had the normal young adult troupes of a love triangle and more. So make sure to know that those will be in there. Although those are in this story I think that it played out well with the story and I don't think it would have worked without it being in there. The pacing was well done and I did love the characters. I wished that the characters would have been fleshed out just a little bit more however, overall they were ok. I loved the mix of cultures and the look at what it is to be a military family. I think the author did very well with tossing in Habitat for Humanity and other aspects of losing a father etc.

Overall, this was a great contemporary story.


Go Into This One Knowing: YA Troupes, Love Triangle

**Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers, Netgalley, and Maria Padian for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**

I had a hard time getting into this book in the very beginning, but once it hooked me I was HOOKED. I stayed up late to finish it and I have #NoRagrets. It's not exactly a rags to riches story, but it has some similar features. I think the prejudice situations were handled well and I loved all the characters (except Roz, and I don't apologize). I feel bad for Roz of course, but her personality was really grating, and it felt like all Izzy did for awhile was seek her approval because she was "cool". I loved Sam and Aubrey's character and I was really happy the "rich" family wasn't prejudiced against the trailer park girl.

I loved the addition of the Habitat for Humanity plot line. I haven't read a book where Habitat was mentioned, but it was so beautiful that this family was able to be built a Habitat house and I darn near cried when a lot of the town started pitching in - including long lost family.

I adored the little romance between Izzy and Sam - they had such a glorious connection and chemistry on paper. I think they brought out the best in each other and Same helped Izzy heal a bit.

Please go check this one out!

This book follows a teenaged girl as the different pieces – family, friends, school, money – of her life intersect. Isabella Crawford’s life is turned upside down when her family is selected to receive a house from Habitat for Humanity and her family’s story comes to light through Habitat newsletters and fundraising campaigns. Isabella also falls for Sam Shackleton, her friend Roz’s crush, and her new friend Aubrey’s brother. Isabella also reconnects with her late father’s side of the family through her cousin Mark. When Isabella and Sam become an item, her friendships with Roz and Aubrey are threatened. Although Isabella works hard to hide her family’s poverty, it all comes to light when Sam’s parents attend the fundraising dinner that Habitat for Humanity throws. Isabella, upset and angry, leaves town to visit her estranged Crawford family, discovering that her cousin isn’t evil (there was a horrifying cake incident), that the estrangement was due to her grandmother (who is evil), and that family means loyalty. When she finally lets the pieces of her life intersect completely, she realizes that she didn’t have to hide all along.
I loved this novel. It was such a fun, easy, emotional read. Throughout the story are references to her Puerto Rican heritage, her struggle to keep her living situation a secret, and her struggle to like someone that her friend likes. It’s such a relatable story. There is the typical teenage drama and romance. There is finding true friendship, finding true family, learning to love and accept yourself, but it never feels cliché. It feels real and guttural. Isabella’s journey is emotional, long, complicated, and satisfying without reading like most other young adult novels.

As a veteran, I was originally ,y drawn to this book when the synopsis mentioned that the main character had lost her father, a Marine, in Iraq. I was slightly disappointed that the story didn’t explore that topic more, but I can’t say that this book didn’t tackle some tough issues. This book deals with friendship, mother/daughter relationships, poverty, death, just to male a few. I think the issues that the book did explore were done well. Even though this book wasn’t was I expected it to be, it was an enjoyable read and one I would recommend to teens. 4*s

This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention.

oh man. this was too good. it's the second book i read that includes a parent that died in ~action~ but just as interesting!
so this book was focused more on family with the romance as a subplot but i really enjoyed seeing how izzy eventually found herself.

i totally understand why izzy kept everything a secret but as mark said, if someone doesn't like her for "being poor" then she's better off without them. i adored every single (main) character and how willing they all were to help out. my heart truly goes out to roz, she's just a misunderstood teenager that deserves better. truly admire how hardworking izzy's mom was. she only ever wanted the best for her children and that's a truly admirable quality in a person.

i cried. really pulls on your heartstrings, especially when it came to dealing with her dad's side of the family.

10/10 definitely recommend this book.

[ e-ARC received from NetGalley ]
This book was quite nice. Normally this kind of genre isn't my cup of tea, I usually tend to read fantasy. But it surprised me, I absolutely loved the Latina roots that were woven perfectly and intuitively throughout the story. How To Build A Heart is a beautiful contemporary on finding oneself and fitting in.

-Thank you so much to NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers for providing this e-ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.

A very readable new YA addition, if not perhaps the most remarkable. The romance was sweet, and the connections between family and friends were well drawn and interesting (Mark, a late addition, especially so), and the cultural aspect was appealing. I also noticed that things which would have become Big Deals in other YA books are handled more sedately here - Izzy confessing that she hasn't been truthful with Sam, for example - but I sort of appreciated the lack of drama.

I did find Izzy to be a fine narrator, but I also felt as if she was let off the hook for bad behavior a lot. The way that she takes advantage of her mother's advice about Roz and their friendship to free herself from guilt for not telling her about Sam, the minimal discussion with her supposedly strict mother regarding running away, the way she misleads Aubrey by indicating that the (absolutely accurate) emotional reading she is getting about Izzy and Sam is mere paranoia and a sign of another mental health crisis...these things were treated fairly lightly by the narrative and the other characters, but did make me finish the book wondering why I seemed to be the only one noticing that the MC had some fairly large flaws that not only didn't seem necessarily improved by the end of the book, but went mostly unremarked upon.

How to Build a Heart by Maria Padian deals with a lot of issues. Friendship, families, mother daughter relationships, sibling relationships, loss of a parent and many more. This story really touched my heart and brought a lot of different emotions out of me. It made me happy and it made me sad. I loved the writing and I was so into the story from the beginning. It also has some trigger warnings abuse, racism, bullying and depression. I want to thank Netgalley and Algonquin Young readers for providing a copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book - the author tells the story of Izzy, a teenager who is struggling on various fronts: grief at her father dying much too early, shame at being poor, cultural confusion due to growing up with two cultures and not fitting in in either one. The story is told from her POV, as she grows and blossoms, coming to understand what friendship is, experiencing romance for the first time and finally settling in to her life and person. The author did a great job with all the characters, giving each their own depth and background, and bringing to the fore things that underscored the forward movement of the story.

Yes, the book has a few weaknesses, for example the usual YA tropes - but I felt the good parts far outweighed these minor deficiencies.

Not my favorite read but it was a quick book for me. Thank you so much Netgalley and publisher for the free review copy.