Well I just got torn open and remade. Astonishing. King returns with a deeply felt story about the love that couldn't be, the love that we have, and the value and necessity of both. An absolute must for fans of WRITERS & LOVERS.

This was a beautiful book, from start to finish. I am a big fan of a campus novel and expected to like it, but didn't anticipate being so moved by the characters and the story.

Heart the Lover is a beautiful reflection on life, love, and friendship. The book moves fast—an unexpected page turner, and I finished it in less than a day. The writing is really beautiful, with descriptions and observations of people, places, and life events that felt incredibly real, and complex.

It's been a while since a book made me cry so much. It wasn't quite as sad, but reminded me somewhat of A Little Life. It also was slightly reminisce of a Secret History.

This one will stay with me, I suspect. I'm already considering re-reading it.

This richly drawn story explores love and the ways we change through the different stages of life. How do our decisions and choices affect those we love? I felt a strong connection with the main female character, especially as the years she attended college mirrored my own. The pop culture references were spot-on and brought back a wave of happy memories. A little surprise at the end. Not a light read, but a very satisfying one that will stay with me. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book. I sat down and read the entire book in one sitting.

I feel in love with Jordan from page one. And I just really like reading about women trying to figure their life out. This book has me laugh, crying and just gave me all the emotions. I highly recommend reading it.

I would recommend reading Writers & Lovers first-not that you have too but I think you’d appreciate the book more this way

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

Requested this on a whim, as I’ve been procrastinating reading Writers & Lovers from King and thought this a forcing mechanism; I loved it! It has the tender, quiet heart of an Ann Patchett novel and the melancholic ache of a campus novel. We follow the interwoven lives of 3 college seniors as they fumble for meaning, search for a creative life, and develop entangled relationships that echo forever.

I didn’t expect it to have the emotional impact it did, but by the end I was quietly tearing up. Something about its honesty just hit and I found a lot of parallels in my college experience, mostly in the uncertainty, of feeling yourself wash out in the brilliance of others before finding it again, of making decisions you question forever–two ships passing in the night. It’s a tight 250 page read that follows the lifetime of these 3, but packs an emotional punch by the end. Highly recommend checking it out come October.

You know a book has gotten under your skin when you cry unreservedly through the last few pages. When you still cry after you’ve finished, just thinking about the ending. This book is one of those, and I enjoyed it wholeheartedly. At its core, this is a love story, or, more specifically, a story of a love triangle. The narrator, a college student in her senior year, meets two male star students in a Lit class. Dating one of them, she is brought into their home (a house owned by a professor who is on sabbatical), where she falls for the other. It’s heady stuff, this true love, but it will ultimately be shaken by the key choices of the lovers.

Skip ahead twenty or so years and Jordan (the narrator’s nickname) is in a happy marriage blessed with two young sons. When the past comes back to haunt her, she must deal with unresolved issues and lingering feelings. I can’t say more without giving away key parts but suffice it to say that Jordan rides a rollercoaster of feelings in the last half of the book and I rode it with her. Lily King writes with exquisite skill the intricacies of relationships…of love and forgiveness. This is an excellent book, one which has settled in my heart. I am now motivated to read King’s earlier novel, “Writers & Lovers”, which is said to have a connection to this book. I enjoyed “Euphoria”, her novel based on Margaret Mead’s work with New Guinea’s native populations. Highly recommended.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me early access to this book. The publish date is September 30, 2025.

[4+] "Heart the Lover" is about the confusion and rawness of a first love and its aftereffects, even years later. King is a potent, subtle writer whose power crept up on me--by the end, I was in tears. (Thank you to Grove Press and NetGalley for the advance copy.)

Note: I was inspired to reread "Writers and Lovers "and it was a deeper, more enveloping experience than the first time. I loved it!

Lily King’s writing is consistently brilliant. This is a story about two people passionately in love, and it’s complicated. It’s about family, friendships, and secrets. The story is compelling, an emotional roller coaster with equally strong plotting and character development. It has intellectual depth as it discusses the importance of structure in fiction. The love story is a reflection of that construction principle. It’s philosophically deep & mystical, too, including theories about time. It’s a very satisfying read from start to finish. Thanks to #Netgalley & the publisher for the eARC. This is my honest & objective review.

4.5: Warmly lyrical, swooningly romantic. If you adored King's previous novel, Writers & Lovers, or are a superfan of Elizabeth Strout's Lucy Barton extended universe, or enjoy novels about middle-aged female novelists from Maine writing novels about the lives of middle-aged female novelists from Maine (yes, I realize that this Venn diagram is a single circle), this is an absolute must-read. And if you loved Celine Song's 2023 film Past Lives, about re-encountering long-lost loves later in life, you will feel the same way about Heart the Lover.

