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I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I’m not sure where to start with this review! I really enjoyed this book. Up until the end, it was very interesting and fun to read.

I liked how this book showed the hardships of life after a transplant. I liked how the main character had to find herself and figure out what she really wanted. I liked Chloe’s character, but I felt like sometimes she got very annoying. I loved Kai’s character and Jane. I enjoyed how Jane got her life together.

I was very disappointed with the ending. I wish there could’ve been a happier one! I was very confused about the ending. It didn’t really explain anything. I was also very confused about Emma. She was friends with the main character one minute, then the next she wasn’t, and then she was again.

Overall I’d recommend this book to contemporary lovers who are okay with a little heartbreak.

This book was super enjoyable and very meaningful. It was well-written and this is not some light read to pass time. Your mind is really filled with some thought provoking storylines.

First of all thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this book.

This was a book that’s usually not the type I would go for. That being said I actually enjoyed this very much. The writing was engaging and the story very interesting and believable.

The issue I have is with the end. It just felt like there was so much unexplained and left open.

Even with a not so awesome ending this was still a solid read and I’m glad to have gotten the chance to read it!

The first part of the book would have been a 4 star, it was the ending that brought it down to a 3 star. Chloe and her journey with her heart transplant was the good part of the story. Also showed how it changed her friendships and life at home. The drop in stars happened when she figured out her "donor". Even with using a parallel universe there were too many plot holes. The ending needs to be worked out more.

I’m not sure what drew me to this book, whether it was the promise of a look into this interesting phenomenon, or simply that you don’t get a lot of YA books based around teen who have had transplant surgery, but as I was reading it, my thoughts kept coming back to my patient - that is, when I could tear myself away from this engrossing masterpiece.

The book follows the last half of senior year/summer after of Chloe, our protagonist. A high achieving, social, athletic 17 year old, she is training for her cross-country team when she becomes dizzy and passes out. When she wakes up in hospital, she learns that she has a genetic abnormality which has caused slow heart failure - and it’s irreversible. She needs a transplant, or she won’t live much longer.

The rest of the book follows Chloe a few months after the life-saving transplant. She is learning how to live again, and who she really is. She finds herself having desires and wants which are entirely out of character for her - including wanting to learn how to surf. With the help of a tutor called Kai, she learns, and is soon spending her free time out on the ocean, learning to surf.

Things are not all rosy however. Chloe keeps having the same nightmare, over and over again. She’s speeding down a road; wipes out; and the world goes dark. Then, nothing. Soon the odd thoughts and (what feel like) memories are beginning to haunt her during the day time. Who is the man she saw sitting by her hospital bed after her transplant? Who does the silver pitbull belong to? Why does she instinctively know how to do things; how to get to a certain house?

There is romance in this book, but it’s not the overwhelming drive. With the help of Dr Google, Chloe learns about and unproven theory called “cellular memory” - where the cells in the body all hold memory, not just the brain cells. She finds articles about people who have gained skills they did not have before their organ transplants. The book follows Chloe as she struggles to reconcile the “new” her with the her before - is studying worth it? Why was she so focused on always moving forward, doing every little thing to get the edge over other students? - and also to come to terms with what her awful dreams are telling her.
I don’t want to spoil the book, so I will move on here!

The writing is beautiful - I honestly couldn’t put it down. I haven’t been reading a lot since lockdown here, and this was one of the first things I read that really hooked me. There is an element of realistic-sci fi, but I found that the story was so well written that suspension of disbelief wasn’t hard. There was a moment where I was a little “uh, not sure about this”, but the author has been so skillful in weaving the real with the slightly fantastical, that I was able to carry on without any ill-will or misgivings.

The friendship aspects in this book is one of my favourite. I actually stopped and screenshotted a page (the new NetGalley App doesn’t allow highlighting as far as I can figure out), because the portrayal of a friendship was so on point. Chloe is talking about a friend: “She is my friend. I want us to stay friends. But maybe that’s not what she wants, or needs, anymore.” If that line didn’t break me a little… It’s very common in YA to see friendships either remain whole (after a fight or such), or simply go from BFF to enemy in a heartbeat. This attitude is something I am still working on at 30 (more now than ever!), and I was so pleased to see that it was included here. With all of the relationships in the book, the author acknowledges that there is no such thing as perfect; that people change; and that it’s okay for friendships to change over time. This is something we all come to at some point in our lives, and I think it’s an important theme to speak to in YA as it’s not something we are taught in school.


Overall, this book was wonderful.

Content warnings: medical scenes, some blood, risky behaviours, language, drug and alcohol use.

Rating: 5 Stars

The Quick Cut: A girl struggles to move on with life six months after her heart transplant.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Candlewick Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Although organ transplants are a common occurrence in today's medical community, they are much more complex than they seem. Having a new organ from another individual is truly taking a piece of them. However, do these parts play a role in who you become post transplantation? This is one of the questions brought up in the story centered on Chloe.

