Ahhh Lily does it again. I was sobbing at the end and it’s very hard for a book to have that much influence on my emotions, but here we are. Her writing style is so “stream of thought” that you feel connected to the characters in a way you could never be outside of literary fiction. I loved that each of them had their flaws yet you kind of rooted for them equally. I also loved the timeline. Splitting it between 3 decades was really insightful and demonstrates how you never forget your first love. Really well done.

I haven't loved Lily King's books in the past, and I think this established that she isn't the author for me, though I did like parts of this book. Our main character is a college student who falls into a love triangle with two intellectual boys who are roommates. We see their relationships in the first part of the book, but then there's a big time leap in the second half, and things have vastly changed for these friends. I don't want to say what the big change is, but it does take a sad turn.

What starts off as a quirky story about college kids falling in love and contemplating their futures, quickly turns into so much more after a time jump to Part II. And wow, was it worth the beautiful and heartfelt trip.

I’m definitely still processing this one, as there was so much to identify with. Lily King is a master of taking you deep into the human experience, the depths of love and forgiveness, and the wild ride that is life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishing team for this ARC. I loved it so, so much!! Now off to re-read Writers & Lovers!

"You knew I’d write about you someday."

So begins this stunning, quietly devastating novel from author Lily King. At the beginning of the story, the book's first-person narrator starts dating her classmate Sam and is quickly drawn into the his orbit and that of his charismatic friends, brilliant and insufferably self-assured young men who live in a professor’s borrowed house. Dubbed "Daisy" and, more permanently, "Jordan" by the boys, she enters a world filled with literary discussions, card games, and philosophical sparring, and the relationships that develop between them will quietly upend the course of all three lives.

The narrative unfolds in three parts: the first one takes place during the group's final year of college in New England and is situated in the fragile, urgent days of early adulthood; the others take place years later. Though the characters - particularly Sam - can be hard to like early on, and the students may sometimes come across as equal parts brilliant and unbearably pretentious, they evolve with surprising tenderness. Yash, in particular, grows into one of the novel’s most quietly compelling presences. As a result, the emotional crescendo of the final chapters is devastating, which ultimately pushed this book firmly into five-star territory for me. I was sobbing by the end, and there are few books that manage to get this kind of reaction from me.

Admirers of King's earlier, much-acclaimed 2020 release "Writers & Lovers" can look forward to a subtle but satisfying connective thread between the two works. "Heart the Lover" marks another emotionally astute and beautifully crafted triumph from Lily King, exploring first love and lasting consequences, the bonds of chosen family, and the way our younger selves can echo through the years. It's about the lies we tell ourselves to survive heartbreak, and the unexpected grace of looking back, about the way memory distorts and preserves, and how the stories we carry shape who we become.

King’s style is elegant and understated, a kind of literary minimalism that delivers emotional punches without ever veering into melodrama. She has a rare gift for showing how time softens, distorts, or clarifies the truths we once clung to. Told with remarkable emotional precision and restraint, this is a story about desire, memory, and the illusions we carry - sometimes willingly - for the sake of love.

More than anything, "Heart the Lover" is about how we remember love, and how those memories become part of the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. It’s a novel full of ache, humor, forgiveness, and ultimately, grace. Sometimes witty, sometimes infuriating, but always achingly and deeply human, "Heart the Lover" lingers in the mind long after its final pages.

A great many thanks to Grove Atlantic | Grove Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this wonderful novel in exchange for my honest review.

"Heart the Lover" is slated to be released on September 30, 2025.

An elegantly written, introspective reflection on love, and the grief of what could have been. This is my first time trying Lily King, and now I’m ready to dive into more of her worlds!
Reminiscent of Sally Rooney, King writes with a slightly detached tone, that somehow manages to evoke a greater emotional response from the reader. She ruminates on privilege, academic elitism, loss, coming of age, and that distinct experience of the early twenties; the feeling that you are drifting listless, desperately in search of some sort of direction, or connection to tether you to reality.

A short and poignant read, definitely worth a try for any fans of the melancholic and meditative.

'It was gorgeous and tender. Everything in it is working toward this mood, this ache, this very tactile sensation that gets deep in your bones'.

