The Faint of Heart is a beautifully crafted story about the importance of love, care, and hope despite the accompanied emotions of pain that may sometimes arise with the ability to feel. In this story, June, an artist at heart, lives in a dystopian world in which everyone has elected to have their hearts removed. This prevents all forms of emotion, which alleviated suffering but leads to a world devoid of joy. However, June has kept her heart in an attempt to stay true to herself. When someone starts stealing hearts, June gets the idea to replant hearts in order to get her sister's emotions back. Will her love for her sister be enough for this adventure to be successful?

Wilson's drawings are a masterful piece of color theory which incorporates melancholic blue as the past, sunrise orange as the potential for future love and bright yellow as the main character's powerful persona despite a bleak gray present. The graphics made me stay in the page longer than I needed to because I was enjoying the bright contrasts so much. Without a doubt, Wilson, like June, is an artist at heart.

My ONLY critique, and it is very minimal at best, is that the science behind heart removal and transplant was very off. Do not get me wrong, this is a dystopian graphic novel and clearly the laws of anatomy do not rule here, but I would have liked a little more realistic exploration of what it would take to put a heart back and SPOILER ALERT HERE: how to grow one. Despite this, I believe The Faint of Heart is a beautiful piece that reminds us why sadness is a necessary evil of happiness and why emotions, however flawed, make us the humans we are.

A beautiful graphic novel! June is the only one left with a heart after all of her loved ones willingly give up theirs. This story explores what it’s like living in a world void of emotions. There are no longer the messy ups and downs that come with feelings, but is living a life without love and relationships worthwhile? The art conveys the emotions and compliments the story so well. It will resonate with both young readers and adults. Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the arc.

I absolutely LOVED this beautiful graphic novel about platonic love and understanding emotion. I thoroughly enjoyed the illustrator's use of color to show how June is still feeling things deeply, and is still in tune with her heart. There is so much commentary in this story and the artwork is beautiful and haunting. I know this is one I will be adding to my personal library for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

The faint of heart by Kerilynn Wilson is a graphic novel that explores the depth of emotions and platonic love that I personally adored. The only thing I could ask for is more about the world; the idea of having a way to remove hearts and be emotionless felt realistic for the world that had been established.

June wants to grow up to be an artist. The problem is no one else cares. Everyone else has had their hearts removed to make life easier. Now she's the only one left who cares about anything until one day she finds a heart in a jar sitting in an alleyway...

The art is really great. I love the limited use of color. Only June has some color because she's the only one left with a heart. This one gets a full recommendation from me. Great stuff!

The illustrations in this graphic novel are so unique and beautiful. It’s a very unique story that teaches the importance of our relationships with people.

How do you mend a broken heart in a world void of emotions? Turns out, it only takes one heart that is strong enough to help those no longer with heart. This beautifully illustrated graphic novel dives deep into how far would one go to remove the emotions of sadness and depression, only to learn that emotions are key to survival? A well written look at how important emotions are in our world, that with out them, it would be very dark and grey.

This is one of those graphic novels that really sticks with you. From the story and characters to the illustration it was all very good.

Gracias a Netgalley y HarperCollins Children's Books por la copia avanzada

Primero que bonita portada, la historia podríamos clasificarla como una distopia, como bien lo dice la sinopsis el concepto y uso de color nos recuerda a Eterno resplandor de una mente sin recuerdos, en este caso se retira el corazón y con él todos los sentimientos, tanto malos como buenos, el uso de color al igual que en la película sirve para contarnos las etapas de la historia pero aquí la diferencia es la protagonista y su motivo que le da su propia esencia a la historia.
Las ilustraciones aunque son simples son muy bonitas acorde con lo bonito de la lectura. Si bien siento que hay algunas conveniencias se pueden pasar por alto y no me molestó.

Sin duda la recomiendo y espero la autora siga publicando novelas gráficas porque está fue una buena lectura.

Strong concept that I think a lot of folks (especially teens) will find relatable. Amazing artwork and use of limited color palette. The build up to the climax was better than the climax and resolution. But still, overall a solid story with some Big Life Lessons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Greenwillow Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Summary: What would you do if you were the only person left with a heart? The only person left who felt anything at all? Would you give in to the pressure to conform? Or would you protect your heart at all costs? Part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and part Severance, this debut teen graphic novel is a vivid and haunting read for fans of Nimona and This One Summer.

4/5 stars
This was a beautiful and thought provoking story. June is the only one she knows that has kept her heart. She is the only one that can feel, create art, and cares about the world around her. The minimal use of color is brilliant to show the isolation and highlight feeling. The plot pacing was excellent until the very very end. I finished this in one session and would read this again. I would recommend it to my teen students!

