Thank you for the opportunity to read an eARC of The Book of Heartbreak by Ova Ceren. Overall, this was a good book. the beginning did move very slowly and it did take me a little while to really get into the story. The main character is only 17 years old when the book begins and I think because of that some parts of the book read a little bit like they are written for a younger audience. There isn't anything wrong with that, it just wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The instant love between the FMC and MMC was not my favorite.

The magic and mythology of the story is really interesting and one of my favorite parts of the story. While this book may not have been totally for me, I do think that it will find its audience and that people will really enjoy it.

This book has its ups and downs.

I had a hard time believing Sare was 17. She was often childish, and she was awful to her grandfather. Yes, he was distant, but pretty much every interaction with him was her spewing hate at him, or accusing him of being a liar.

She’s a pushover, and I’m not a fan of weak characters. She knew who her mother was and often mentioned the parade of men her mother brings into the house. Yet when she hears that from other people, she calls them liars.

Lastly, The insta love? It might have worked if there had been any palpable attraction happening. But there was nothing, and the reader can’t feel what’s supposed to be happening between her and Leon.

The premise is great, and I liked the setting, though I would have liked the setting to be more descriptive and immersive. Sare spends most of her time either in her room or at the tower. You’re finally where your mother’s tales have always led you, and you’re not exploring any of it.

Overall, this is a mixed bag for me. I think with some editing, this could be a truly great book. There’s a good story at the heart of it that will be worth other readers checking it out for themselves.

thank you to netgalley and the author for letting me have an early e-arc of this book.

unfortunately for me this book wasnt for me, i just was not vibing with it.

the insta lust was not for me, i prefer the yearning and earning vibes.

but i would still recommend this book to my other friends who read as i believe they would enjoy this more <3

I had a little bit of a love / dislike relationship with this book. The beginning was slow for me to get into it and really the only reason for the 3.75 star rating. It just didn't hold my attention as much as the second half? ish of the book. However, that being said, I fully understand why the first half needs to be there but I just enjoyed the second half much better.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.75 rounded up.

💙Single POV
💙Heartbreak Curse
💙Middle Eastern Folklore
💙Ethereals

Sare Silverbirch was born with an unfortunate curse, if she suffers from heartbreak she will d*e. And after the 5th time she will not be reborn. But if she can make it to her 18th birthday the curse will be lifted, and in return she will not be able to love and have others love her back. But after her mother dies and she learns her grandfather is still alive, everything starts to change. Not everything is as she thought it was and she learns there might be a way to break the curse according to her neighbor Leon. But if she follows his word, she will be going against everything her "guardian" Munu has told her. But once she learns everything has been a lie, she decides to do anything she can to break the curse with Leon. Including finding out more about her mothers secret past. But all mysteries must come to an end, but will Sare's end be in heartbreak from more truth unraveling or will she break the curse afterall.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Alcove Press for gifting me an eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you, @alcovepress, and Ova Ceren for the gifted ARC!

Rundown:
✨️Turkish culture/mythology
✨️family curse
✨️celestial beings
✨️fantasy
✨️slow burn YA romance

Synopsis ✒️
If seventeen year old Sare has her heart broken five times before she turns eighteen, her heart will stop forever. The sudden death of her mother is her fourth heartbreak, and she eagerly works at breaking the curse with the help of Leon, a seer. But could his help also put her in danger?

Thoughts 💭
I love modern twists on classic tales and reading about different cultures, so this initially really appealed to me. I'm also a huge fan of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (which this was compared to). I do think there are people who would enjoy this, but it missed the mark for me. I didn't connect with the writing style at all. It was also hard to connect to Sare because she was so distant because of the curse. There were a lot of interesting elements like an ancient curse and celestial beings who interfer in the lives of mortals. There is a slow burn romance that comes of as YA, probably because of Sare's age. It is sweet, and their interactions together are fun. I really wanted to get into this one but just couldn't!

Living with a curse that will kill her if she has her heart broken a total of five times before she reaches the age of 18, Sare Silverbirch is desperate to find answers when the unexpected death of her mother causes number four.
Throughout her life Sare is reminded of ways to keep from becoming heartbroken. She is told to turn her sorrow into rage or not to cry. The entire book felt like a warning of sorts. Yes if you cut yourself off from people the less chance of heartbreak. But what would be the point of Sare living more years if she lived those years alone without friends, family or love of any sort?

