Unfortunately, I picked this up about a week after my mother died of a heart attack and absolutely could not get through it the first few minutes. I apologize.

This one was different but not in a bad way. I wouldn’t read it again but I’m happy I read it once. I recommend if you are into literary fiction

This story was not for me. It was difficult to keep up with and jumped around quite a bit. The narrative was strange, where sometimes it felt there was no plot and then just jumped right back into the story. I often could not tell where we were in the author’s life or around how old he was. In the first story I believe the narrator said he was 15 but it seemed from his thoughts and feelings as though he was 50. I’m sure this book could be very impactful for someone else, it just wasn’t meant for me I suppose.

Semezdin Mehmedinovic's debut novel is a collection of three lengthy essays. The first essay talks about his heart attack at fifty-five. He then goes on a road trip with his son, who is a professional photographer, to visit Phoenix and their first home. In each essay, we learn about their lives in Bosnia before and during the war. It's also filled with little bits of wisdom and perspective that move forward and backward. While nostalgia is a concrete emotion, it can also connect us to a time when we had many choices. This is a good book, full of humor and wisdom about life. Thank you, Catapult, for the gifted copy via net galley.

For a book about a war refugee who has a heart attack, My Heart is surprisingly...chill? Not much really happens, and it's more just a meditation on the author's life and topics of family, identity, and memory. Reminiscent of Ali Smith's seasonal quartet. The audiobook was a very relaxing listen, and I thought the narrator did a good job. It would have been ideal to get one with a Bosnian accent like Mehmedinovic's, but the English accent still somehow made sense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for this ARC.

Short Overview:
Semezdin Mehmedinovic, in this autobiographical fiction book, writes about the time after a person's heart attack at the age of 50, a travel diary, and the time spent taking care of a wife after a stroke. He reflects on the heart as the core of human experience. He writes through the lens of his family as refugees after the Bosnian war.

Pros:
-The writing was absolutely beautiful, incredibly imagery in every section
-New perspectives on the healthcare system, particularly in the US
-Insightful views on illness and health
-Life outside after staying in the hospital is a beautiful portrayal
-New genre from my usual, excellent change of pace

Cons:
-Tried to read it a bit too quickly, definitely a book that should be read slowly to appreciate all of the imagery

Audio Format:
Steven Crossley did a fantastic job. If I read this book again, however, I would read the print version as I felt like I kept wanting to go back and re-read the author's beautiful descriptions.

CW:
-Memory loss
-Serious illnesses

Overall: 5/5
Lovely, slow-paced, insightful read.

I was given the opportunity to an ARC of the audiobook by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This piece is an autobiographical fiction about the author's experience after he suffered a heart attack. It's told in three sections: his experience during his heart attack, a travel diary after, and his experience caring for his wife after she suffered a stroke.

Before I go into my praise for the meat of the story, I have to give compliment the narrator for the infliction he used throughout the story as well as the gravitas he placed in just the right moments that really put emphasis on important moments. This was a 5 hour long audiobook and I could've continued listening to it for 20 hours more. The format as to how it was separated into parts could've been improved slightly, but other than that, very well done.

Now, for the book itself: It was beautiful. It was self-reflective, angry, generous, kind, vulnerable and very introspective into what it is to be a middle-aged man, a father, and a husband. He speaks about his son in such a heart wrenching way and how sorry he is when he realized he hadn't protected him from the cruelty of the same traumatic events the caused him to develop PTSD and how he tried to erase that trauma with his overprotection. Then came his time as a care taker to his wife and the tediousness of caring for her and her forgetfulness and the effects of her stroke and how he realized that he was finally repaying her for the years she acted as his caretaker.

All-in-all, it was a beautiful audiobook.

I'm really sorry to say this, but I gave up listening to the audiobook around the 65-percent mark. "My Heart" just didn't speak to me after the first few chapters and Sem's heart attack. I was hoping to learn more about his home country, but lots of the scenes were about Phoenix, Arizona (where I live), and it didn't seem to add to the story. I was not entertained or wooed or shocked or saddened. The book sort of felt like a diary, but without the good stuff. That said, the narration and delivery was fine. It was just the content.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced ARC.

I am not usually someone who reads autobiographies or biographies in general. I typically prefer fictional pieces, however, I am trying to diversify my library and this felt like a perfect entry point to more biographical texts because Semezdin Mehmedinovic has a clarity on himself and those closest to him that most do not typically.

Although this is a translated piece I feel that not much was missed in translation except I do not have the historical knowledge of who Mehmedinovic is or on the Bosnian war. He cannot be faulted for my lack of knowledge but certainly still makes it feel accessible to those not in-the-know.

Semezdin’s relationship with his child, his wife and ultimately himself were exceptionally explored in his story as a refugee and someone always feeling outside of the culture in which he lives. These stories give the feeling of togetherness between moments of loneliness which is incredibly apt for the time in which we live.

I gave My Heart 3.5 starts rounded up to 4.