Beautiful and heartbreaking in equal measure this book was incredible. An easy five stars and a book I would not hesitate recommending for a weekend read or our next book club pick.

Oh my God……I absolutely loved this book for a million reasons. I have never read anything like it ever. It’s a one of a kind that’s a must read. The characters! Brilliantly written and defined. Each one holding their own power on the page. With 2 very different sisters as the central amazing characters supported by an equally spectacular cast.

<b>I predict we will see this as a film in the near future.</b>

People with disabilities are often poorly represented in fiction. Stereotyped, inaccurate and even patronised. Not here. Our beautiful character with Down Syndrome is portrayed as a powerhouse of a woman. I love that she corrects everyone calling it UP Syndrome not down. Can we get that as a real thing out there? She is sick, Very sick, born with many of the serious health issues those with UP Syndrome can have. It’s her heart. Her heart is sick yet it’s so full of love and big dreams. We read her diary and thoughts with so much feeling. Her expression of what she is going through is moving, funny, heartbreaking and so much more.

Enter the sister living overseas with a different life who flies home to a Asia after hearing her sister is deteriorating. The family are divided. Everyone has an opinion on what’s best to do. Nobody is really listening however. It’s so powerful. The writing is exquisite, an amazing writer who did the disabled community justice (as a disabled person I respect this so much).

You will laugh, cry and love this book. Don’t miss out on this gem. One of the best books I have read this year.

Ultimately this is an affirming novel about choice and autonomy, about life and what it means to live. I really enjoyed the dual narrative of Harper and Marlowe, what the novel revealed about Chinese culture, but also about how generally we view difference and choice in today's world. It was beautifully written and pitched just perfectly. A really great read!

4.5★s
When Things Are Alive They Hum is the first novel by Hong Kong author, Hannah Bent. Marlowe Ming Yue Eve has lived in London for three years and is just about to defend her thesis on a certain endangered butterfly larva when she receives an urgent letter from her younger sister, Harper Ming Hui Eve, calling her home. She informs her professor of the situation, bids farewell to her boyfriend, Olly, and jumps on a plane.

Harper has high-functioning Down Syndrome (which she insists people call Up Syndrome) and a congenital heart defect. Despite having had several operations and multiple hospital admissions, Harper lives a full life, working as a librarian assistant and enjoying the attentions of her devoted boyfriend, Louis. She’s even writing an autobiographical story.

But now her heart condition has worsened, and doctors tell her widowed father, James, and her beloved grandmother Mei Li that only a heart and lung transplant will save her life. Hong Kong has “deeply entrenched views about disability; the ‘less-abled’ members of our society were often shamed and families preferred to conceal their ‘imperfect’ members from the world.” No doctor she sees will put Harper on a transplant list.

As Marlowe tells their family friend, Uncle Johnny, a journalist, she’s not ready to bury her sister, but changing the mindset of the Hong Kong community is no small thing, and Harper doesn’t have the luxury of time on her side. When a radical opportunity presents, Marlowe feels she can’t deny her sister the chance. But is it what Harper wants?

The narrative alternates between the two sisters, so that the reader comers to know the characters from different perspectives. Marlowe’s flashbacks to their childhood provide the backstory of how they come to be two daughters grieving their mother, and a father seeking respite from loneliness with a woman Harper refers to as the Stepmonster.

Bent clearly draws on personal experience, giving her rendition of both a person with Down Syndrome, and those close to her, undeniable authenticity. There’s plenty of humour to offset the heartbreak, and every scene that features Louis is an utter delight. Marlowe’s naivete regards organ donation does stretch credibility a little, but desperation likely breeds wishful thinking.

Bent demonstrates just how commonly people make assumptions and deny people with Down Syndrome, and no doubt those with other disabilities, agency in medical decisions made on their behalf. An enlightening and very moving read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Ultimo Press.

This is a beautiful story about sisterhood, acceptance, grief, love and what it means to live. The narrative structure was perfect with each sister having a distinct voice and Harper's feeling authentic and real. I compulsively read this book enjoying spending time with this family even at it's saddest moments. The exploration of Chinese politics and culture was both informative and shocking. This was a beautiful read which was well developed in style, prose and characterisation. But most of all it was incredibly moving.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

WHEN THINGS ARE ALIVE THEY HUM — Hannah Bent. ⁣
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This is a touching story surrounding the relationship between sisters Marlowe and Harper in the early 00s. Marlowe is living in London with her boyfriend Olly and completing a PhD in entomology. Harper, who has Down Syndrome, lives with their dad, stepmother and grandmother in Hong Kong and unfortunately is getting sick with heart failure as a result of her lifelong heart issues. Her father has taken her to four different hospitals and has been told that Harper will not live without a heart and lung transplant — something none of the hospitals are willing to provide due to her Down Syndrome. ⁣
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The book is split into three parts. I found the first part slow going. I absolutely loved Harper’s Pov sections, she had such a creative way of seeing the world, I loved seeing her and her boyfriend Louis, and she was so forthright with people about what she thought! Meanwhile, I struggled a lot with Marlowe’s sections, there’s flashbacks, stuff about her relationship with Olly and stuff about butterflies and frankly I didn’t care at all. However, parts two and three this story really takes off and I couldn’t stop reading. ⁣
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The book raises lots of medical ethics questions about who “deserves” transplants and the organ trade and definitely had me looking into the literature on heart transplants for those with Down Syndrome. For the first half of the book I felt really frustrated that no one seemed to respect Harper’s autonomy. It took me way too long to accept that this was actually the entire point. ⁣
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By the end I remained enchanted. The prose in Harper’s chapters is beautiful, Marlowe’s chapters are a little lacklustre— I think the idea was to show that she is matter of fact, scientific and analytical but it came off a little dull. ⁣
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC. WHEN THINGS ARE ALIVE THEY HUM is out now.

This was a fantastic debut novel. One of the best titles for a book I have seen in a long time and the writing was beautiful.

The story tells us about the relationship between two sisters, Marlowe and Harper, who is ill and requires a heart transplant. I won't go further into the story however suffice to say the bond between the two sisters really jumps off the page

Thanks to Netgalley and Ultimo Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review