Thank you Alcove Press for providing me an early copy of this ebook. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one! I was gripped by the mystery behind everything throughout, and by the end, I had to grab a box of tissues. 😢

Sare was born with a curse; a curse that will end her life if her heart breaks 5 times. But, if she makes it to 18, she will live, but without the ability to love. After her mother dies in the opening pages, her heart breaks for the 4th time, and now she must move to Istanbul to live with the Grandfather she never knew about, and try to make it the last few months without another heartbreak.

I was really drawn to Sare from the start. As someone who feels every emotion, it was so interesting to have a POV/MC be someone who couldn’t cry, and who had learned to close herself off, as best she could, from *feeling* anything, for survival.

Her little guardian angel, Munu, was also a really interesting character, and obviously hiding secrets I was dying to know.

And I also really enjoyed the love interest, Leon, who helped to bring some hope to the story.

Plus, there’s some Angel workplace shenanigans that deepened the mysteries and intrigue throughout.

There are themes of grief and shared family trauma. I haven’t looked much into the myth of the Maiden in the Tower, but I enjoyed how it was entwined in this tale.

The mystery of the curse kept me turning those pages to find out the answers, and I loved how it all came together in the end.

As for the age I would recommend this one to: I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it my 12 year old daughter (and I will). (There are a few “F-words” dropped, but meh.)

I really enjoyed this one, and if you’re looking for a book with a middle eastern setting, curses, and explorations of emotion and grief, I definitely recommend looking into this one!

What this book is giving:
✅ YA Romantic Fantasy
✅ Single POV
✅ Heartbreak Curse
✅ Guardian Angel-like Character
✅ Istanbul Setting
✅ Ethereals
✅ Mystery
✅ Grief
✅ Family Trauma

This story felt so refreshingly original, with a plot I haven’t come across before! I mean, angels sending emails? Such a clever and fun twist. I loved the magic system!

Having a FMC who literally couldn’t let herself feel emotions without risking her life was so fascinating and heartbreaking to read.

Leon was a big highlight for me! They had such great chemistry.

The writing itself was beautiful, with a tone that leans a little more toward YA!

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove for the ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

The Book of Heartbreak by Ova Ceren is a first person mixed format contemporary fantasy about grief and love. Sare lived in the UK with her mother Daphne who had a string of lovers and lived with alcoholism. When Daphne dies, Sare is confronted by Munu, her ethereal godmother who tells her she has a curse on her heart that will kill her if she suffers five heartbreaks before she turns eighteen. Sare is sent to live with her grandfather in Istanbul and struggles to make connections as she becomes more resentful of her curse and her family.

I would not call this a Romantasy. A Romantasy, to me, means that it follows at least some of the conventions of the romance genre and the focus is the romantic relationship between the two or more leads. This is not that. There is a romantic subplot between Sare and Leon, but it is not the focal point. The focal point is Sare’s mother’s past and the romantic relationships that fell apart in order for us to get to Sare, which puts this more in the camp of a Nicholas Sparks novel to me aka a love story not a romance or fantasy romance or romantic fantasy.

Throughout the book, we get emails between Munu and beings called Five of Fifth and Nine of Ninth, who are angels and know what is going on with Sare but can’t really interfere. There’s a lot of history between them and we see Five of Fifth pushing Munu away despite her addressing them in a very close manner. This set up is one aspect of the explorations of grief and love as the feelings that were there had turned sour by the time the book opens.

I appreciated that this book took place in Istanbul. Growing up, I feel that depictions of Istanbul, and Turkey at large, were stuck in a time when it was still called Constantinople and didn’t convey the modern city that it is now. There is no denying that the Istanbul in the book is one that exists in the 2000s, not the eighteen hundreds.

Content warning for mentions of cheating and alcoholism

I would recommend this to fans of books that focus on love but aren’t romance genre and readers of fantasy who like explorations of grief

I love a book that’s truly unique. Ova Ceren said on Instagram that her book doesn’t comp easily to other titles. It’s true, and that’s the joy for me. It’s wonderful to just go on the ride.

There’s some family drama, lots of emotion, and some silliness. Angels, ancient curses, unexpected relatives, and a bit of mystery.

Angels sending emails and inter-office memos? Don’t think too hard about it, just enjoy the fun.