Kerilynn Wilson's graphic novel The Faint of Heart was a fantastic eye-opening story into a dystopian future I never even thought of before. I am a huge fan for new authors showing strange twilight zone based stories that make people think about the Big What Ifs happening in the future. This graphic novel reminded me of how the people were acting in the strange Camazotz city from A Wrinkle in Time. If you do not remember, it was a place where kids and people became emotionless, zombified humans who did whatever the man in the red eyes wanted. In a way, it kind of happens in the same way when people are June and other are forced to have their hearts removed for the sake of advancement/logical thinking. This book's overall plot both terrified and intrigued my interests as the same time because while I loved that people were focusing harder on advancing their capabilities, it hurt me to see that thought of love even for family to be completely destroyed. Love was what started the act of heart removals but it was also the start to saving the human race and helping those in pain afterwards. I cannot wait until this book comes out in print and I really want to see everyone's reaction to it. The whole story was bewildered, but I loved how bizarre, fresh and unique it was. I highly recommend this to everyone!

A debut YA graphic novel that’s full of heart.
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Not long ago The Scientist created a procedure that requires the removal of your heart in order to have you focus more on school, work, etc and leave your emotions out of it. June has seen her loved ones turned into emotionless robots in front of her eyes. Now she’s the only one left with a heart and still loves her art, but when she’s caught daydreaming in class the school calls her parents to say it’s time she had the procedure too. While June pretends she had the heart removal, she finds an ally in Max, a boy who had his heart removed, but is now feeling things again. How is that possible? As June and Max try and track down a cure, they realize this might be more permanent than they thought.
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What a stunning debut by @kerilynnwilson I honestly couldn’t stop reading. Part dystopian, part The Giver, part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind this book asks the question: what would life look like without emotions? The color palette with June being the only one in color was beautiful. I loved every bit of this title out June 13.

CW: hospitalization, surgery

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June lives in a world where most people live without their hearts. A procedure that removes emotions that were created by the Scientist to eradicate the budding emotions of people. As the rest of her family had the operation done, June lost that connection with her sister and the art that formed their sisterly bond. But when she meets fellow classmate Max, who has a secret of his own, June realizes that the mystery of the heart may untimely break her heart in two.
Dark and mellow dramatic scenes. Blacks and greys filled the pages of this graphic novel, yet with June, it's all about color. It's heartbreaking as the message dips into the motions of life and death. I cried and mourned for June and the upside-down world she lives in. A story of loss and love and the special moments where the heart means everything.

The premise of this story feels both timely and timeless. In a modern world where it often feels like people don't care, Wilson asked what if people chose not to care? In this fictional reality, a Scientist has discovered that you can remove your heart, place it in numbing solution, and no longer feel anything. You might understand where these characters are coming from, caring/emotions can hurt. But, without them you become apathetic and purposeless. The main character in the story June, has recognized this. While her whole family has chosen to remove their hearts and become akin to emotionless zombies. June refuses. Not only that, she wants her family back. This leads her on a journey to finding out if the procedure can be reversed and if anyone will even agree to it. The illustrations in the graphic novel were fitting. The scribbly black and white style evokes both high emotion and lack of it. The choice to give only June and the hearts, color further allows her to stand out and identify her as having emotions. Though, at the beginning of the story we see a classmate, portrayed in black and white despite the fact they are getting the heart procedure later that day. It made for some ambiguity in an otherwise straightforward premise. Would recommend it to those who enjoy and appreciate graphic novels with gorgeous art and an interesting, dystopian, story. (Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the ARC)

What a fascinating read. First off, between the minimal coloring and thin character styling with pencil, this book really feels like it's ready for a Tim Burton animation treatment, similar to Frankenweenie and ParaNorman. The art style, texture, and color choices really bring together the themes of the story, as well bringing contrast and tension between people and times with hearts and those without.

From a story standpoint, this was really nicely done. How the procedure of removing hearts came to be was understandable, but also so were the consequences. People are interconnected, and it's been proven time and time again that those with strong support systems have more opportunities to thrive. This story very clearly illustrates the strength in creating those bonds and especially among those you love.

In summary: very interesting story with a lot of heart, no pun intended.

In this dystopian novel people are having their hearts taken out and numbed to avoid those nasty feelings that can take over your life. But is a life without feeling a good life? The chosen color palette of the book contrast the brightness vs dark of life with vs without emotion. A great exploration of the questions: Is life without feelings better? Can you regrow a heart?

In this debut graphic novel, Kerilynn Wilson explores what would happen if people could get rid of their emotions by removing their hearts. June is the only person left that she knows of who still has a heart. No one else is interested in art, other people, or anything other than school and work. Obviously, there is a lot of suspension of belief (how do they survive without hearts?) but it is an interesting idea for kids to think about.

A cure for hurting and being upset and feeling axiety- have your heart removed. When all feeling and caring vanishes, what is left? A beautiful story of needing your heart in all the ways and helping others find theirs. Filled with georgous drawings that bring light to the Gothic story. Verdict: take care of your heart and get this book.

5/5 Stars

This was beautiful story and the art was equal if not more beautiful. Definitely Recommend.