It's Jordan's (well, that's what two of her friends have nicknamed her) senior year of college, when everything changes, after meeting two friends in her English class. As their friendships deepen and change, so too does their understanding of themselves and their futures, 'We'll have our farewell to youth together'. However, growing up is hard, and when one of them chooses a 'sensible' option about their future, the resounding ramifications are not, can not, be fully addressed until decades later, '...we are all vulnerable to tragedy because we are human'.

Books like these should come with warnings. It started off so tame, I wasn’t sure if it'd be to my liking, and then suddenly I was swallowed up: consumed, only to be spat out in tears by the end. 'Love is crushing. Love is something you let yourself feel at your own peril, despite your better sense'. Yes, this is fundamentally a love story but it is also a story about living your life, seizing your opportunities, and not waiting for a better time, 'Maybe it's true...that the past and the future don't exist, that this is the only moment we ever have, this moment right now...'.

How can so much be packed into just over 100 pages? The language is so simple, the reader feels like they're having a conversation, or reading a journal, perhaps this is what makes the emotional impact so much more forceful when it hits. Any literary fiction lover will love this.

'A great novel, a truly great one...it alters and intensifies the way you experience your own life while you're reading it'.

A book that starts off with the feelings of “Dead Poets Society”… a mash of characters in the prime of the University lives with the vision, theatrics and literary hopes that had me picturing a movie I watched a long time ago.

And then part II happened, where the next stage jumps decades into a new life for our FMC. The reader is slightly confused on what happened or why… but the life being shown is one of her being loved.
Tested again by health fears of a family member but loved.

Then part III begins and the emotional tragedy of secrets and love begin to unfold. The first true love and the steadfast hand she holds now are intwined without jealously. A refreshing feeling as a reader for sure.

All I know is that this book is complicated and simple when it comes to love. The use of imagery and theatre with philosophical writings are just the backdrop, when the writer is really just giving you a gut punch of emotion… the pain of loving and losing .. and the safety of knowing that you’re right where your supposed to be.

4.5 stars

It won’t matter if I love another book this year, this one, this one right here, it will be the best book I’ve read in 2025. I feel gutted.

✨”You knew I’d write a book about you someday. You said once that I’d dredged up the whole hit parade minus you.
“…these decisions we make in youth are everything. You have no idea. Those feelings, they don’t revenir. Pas comme ça. And no one tells you.”✨

This is a story about three college students in their senior year. The narrator (her friends called her Jordan) meets two star students, Sam and Yash, in a 17th-Century Literature class. The three of them become close, spending most of their time together, working on the creative writing, and playing a made-up card game with their group of friends. You’ll follow their journey through love, friendship, creative writing, dreams, and careers.

It’s only 131 pages, but the story is packed! It feels just perfect! You’ll witness how they navigate choices like religion over love, or friendship over love. The book is written in first person POV, but Lily King’s writing style made it feel more like reading someone’s diary, or a long letter from a stranger you can’t stop thinking about. I was hooked, dying to know what would happen next.

A few parts did bother me tbh. When Jordan is already married with two kids, she still chooses to reconnect with her past, with her ex once-deeply-in-love-with boyfriend. I mean… sorry, I just couldn’t relate to that, even though her husband is aware of it.
BUT MAYBE… this is what we call the lasting impact of first love ♥️

BUT I loved Lily King’s writing style. She never mentions things directly. Instead, she plays with words & letting readers piece things together on their own. I had to guess the story’s timeline, and became clearer as the story went on. She also never directly states the narrator’s full name, which I found really fun! It kept my imagination & focus fully engaged 👍🏼

Many thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for this eARC copy. It’s a lovely read, my heart ached as I turned the last page :")

This is a story of three college seniors who are English Majors at UNC-Chapel Hill in the 1980’s. The FMC meets two men in a seminar and they both have feelings for her. At first there is Sam who is religious and uptight, and then Yash— Sam’s best friend. Yash and Jordan abruptly go their separate ways post-graduation but they both have feelings that the other is the one that got away. In part two, we jump to Jordan’s late 30’s where she is married to Silas, and has two sons when both Yash and Sam unexpectedly reappear in her life.

