Lily King nails it as always. As a big fan of Writers & Lovers, I could not wait to pick this up. I loved this book and all of the feelings “Jordan” went through, including thoughtful discussion of being young and making choices that affect us through life. I appreciated the time jumps and found them balanced. Since finishing this, I keep coming back to the characters. After reading other reviews discussing the immaturity and dislike of intellectualism, I found myself to feel the exact opposite. I enjoyed all of the little Easter eggs/puns (“good country people,” a favorite, especially with jordan’s period loving southern Gothic). I wonder if those concerned about immaturity think back at their own 20s and determine if they were really making the best decisions at all times. Thanks for another winner in Heart the Lover.

Her writing is lush and interesting and captivating.
Heart the Lover by Lily King was captivating.
I was totally absorbed in the story from the first page.

My first Lily King won't be my last. I really enjoyed her storytelling, her character development and I can't wait to read her other novels. Because I was a first time reader and hadn't read Writers and Lover's I was not as impacted by the ending as others probably will be. Oh, how I wish I had because now I know how Writers and Lovers turns out too! I was a fan of the plot, an academic, love triangle but I wish there was more tension between the characters as they came back together in the last half of the book. It still worked for me and I believe if you are a fan of this author you will be a fan of this one as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for the ARC!

I’m obsessed with Lily King’s writing. It’s so simple, so understated… and yet with it, she is able to illustrate such compelling character sketches and emotional scenes from life.

HEART THE LOVER is a story about love, but I wouldn’t say it’s a romance, although our feckless MC has not one, not two, but THREE lovers in her story. (Get ‘em, girl.) Instead, it’s an exploration of different kinds of romantic love, and the ways in which each can fill a spot in our life. Most of the time, fiction tells us that there is supposed to be “one great and right love” for each person in life, and that that person is endgame. King asks us to consider an alternative way of thinking, via her MC’s story: What if all those “not-The-Ones” were instead The One for That Moment? What if you’re not supposed to end up with your One Great Love, as that would be the destruction of both of you?

The writing, oh the writing. King’s unadorned prose speaks volumes. Through it, we are immersed in hypnotic settings of drafty college professors’ houses stuffed to the rafters with crinkly books. Clearly a place where great love stories form and are written. Through it, we see things even before the MC sees them, like when a lover is not right for her, no matter how hard she tries.

While there is a connection to Writers and Lovers, you don’t need to have read that one in order to read this, and I don’t know if the connection is integral to the story or not. It’s easy to get swept away into HEART THE LOVER. Consider this for when you’re on a mental or physical getaway, and you are looking for an emotional read, simply and gorgeously written.

Take any and all of Lily’s writing and inject it straight into my veins. I ate up every word of this gorgeous coming of age told between shifting perspectives of our mc. Lily‘s writing is equal parts comforting and gut wrenching. I love the way she writes characters and develops their inner world. No one else does it like her. I just finished this but can easily say it’s one of my faves this year. I found all the characters insufferable at times but honestly grew to love them in all their messy glory. Love, grief, loss, academia, lies , and memory. The perfect fall book.

One of my favorite novels of 2025. Lily King is magic and this novel, which moves its brilliant characters so seamlessly across decades of time and place and emotional arcs that I was swept along for the ride, should receive all of the accolades King so richly deserves.

3.5 ⭐️

Lily King has crafted a deeply intimate and beautifully written novel in Heart the Lover. From the first page, I was pulled into Jordan’s world of desire, friendship, and choices that echo long after youth has faded.

The story followed Jordan, a college senior who got caught up in a complicated triangle with two classmates, Sam and Yash, while living in a borrowed professor’s house. As she juggled her studies, work, and the intensity of these shifting relationships, she experienced her first taste of deep love, desire, and betrayal. Years later, long after graduation, the choices she had made and the memories of that brief but consuming time resurface, forces her to confront the impact of her past on the life she built.

King captured the intensity of first love and the bittersweet pull of memory with prose that was both tender and evocative. Jordan’s reflective voice felt raw and authentic, and the academic setting added richness to the atmosphere. The love triangle created tension and emotional pull, while King’s writing brought depth to the characters and their choices. On the other hand, the triangle dynamic felt familiar, and the pacing slowed at times when the narrative leaned heavily on reflection. Some supporting characters faded into the background, and the ending felt unresolved. I had hoped for a neater closure. Still, the emotional honesty and layered storytelling made this a poignant and resonant read.

Overall, Heart the Lover struck me as a tender and bittersweet exploration of first love and lasting regret. Even with its slower moments and this not being one of my favorite novels, it’ was a moving novel that reminded me how powerful and haunting youthful choices can be.

Thanks Net Galley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy in exchange for my feedback.

I have loved every Lily King book from her debit, and Heart the Lover …. Just lovely. It started so well, was so engaging. And just when I began to wonder if the book would be about anything more than young love in the form of a college triangle, it took a turn and became about so much more. I will definitely be recommending it to my readers, and am sure it will be a huge hit. Thanks so much for the early read.

My words could never do this novel justice.

I am shattered. This is the best book I have read this year.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the free copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was my third Lily King and my first solid success with her work. I loved the writing in Writers and Lovers but couldn’t stand the main character (a bit ironic, IYKYK), and Euphoria just never clicked for me. I’ve held out hope that the right story in King’s hands would work for me, and it finally did in HEART THE LOVER!

The beginning of this book was the campus novel I didn’t know I was craving. The main character is involved in some messy relationships, which might have bothered me in an older character, but in college students it rang true. I’m so impressed that even in her 60s, King can inhabit the minds of undergraduates so well. The characters are smart and have great banter and this section is both sexy and emotionally resonant, all of which added up to a very satisfying reading experience.