Chloe has spent her life trying to get good grades and make all the right moves for a solid future. However, when she collapses during a cross country meet, life spirals out. It turns out she has a rare heart condition, which requires a transplant. Now she's six months post operation and struggling to keep her life going. Suddenly she's struggling in school and finding herself interested in new hobbies (along with new nightmares). Is she getting more than a heart from her donor? What is happening to her?

This story has an intriguing premise, but I couldn't keep myself from nit-picking as I continued to read. While the post transplant lifestyle and it's struggles are well covered, the way the book grazes over that transplant waiting period bothered me. The way it's written makes it look like waiting on the list is easier than it actually is.

In addition, the book seems to struggle between two premises: keeping a magical aspect to the story and discussing the possibility of cellular memory being real. The author attempts to balance both and fails to realize either in the process. That plot twist ended up frustrating me more than anything.

Cellular memory is a fascinating concept that I think would have played out better in an adult novel. The audience would've been more interested in the idea than young adults will be.


A struggle to balance two ideas makes this story fall flat.

My rating: 3 out of 5

This book was good, if not a bit predictable. I think teenagers will really fall for its sweet message. It's easy to like Chloe, and her struggles seem real. I am not trying to spoil the book, but there is a plot twist that is really too much, and that's where to book veers off. I think maybe teenagers won't mind the drama.

This book was so different from anything I read in terms of the writing style. It was absolutely beautiful. I absolutely loved listening to Chloe’s story and will be recommending this to anyone looking for that hard hitting contemporary. This made me feel so many things.

Everything I Thought I knew by Shannon Takaoka is a thought provoking and genre bending debut. My eye was caught by the vivid colours of the cover and the painted anatomical heart, it suggested something a little different for the YA genre, and when I read the synopsis I was so intrigued that I needed to read it as soon as possible.
Chloe is a typical seventeen year old girl, working on getting good grades and collage applications as well as training for the school's cross country team when life as she knows it is thrown upside down. She collapses at training and learns that she has a serious heart defect and will need a transplant sooner rather than later if she is to survive. The book then jumps forward to a point where Chloe is six months post transplant, and doing well, unless you count the strange dreams she has been having lately. Yes her life has changed dramatically, she now has to take a fistful of pills every day, and she has had to defer college because she needs to finish Summer school to make up for the time she missed at the end of her senior year., but there are other changes too, for one she has taken up surfing, and is starting to get close to Kai , her instructor. As her nightmares become more vivid, and she starts to remember things that never happened she begins to wonder if she has received more than just a heart from her donor, does she have their memories too?
While the idea of transferring memories or personality traits with a transplanted organ has been pretty soundly debunked by medical science it is still an interesting idea for a book , and I thought it was well developed and explored here. I liked Chloe's character and how her experience post transplant was portrayed, that sense of the new organ being something "other" and her awareness of that at times, and how that played into her decision making and actions. I also liked the way the relationship between Chloe and Kai developed over the course of the book and how it went in a very interesting and original direction. I was not expecting to run into a discussion of theoretical physics and quantum states, but I liked the way it was integrated into the story and I think it could provoke some readers into expanding their knowledge of the topic.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Everything I Thought I Knew is an un-putdownable debut which has a unique and original plot which makes the reader think while drawing them into protagonists life.

tuisgfjbksgfhknhdthytyijniushuirdnyihy. I lost my brain. I lost my mind this book was sooooooooooooooooo good. omg omh mommhmomomhohktghnjnhjitrh

Wow, I sped through this and it surprised me so much! I really loved the journey that we got to take with Chloe after her heart transplant as she starts to change and seems to start absorbing the personality and memories of her donor, which is a really interesting premise. I do have a thing about books where teenagers are just rebellious (as in, I absolutely hate it and it gives me second-hand dread/embarrassment) but this book managed to go about it differently. The twists were great and I really liked the characters.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m going to be honest, I requested this book on a whim because I’ve been trying to read more books outside of my comfort zone. I was a little nervous when I first got approved for the book, but I started reading and was instantly hooked!

This book has such a unique plot. The main character is 17 and just had a heart transplant and is trying to navigate this new lease on life she’s been handed.

Chloe’s journey was incredible. I feel like we really got to see her struggle and grow and take accountability for her actions and work to be better. You love to see it!

I also didn’t see that ending coming! I had my guesses about where Chloe’s new heart came from, but I didn’t expect that. Just wow! So we’ll done!

I highly recommend this contemporary read. This is an author to watch.

Here comes a semi unpopular review! This is the first for me to fall in love %75 of a book and then hate the rest of it!

The story of struggling 17 years old Chloe whose life completely changes after she collapses her cross country practice and finds out she has a rare heart disease and after her successful transplant she is not the same person who she was before because she doesn’t only get the donor’s heart but also donor’s some special memories or abilities ( she never ride a motorcycle in her life but now she can) is a promising start!

We may read some similar story concepts or watch movies about a person’s characteristic changes after seeing the thin line between life and death.

But what I truly enjoyed about the book was the realistic approach of the author about college applications, the burden the young adults carry, the over demanding responsibilities and pressures they have to face for forming better future plans for themselves.