This is my first book by Lily King and won’t be my last. Her writing was absolutely beautiful and captivating, and I felt fully immersed in this story. It was a nostalgic read that reminded me of that first time love feeling. We can spend our lives dwelling on the choices we did or didn’t make, or be content with where we landed.

This is a bingeable tearjerker of a read.

A story of young love, lost love, and the many ways love can change shape. Jordan meets Sam and Yash in college and quickly gets swept into their world. Their relationships change over the years but Jordan and Yash share a deep bond, despite life pulling them in different directions. There’s something so special between them and their connection is undeniable, even as it evolves.

This novel feels deeply intimate, like a glimpse into someone’s private memories. I loved both characters: Jordan is more reserved, Yash is full of life and charisma — though not without his flaws. They both felt like full, complex people, and I really connected with that. The little things like their inside jokes, nicknames, and card games added so much texture and charm to their relationship.

The writing is beautiful, with lovely prose throughout. I especially enjoyed the shifts between first and second person. The second person moments felt so personal, like Jordan was speaking directly to Yash and as the reader, we were being let in on something tender and raw.

A moving read that was full of heart, with moments of both joy and heartbreak. I loved it.

I loved, loved, loved Writers and Lovers and had very high hopes for this highly anticipated release.

Unfortunately I found the characters in this book to be insufferable pseudo-intellectuals. I read to 35% and couldn’t take any more

I'm not sure how to convey just how much I loved this book. I read Writers & Lovers a few years ago, but I couldn't remember much about it, beyond recalling that the protagonist was someone I rooted for. Despite the title of this one seeming kind of stupid to me (an opinion that changed as I read the book), I requested an ARC based on my positive, albeit fuzzy, memories of Writers & Lovers and was fortunate to be granted a copy.

Heart The Lover introduces our unnamed narrator (nicknamed "Jordan" after a character from The Great Gatsby) during her senior year of college, when she meets and begins dating Sam. While dating Sam through most of the year, she finds herself drawn to and infatuated by Sam's roommate and best friend, Yash. The relationship between the three of them plays a major role in shaping all of their lives as the book jumps 21 years and then another 7 years into the future.

It is not a spoiler (it's noted in the book's synopsis itself) to note that there is a "delightful connective thread to Writers & Lovers", which might be missed by those who did not read the book or, like me, read it long enough ago to not remember the details. It was a quick throwaway line that "sounded familiar" the led me to Google the connection which was, indeed, delightful. But while readers of both books will enjoy the connection, it is not necessary to start with that one; Heart the Lover is an excellent standalone work, and is one of my favorite books I've read this year. It is rare that I get so emotionally attached to characters and a story, and I found myself so incredibly invested in these relationships, particularly Jordan's and Yash's. I was legitimately sobbing for the last 10% or so of this book - not necessarily or entirely out of sadness, but out of empathy for all of these characters reflecting on their lives, their choices, and ultimately their love for each other. My eyes are welling up with tears just writing this. I loved this book so much, and it will stick with me for a very long time. I don't tend to re-read books, but this is one I can see myself reading again.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an advance reader copy of this beautiful book, and to Lily King for writing it.

Lily King’s Heart the Lover reads like memory feels—slippery, radiant, and lined with ache. It’s not just a novel about love; it’s about the echo of it, about the versions of ourselves that only exist in the context of someone else’s gaze. The narrator, Jordan, isn’t interested in retelling her youth so much as unearthing it, piece by fragile piece. You feel her hesitation with every scene, as if she’s still uncertain what really happened between her and Sam, between her and Yash, between who she was and who she became.

The writing pulses with quiet intensity. King threads emotion through intellect like silk through bone, letting conversations about literature and philosophy become covert love letters. Jordan’s voice is sharp and self-aware, but it wavers at the edges—aging, doubting, yearning. This is a book for those who know that love, even when it fades, reshapes us irreversibly. The relationships aren't fireworks—they’re slow burns that leave traces in the ash.

King doesn’t offer closure, just a mirror. What Jordan uncovers isn’t a resolution, but a reckoning. And that makes Heart the Lover the kind of book you don’t finish—you absorb it, and find yourself changed.