The next couple sections jump forward in time, age up the characters, and shift the tone. I still enjoyed those parts, but not as much. Still, this was a fast read that I tore through in just a few hours over a couple days. I just wish it had a better cover because I fear it will turn off readers who would actually love this book! (I’ll be shocked if the paperback keeps this one)

ARC courtesy of Grove Atlantic via Netgalley.

4.5*

To engage with Lily King's writing is to open oneself up to experience.

Which is to say, you will be absorbed into this narrative and you'll relish the characters' romantiscising of their lives, because you'll recall having once done the same.

You'll recognise and relate to their being resolute and conflicted and resigned and cruel and naive and kind and fearful and forgiving and hopeful, and you'll yearn and ache as you root for them.

It's a story about how hearts soar and hearts sink, and either outcome is a testament to love. And it's a triumph.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heart the Lover by Lily King is a painfully beautiful novel that completely moved me. I sobbed over it and loved every page. This is my second book by her, and once again her writing stunned me with its quiet power and emotional depth.

The story of a young woman in college, navigating love and memory, is raw, tender, and unforgettable. The unnamed narrator’s journey feels deeply intimate, and the ending left me breathless.

A heartbreaking yet gorgeous read that will stay with me for a long time.

This book offers a delightful escape, captivating readers with its enchanting coming-of-age story and heartwarming romance. Would recommend

Thank you to Lily King, Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the arc of this book.

I'd never read a Lily King novel before & now I know what I'm missing out on!! This book had me hooked from the first page and proceeded to absolutely destroy me Love!!

This novel follows a young woman who becomes entangled with two best friends during college. My brain can barely form a coherent thought today, so bear with me.. Above all else, this is a story of love. New love, love that changes, love that ends and then begins again as something new. King shows how our youth shapes us and haunts us, and how some feelings (& people) can't be left in the past.

I loved watching time mold these characters, and see their relationships change. Little details also hinted towards the college bits taking place in North Carolina somewhere (maybe UNC??), which I loved since I grew up there. I was just absolutely charmed by King's writing and these characters. And yes, I did sob the entire last quarter of this book & so you know it's good!! When you're ready to be devastated, give it a go. And now l'm gonna go read WRITERS & LOVERS.

“Heart the Lover” by Lily King is a farewell to youth and old lovers.

The novel is about an aspiring writer nicknamed “Jordan” (from “The Great Gatsby”) as she navigates a complicated web of relationships. The first part of the book follows Jordan’s college days where she meets two boys who change the course of her life. We then fast forward to her more settled down life and end with a sorrowful finale.

I liked the concept of the book was a retelling of her story with one of the characters to them. This book is great for fans of love dramas like “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and reading books about writers.

Since I didn’t realize at the time of reading this that it was a prequel to “Writers and Lovers” I want to reread both again. Lily King has such a fresh, honest voice!

Thanks @groveatlantic for the NetGalley ARC (out 9/30)!

Narrator Daisy/Jordan meets Sam and Yash in her university literature class, and the three quickly become inseparable: playing games, living together, and eventually forming a complicated love triangle. The novel then follows them over decades, showing how the people you meet in your early adulthood shape who you become and how the rest of your life unfolds.

The book is divided into three sections, each capturing a different phase of the narrator’s life. Thematically, it touches on friendship, first loves and forgiveness. I appreciated the ambition, and the ending does reach for deep emotion.

That said, I couldn’t quite connect. Something about the characters felt off to me. The writing style also threw me a little; it often read like “this happened, that happened; you did this, I did that,” which made the narrative feel flat.

For me, reading this book was like skimming the surface of water. Other readers clearly dove into its depths and found meaning, but I never managed to wade in as far.

I’d put Heart the Lover in the category of “not a bad book, just not for me.”

Thank you to #NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an advanced reader copy of #HeartTheLover.

This is absolutely one of the best books of 2025. I tore through it but at the same time I wanted to savor every second. It was the perfect subtle tie back to Writers and Lovers, which I also enjoyed but not to this level. I laughed, I cried, it was great.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

Lily King immediately became one of my favorite contemporary authors upon reading "Writers & Lovers". She has an uncanny way of writing about young women trying to figure out adulthood and usually getting involved with men and ending up in some rather messy love triangle in an academic setting. And I devour each and every one of those books.

Told in three parts, "Heart the Lover" chronicles our unnamed narrator's life first when she is in her senior year in college in late 80s, trying to figure out herself and her ambitions when she meets best friends Sam and Yash. The two guys are so academically successful that they completely change how she thinks about her studies and her life. Her relationships with them impacts her life and the later two parts of the story.

I absolutely loved this book. Part I is maybe the richest in plot but then you cannot help but read Part II and Part III in one sitting to see how it ends. And oh boy, how it ends is just so lovely and so sad. Lily King really pulls the heart (the lover) strings with this one.

Definitely recommended!

A complicated romantic entanglement and a searing first love that lasts a lifetime, HEART THE LOVER captures the ripple effects of our choices, the malleability of self, the creation of new wounds and the reopening of old ones. Time softens, the heaviest heartbreaks are overcome, but perhaps never truly cured. Where young love takes flight, mature love grounds us where we need to be.

The result is pretty special..

Long live the King.

Lily King typically finds a way to move me in ways I’m resistant to. This was such a beautiful story, and it felt uniquely personal. While many other writers might have veered into the maudlin, King keeps the story grounded in two very flawed humans. I cried. I loved it. It made me want to reread Euphoria.