I liked how Sare was uncovering family history at the same time she was trying to uncover the origin and solution to her curse.

This is a book about emotions on multiple levels: The main character experiences and tries to avoid heartbreak. Heartbreak generations ago causes ripple effects then and now. Multiple characters have to grapple with what love and grief mean to them.

This was an enjoyable read! I appreciated being immersed into Istanbul. I would recommend this and would read other novels from this author!

This was such a fun read. It definitely kept me wanting to keep reading and find out what was going to happen. I absolutely loved the characters and it was really interesting seeing more into her mom’s past with her grandfather and mom’s sister!

DNF
I thought this would be similar to Once upon a broken heart and I really liked the premise. I just could not get over the writing of this book. It is incredibly juvenile while not really marked as YA. Was not for me and I will not be leaving a review anywhere else.

3.5-3.75*

Overall I really enjoyed this unique book, I liked the Istanbul setting and the way the Otherside was portrayed as a corporation was quirky and a fun twist. I looked forward to those corporate emails between the different agents and branches of the Otherside. I think for me why this did not quite make it 4 stars was the pacing dragged a bit and there were moments were I just did not feel as compelled to pick up the book. I also did guess a lot of the big reveals so that made it less mind-blowing when they occurred. The main character was endearing and I was rooting for her throughout and the ending was entertaining, I just think this could have structured a bit better to have more even pacing.

I received an eARC thanks to Netgalley and Alcove Press. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the Middle Eastern mythology, and the story overall was really unique and I was invested to find out what was going to happen. The corporate-style emails throughout were fun and an interesting way to break things up, while also giving the reader a glance at what's going on in the background of Sare's life.

I thought it was going to be an adult book, and after reading it I'm really unsure. It read like a YA book to me with a somewhat juvenile tone (which is fine) I just didn't see it specified anywhere and it helps to have that expectation set. The romance was definitely insta-love, which isn't a preference of mine but I know that is a personal preference thing. This one overall didn't totally hit the mark for me, but I'd definitely read more from Ova Ceren in the future.

A beautiful exploration of heartbreak, loss, love, and forgiveness The integration of the magic system into the modern day setting was done so skillfully.

The concept drew me in, but the pacing dragged and I struggled to stay invested. I ended up putting it down around halfway, though I can see how others might enjoy the style more.

The Book of Heartbreak delivers a gorgeously atmospheric tale infused with magic, myth, and aching vulnerability. Sare’s journey, threaded with grief, mystery, and a dangerous kind of love, felt both intimate and epic, as she raced against the curse threatening to stop her heart. The Istanbul setting shimmered with rich detail, and Leon’s quiet strength made the slow-burn romance feel beautifully fated. While the celestial elements sometimes pulled focus from the emotional core, the story’s heart, its exploration of loss, destiny, and resilience beat strong and true. A wistful, romantic read that left me both full and hollow in the best way.

The Book of Heartbreak is a beautifully written, folklore-laced romantasy with just the right touch of darkness. The cursed heart at its center pulls you into a story brimming with longing, sacrifice, and the kind of magic that feels both dangerous and captivating. I loved the atmospheric world and the raw, emotional vulnerability of the characters. The sections of emails between angels provided fun humor in between heavy themes. The romance does move a bit quickly, but the emotion behind it is strong enough to keep you invested. This is the kind of story that stays with you long after you finish reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF At 33%. This started out pretty promising because I did find the magic and curse aspect really intriguing. But this is yet another case of a story being ruined by a FMC written to be excessively dense, stubborn and annoying. There’s a difference between teenage naïveté and just plain stupidity.

EXAMPLE: Sare is cursed to die on her fifth heartbreak. She moves to Istanbul after her mother’s death and comes across an ancient book with excerpts about a cursed girl from the past. The book only reveals itself to those that needs it or those that wants to offer aid, and there’s an illustration of the girl in the book and she looks JUST like Sare. The MMC suggests she might be the reincarnation of this past girl. Sare refutes and denies it, and thinks to herself that surely she’d remember being born in another life. WTF. What kind of logic is that?! Why would you be able to remember your past life?! MORON.

I also found the bickering and banter between Sare and Leon to be very awkward and cringey. It just felt too forced and contrived. It was torturous to get through their dialogues.

Bummed this didn’t work for me but I can see how this can be a fun time for others.