I’ll admit it: as popular as it was, I wasn’t a fan of Lily King’s Writers & Lovers. I picked up Heart the Lover more out of curiosity (and not wanting to be the only one at book club who hadn’t read it) than excitement. But color me surprised — this one hit differently.

It’s not that Heart the Lover is a radical departure from King’s signature style. It still has her distinct literary DNA — a carefully constructed narrative, an obsession with language, and characters who dwell firmly in the creative-intellectual class. Her protagonists often hover just this side of too pretentious, flaunting their knowledge and aesthetic tastes like merit badges.

But what sets this one apart is the humility woven into the story. These characters, while still cerebral, are ultimately humbled by life — grief, love, illness, time. There’s a softening that feels not only like character growth, but also like authorial growth. It’s as though King herself has relaxed into her talent, releasing the performative cool of her earlier work and instead embracing something warmer, more vulnerable.

This book doesn’t cling to the mind in the way some literary fiction demands — but it migrates to the heart, and in doing so, becomes far more emotionally resonant.

If, like me, you were lukewarm on her earlier work, give this one a try.

Everything about this was beautiful and painful.

Heart the Lover is a story of love, but it is not a love story. It's beautiful and tragic and tender and raw. It perfectly encapsulates how sometimes things don't work out with the person we were made for, and while that doesn't mean you will be eternally unhappy, it will always be an unfinished sentence. Reading this made my heart ache, even during the high points. I really enjoyed every minute of this.

Oh it's so good. How to describe it without giving too much away. First, this one is on par with Writers and Lovers, one of my favorite books, and has a strong connection to that book... I do recommend reading that one first.

The book feels like it starts with a whoosh and you're in the story — a young woman who has been plugging along at college gets pulled into the world of the religious and over-serious Sam and the thoughtful and enigmatic Yash. We don't get her name, but the men decide to call her Jordan, after Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby.

Jordan dates Sam, but his interest in her doesn't make much sense nor her interest in him, and eventually she is pulled toward the charming, intelligent, and sometimes cryptic Yash.

Through these relationships, the narrator finds desire, passion, love, betrayal, and a chance to be a more real version of herself. There is a distinct coming-of-age-ness to this book, but it is also an exploration of how the people who shape us and break us are always a part of our stories. It's a love story, maybe two. It's about becoming a writer. It's about the choices that people make and how they ripple for decades. It's a hopeful book. It's sad. It's nostalgic. It's beautiful. It had me turning the pages to find out how it would end yet also wanting to linger. And the ending is just right.

I was drawn to Heart the Lover because I have enjoyed Lily Kings previous books and the cover is sensational! I was very pleased that the book itself was also sensational. The period it was set (starts around the late 90’s I think) is very well portrayed and as the book progresses the complex relationships between ‘Jordan’, Yash and Sam develop and change and we readers are along for the emotional and sometimes heartbreaking journey.
I very much enjoyed Heart the Lover and will be recommending it!

My favorite book of the year so far, and I’ve read some really, really amazing books in 2025. I was so profoundly moved by this story of first love and the processing of grief and loss. Lily King’s writing is the best out there, and forces readers to grapple with their own emotions and weaknesses in such a thoughtful way. I adored this novel. I wept at the end. Bravo.

King has outdone herself with this exquisite meditation on first love and literary ambition. The college triangle between Jordan, Sam, and Yash transcends typical campus romance through King's sophisticated dual timeline—alternating between intoxicating youth and middle-aged reckoning.
The academic setting crackles with authentic intellectual energy. These characters seduce each other with ideas as much as desire, their rapid-fire literary banter never feeling performative. King avoids the love triangle's usual geometric simplicity, instead exploring how passion, friendship, and ambition become impossibly entangled.
Most impressively, King sidesteps nostalgia's twin traps of romanticization and regret. Jordan's return to her past feels necessary rather than indulgent, offering genuine insight into how we become ourselves.
This is literary fiction at its finest—intelligent, emotionally sophisticated, utterly absorbing. Far superior to Writers & Lovers, cementing King as a master chronicler of human complexity.