When I read Chloe and her high school friends’ detailedly planned, extremely busy daily schedules and how they push themselves hard to compete with each other and miss to enjoy their best times of their lives, I wholeheartedly empathize with them.

And now Chloe is out of race, feeling shaken because as all of her friends move their lives, she seems lost. She goes to summer school for extra credit and catch up the time she lost and she befriends misfit Jane: the girl who doesn’t give any f*ck what the other people think about her. She secretly starts taking surfing lessons and having a crush on secretive, mysterious instructor Kai. She starts to ride motorbikes, getting a heart shape tattoo, smoking pot, attending parties, befriending surfers.

She’s changing but she also starts to remember another person’s memories: having nightmares about them. For stopping her night terrors and solving the puzzle about her new characteristics, she has to find her donor’s family for her closure. But as she finds out the truth; she will feel like somebody pulled the rug from under her feet.( I felt the same but not in good way)

The shocking twist of the book has so many plot holes and so many similarities with Emma Thompson’s screenplay ( I’m not gonna give the movie’s name for not giving spoilers) which also disappointed me but even that movie has a positive and heartwarming conclusion. But this book’s questioning ending didn’t fit with my expectations. I just screamed: WTH!!!!!!

There are so many great and likable elements about the book starting with characters, the realistic approach to the challenges the young adults face and the emotional depth of the story. But jaw dropping realization and ending disappointed me.

So I’m giving first %75 : 4 stars
Last %25 of the book: 2 stars
Average: 3 stars!

I still want to read more works of the author because I enjoyed the plot idea, her emotionally capturing, moving storytelling skills and character buildings.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This book was so different and unique and honestly I couldn't recommend it enough!

A story about a seventeen year old girl, Chloe who needs a new heart. After her heart transplant she starts to get flashbacks from memories the doesn't remember every experiencing. That's when she sets out to look for her heart donor.

This book was just amazing. This was a young adult contemporary with a twist and I loved it. Except for a small portion in the middle when I couldn't understand what was happening, I enjoyed the book a lot. The twist was unexpected but very exciting to read. This book also made me feel emotional and was also heartbreaking at times. Definitely worth reading till the end!

I thought this book was pretty good until the ending. The ending was weird and didn't seem to fit with the book at all. It was a little bit confusing and I still don't fully understand what I read. There didn't seem to be any consequences for the characters actions and being pulled over on the motorcycle and having to go to court wasn't even mentioned again. It was an easy quick read.

Holy moly, what an emotional roller coaster it’s been reading this book.

Everything I Thought I Knew tells the story of Chloe Russell, who one day collapses on her school track and learns that she has a heart problem. Eight months later, she has a new heart and is starting to develop memories that aren’t her own.

Honestly, I had no clue where Everything I Thought I Knew was going at first. I just assumed that it was a contemporary novel about a girl who learns more about herself and life after receiving a heart transplant. BUT BOY, WAS THIS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING. I did not expect Shannon Takaoka to take it where she took it, but she did, and I honestly am here for it. I thought it was a really creative ending that I didn’t see coming.

I really enjoyed this book. I love that Chloe questions everything around her and how the book also poses big questions for the reader to ponder as well. I love the idea of cellular memory and I think it’s so cool to be able to have these memories that aren’t your own.

One issue I had with Everything I Thought I Knew is that it’s very very detailed, to the point where I skimmed at some paragraphs. Whenever Chloe introduces a new topic in a chapter, she lists a bunch of details that are associated with it, and I just thought that it was not necessary and made it more cliche.

Overall, Everything I Thought I Knew was such a thought provoking and interesting read. I’m still reeling over everything that just happened and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read this book.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for you honest opinion and review. I really enjoyed this book. I was able to finish it in one sitting. I enjoyed Chole’s character, and I definitely did not see the end coming. I would recommend this to anyone

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I KNEW by Shannon Takaoka in exchange for my honest review.***

After Chloe’s heart transplant, she struggles to find her new normal. The former honor student now has no patience for summer school. She begins taking surfing lessons with the mysterious Kai, something the Before Chloe would have never done. Additionally, New Chloe, now a risk taker, has difficulty connection with her former self.

Depression after heart transplant is fairly common. Many theories touching on biological, psychological, medication induced float around and there’s not one definitive reason, which makes sense because the same is true for depression not following transplants. I found Chloe’s journey to be expected until a big twist proved me wrong.

I would have probably enjoyed EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I KNEW more without the twist, but won’t go into the reasons why because that would be a spoiler. I usually enjoy twists, especially ones I never saw coming. I just didn’t like this one.

Chloe’s was authentic and true to character. Outsiders may assume transplant recipients to be zestfully grateful to be alive, but the guilt over not feeling that way when the donor died can compound the adjustment. Some of her choices were worse because of her transplant and the meds she needed to be okay, which I’m not condoning.

Shannon Takaoka’s writing style kept me stuck to the story, not wanting to put down my device because I needed to know what happened next. I can picture EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I KNEW as a movie that teens will flock to see.

If not for the twist, EVERYTHING I THOUGHT I KNEW would have been a five star review.