This book was very hard to get through for me, and because of that, I didn't finish the book. The characters were fairly captivating and you wanted to be on their side. But there were a few holes that I didn't enjoy. It made me not like the character Manu and left me with questions that I lost interest in finding out the answers. I wanted to like the book, but there became a point when it felt like a series of events. I liked where it was going, but I stopped reading since it lost it's depth. The idea is great and the foundation is there in the beginning, but it just couldn't keep my interest.

2 🌟 Unfortunately, this is a classic case where the concept sounds interesting but the execution is poor. A few thoughts:

1. I struggled with the FMC and was unsure if this was supposed to be YA or new adult. Sare felt petulant and immature but out of nowhere the f bombs are flying? It was jarring and excessive.

2. I think the MMC finished every sentence with “Silverbirch” and it got old so fast. Typically, this is done sparsely throughout a book but it drove me crazy by the end. Also, Sare is such an easier name to say? This made absolutely no sense to me.

3. When Sare returns to Istanbul, I thought there would be more descriptions of the culture and what struggles she faced in assimilating. The architecture, foods, customs are all things briefly mentioned but left a lot to be desired in setting the scene.

4. The insta love was wild. I can see with the magic system how this could be rationalized but there was no build up in watching the characters form a meaningful relationship and really went from strangers to infatuation to “love” ?? I did not buy it.

Overall, I feel like the plot had potential but the characters were not created to carry this story well. I personally did not enjoy it and won’t be recommending it.

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

Sare is not your ordinary teenager - every time her heart breaks, she dies. And she only gets to die five times before she's dead forever, no more do-overs. Celestial beings have sent her a fairy guardian, whose job is to teach her to be hard-hearted, to protect herself until she turns 18 and is freed from her curse, although the guardian won't explain how or why. But things get complicated when Sare's mother dies (heartbreak four) and she discovers she has a grandfather she never knew about who moves her to Istanbul. There she meets the seer Leon, who's on a quest to find the journals of a lost mystic, and said mystic's mysterious tower, that she is inexplicably drawn to. Together, Sare and Leon work to unravel the mystery of Sare's curse, the lost mystic, and the secrets that certain celestial beings are hiding...

Altogether, this was a satisfying mystery-fantasy mashup, with lots of twists and turns to unravel. It wasn't as fast-paced as a thriller, but the slower pace allowed Sare and Leon's relationship to feel like it evolves organically rather than because the plot demanded it.

I thought the plot was so clever and unique. It reminds me a little of Once Upon a Broken Heart, so if someone likes that series I think they would enjoy this!

A beautiful fantasy that swept me into its world and kept me up way past my bedtime. I found its exploration of what we inherit from our parents, especially immigrant parents living in diaspora, so haunting and so sensitively and beautifully depicted. I loved that this book could make me laugh (the email correspondence is hilarious!) and cry, sometimes even in the space of a couple paragraphs. If you love fantasy and myth retellings, I highly recommend this one!

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

I loved this book and felt a myriad of emotions while reading it. The blend of historical elements with more modern magical realism really captivated me. The parental loss hit my soul, I lost my father a few months back and I felt that heartbreak. Leon and Sare had such a sweet romance that I absolutely adored.

𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼:
YA Historical Romantic Fantasy
Forbidden Love
Middle Eastern Folklore
Coming of Age
Curses
Slow Burn
Emotional
Witty

The book of Heartbreak was a fantastic and engaging read. Surprisingly funny despite how emotional it was.

This book is just so gorgeous and hilarious! Ova Ceren did a wonderful job of taking grief and turning it into a beautiful novel. There were parts that literally had me giggling and I did not expect that in the slightest. I will definitely be re-reading this because I am sure there are bits I missed and I cannot have that for such a well thought out publication. Fantastic book that is truly worth every bit of hype it gets.

Thanks so much to Crooked Lane Books/Alcove Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC!

Enjoyed this book quite a bit! I'm a big fan of magical realism and really appreciated the integration of that with the culturally rich and atmospheric setting in Turkey. All of the characters were interesting and their personalities complimented the story well. I really liked the inclusion of e-mails/letters throughout the story as a bonus layer of plot development. The pace really picked up after 50% and I found myself finishing it in one sitting. My favorite parts had to be any with the sassy ethereals/angels. The police outfit encounter towards the end was hilarious.

I'd definitely consider this novel more YA than adult, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of it. 3.5 rounded to a 4 for being a great debut novel.

It started off slow but once it gets going, I just couldn’t put it down! I had a great time reading this. Such an interesting story! I really like the writing style and I love the added epigraphs.

Thank you to netGalley and Alcove for the eARC.

The Book of Heartbreak is described as a perfect book for people who are fans of the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, but with more mythos and ancient stories.

I really enjoyed the book as whole, it was fun to read, and interesting between the internal conflict of Sare as she tries to follow rules set upon her to make it to her eighteenth birthday or break out of her shell and become an independent person. The pacing was pretty well done, and I really enjoyed the twists and mysteries that surrounded Sare, although I wasn't too much of a fan of the immediate connection between her and Leon, and the lack of exploring into the ancient city of Istanbul, because why bother with the fun ancient mythos if they really just end up at four different locations at most? It almost felt like Sare could have been in any city anywhere.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel and it was a great standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read and review The Book of Heartbreak which I am giving 3⭐️.
This book follows a 17 year old girl who is alone in life. Her mother has just passed away and her newly found grandfather gives her a chance to move to Istanbul with him until she turns 18. Unknown to the rest of the world our FMC has a curse on her, but she also has a fairy style guardian advising her and guiding her since the age of 4. If she can make it to 18 without her heartbreaking one more time she will defeat the curse and live a normal life, but a normal life without love. Of course when she gets to Istanbul this becomes tricky when a young man starts to chip away at the barrier around her heart and she discovers that her mother may have more to do with the curse than previously suspected.
I enjoyed this book right around the 50% mark. Up until then it was a bit of a repetitive slog to get through. The FMC wasn’t particularly noteworthy in any way so I honestly had no connection to her breaking the curse or not. While I did enjoy the fast pace and the ending this was a bit of a let down because ultimately it came down to being a story about women fighting over a man and a man destroying the relationship between sisters.

Sare has had her heartbroken too many times. She’s been revived by her celestial guardian, but her next heartbreak will be her last. Can she last until her 18th birthday, which she becomes immune to the curse or can she find a way to break it?

Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. I appreciated the uniqueness of the storyline and the setting in Istanbul. I like that it was inspired by a Middle Eastern legend. I also liked the conflict between the seers as the celestials.

However, what ultimately led me to DNF was that this seemed like a young YA to me. I wish the character development was greater and I wish that the plot was a little more mysterious/intricate. But perhaps this would be perfect for someone in their teens.

Enchanting! I loved this book and its magical elements. Curses, angels, what more can you ask for? I went into this with no expectations and couldn’t put it down.

Sare Silverbirch is cursed to die of heartbreak. After the fifth heartbreak, she will die forever, unless she makes it to eighteen, when she will no longer be able to love again. When her mother dies and her stranger grandfather arrives to invite her to live with him in Turkey, Sare accepts in the hopes she can learn the origins of the curse and how to break it.

This is the first YA book I've read set partly in Turkey with some Ottoman folktales as a basis for the curse. Unfortunately, Sare didn't see much of Istanbul outside of the Maiden's Tower, nor did she seem to have any feelings about it. As someone raised in the UK, I would think there'd be some culture shock, but luckily for her everyone she needed to interact with spoke English. Maybe this is the case in Istanbul, being an international city, but I would have liked to see a little more of the culture.

That said, I did enjoy the fresh setting. There are also letters between Heavenly beings, giving this some Islamic The Screwtape Letters with some Supernatural (TV show) heaven being super bureaucratic vibes, which I found amusing.

For me, though, the story dragged. Sare kept running into Leon, pushing him away, trying to get answers, arguing with Manu, repeat. The ending did pick up and left me satisfied, but I was tempted to DNF before then. I understand Sare had to be unemotional due to her curse, but it made it hard for me to connect.

While there is a romance, I would not call it a romantasy. It felt like a YA contemporary fantasy circa 2010 with a unique setting and folklore, but those who want an epic romance will be disappointed.

Content wise, the author lives in the UK, so there is a lot of casual use of the f-word, which might be off-putting to American readers. (Watching both the US and UK versions of Being Human back in the day taught me that the f-word is not a big deal in British culture, so I just rolled with it).

Recommend for fans of City of Bones, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, and Hush, Hush.

The Book of Heartbreak tells the story of a young woman who has an unusual curse- if her heart breaks too many times, she will die. If she can last until her 18th birthday, she will live, but her heart will be unable to love.

The story unravels the mystery of how her curse came to be as she actively fights to overcome it. I loved how it was set in Istanbul, as I haven’t read many books with a similar setting. I loved the variety of characters in the book, from the humans to the ethereal ones!

Can we PLEASE talk about this book? This book was a literal masterpiece. The writing was captivating and pulled me in from the first chapter. The emails between angels and their bickering added a special touch to the book. I laughed so many times and honestly cannot recommend this book enough.

The Book of Heartbreak, contrary to its name, soothed my little bookish heart. It was like being wrapped up in a blanket with a hot cup of tea, eating sweets and cuddling with my dog.

Sare Sila Silverbirch has been cursed. Each time her heart breaks, she dies. She has one final chance before her heart stops forever and no-one, not even the angels in the offices of the afterlife know the origin of this curse. To search for the origin in an attempt to break the curse, she must traverse her own family history, through generational trauma and folklore against the backdrop of the vibrant and historic Istanbul.

It’s a YA fantasy, with romance and humour, love and heartbreak and overall what it means to be human. The writing was beautiful, and grief was captured so beautifully. One of my favourite lines was, “My mother’s death became my second shadow”, and to anyone who has ever known grief this will deeply resonate.

Ethereals, angels and cherubs all play a part in the master plan, and the day to day politics of the heavens are shown to us in hilarious emails between cherubs and angels, it made me laugh that the earthly and mundane everyday of back and forth emails made it to the afterlife. The idea of heavenly admin is a fantastic concept and I absolutely loved reading the exchanges.

It reminded me of several books, The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V. E. Schwab, The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley and The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune, so if you liked any of these and fantasy a cosy YA Romantasy then I’d recommend giving this a go.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the ARC, the book is set to be released on the 26th August 2025.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Book of Heartbreak by Ova Ceren is a mesmerizing debut that blends romantic fantasy with an undercurrent of darkness. At the heart of the story is Sare Silverbirch, a woman cursed to die every time she experiences heartbreak, an ordeal she has already faced four times. With the devastating loss of her mother marking her fourth heartbreak, Sare knows that one more will be her last.

Set against the rich backdrop of Istanbul, Sare embarks on a journey to understand the origins of the curse and whether it can be broken. Immersing readers in its mythology, the story weaves an atmospheric and deeply emotional tale. The narrative is complex and creative, carrying Sare through a world filled with secrets and a diverse cast of characters whom she struggles to trust. The tension of her predicament is believable, as she balances the need for answers with the fear of losing herself completely.

Ceren’s storytelling is well-paced, offering an intricate blend of mystery, romance, and self-discovery. The journey is both heartbreaking and profound, filled with layers of depth.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This was a little repetitive at times, but a good read. Romantasy fans will eat this up! Thank you NetGalley for this eARC for an honest review.