In Part One, we meet our protagonist as a senior English major at UNC-Chapel Hill in the mid-1980s. She meets two boys in a seminar, both of whom have feelings for her, and call her Jordan, after the Great Gatsby character. King recaptures the spark of what first love feels like in one's early twenties and the feel of what everyday life was like for college students during a time when reading books and writing short stories meant absolutely everything. Jordan first pursues a relationship with the blocked and uptight Sam, and then with his best friend Yash, who might be the love of her life, before he callously ends their relationship after a post-graduation trip to Paris.

In Part Two, King moves the story forward, revisiting Jordan in her late thirties, when she's contentedly married to another guy and raising two boys in Portland, Maine, when Yash crashes back into her life after more than a decade's absence. I don't want to spoil the remaining half of the novel, so I'm going to stop there. And I will say this as obliquely as I can: there's a surprise on the final page that you might see coming, but it will still floor you emotionally.

“ What I am saying, these decisions we make in youth are everything. You have no idea.”

This is my first book from Lily King and I didn’t expect to love this.
At first, I thought it will be a common love triangle among young loves set in academia and how that love falls apart due to miscommunications and what not but its deeper than that. I love how this book explores the complex dynamics between love and friendships and how life continues to move amidst heartbreaks/loss/grief and how one day, the experiences and encounters we had in the past will just be a story told in the present.

Thank you to netgalley for this digital ARC.

4.25 Star

Oh, man. When Lily King grabs me, she grabs me completely. Writers and Lovers is one of my all time favorites and this is every bit as good. This tells the story of an unnamed narrator, nicknamed Jordan (as in The Great Gatsby) by her group of college friends. The first part of the book describes her experience during her senior year of college as she becomes involved in a love triangle between two very different young men. The second half of the book revisits the narrator in midlife, a happy wife and mother who has to reexamine those triangle relationships when they come back into her life in an unexpected way. Not since Writers and Lovers has a book just completely captured me from page one and refused to let go - I read this in one sitting. King’s writing is gorgeous. Love, joy, loss, grief - you’re going to experience all those viscerally. I literally felt wrung out when it was over. I can’t wait for this to come out and get all the praise it deserves - another five star Lily King read for me. (There’s a surprise factor about this book that I won’t reveal - if you get it, you’ll be completely delighted.)

This is the best book I’ve read in a long time.
I sat with this book and read it in one sitting, I could not look away from it.

I haven’t cried that hard in many many years.
I will be pre ordering this book and buying multiple copies. I can’t even begin to review Heart the Lover without tearing up.

Prior to reading this, Writers & Lovers held the this spot in my favorite books of all time, but it’s going to scoot over for Heart the Lover. I will never stop thinking about Yash, Jordan, Sam and rest of the characters.
This book has changed my life, seriously.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC. I was immediately invested in these characters and this story. I knew it was going to wreck me, but it didn’t wreck me as much as I thought. I will say I liked the beginning chunk the most, but the writing is really top notch, and I loved it.

Obsessed with this book.
Jordan, Sam and Yash meet in college and share this wonderfully complicated dynamic that only ever seems to happen when you are young, and yet shapes you for a lifetime. 'Heart the Lover' ties these three characters throughout their lives and although they drift apart they are infinitely pulled back together in some shape or form.
In many ways this is a love story but it's not as simple as a true love or the one who got away, it is a romance about shared experiences and those we collect within our memories and hearts. It was such an emotional read for me but also a joyous one. Lily King is fast becoming one of my favourite writers and I just couldn't put this one down. I don't know if it's the way in which she writes dialogue or if it's the quirky complexities she assigns her characters but I was instantly hooked and just cannot recommend enough.

"Eternity as a concept is a bit terrifying" he says. "only if time exists as we experience it. Which we know it does not. Without time, eternity loses its bite."

Why have I never read Lily King? A fave podcaster casually mentioned it would likely be her favorite of the year halfway through the novel, After requesting on Netgalley, I am happy to report approval from Grove Press and that it is indeed my favorite read so far of 2025. I will remember clearly what day I read this, where I was, and what I was feeling as I devoured this gorgeous novel.

First, it is a restrained 256 pages. It packs heavy plot and character development. (You will cry--as I did at the 4th of July pool bash.) But, literary fiction is a tough needle to thread. This book is so accessible, bingeable. When I wasn't reading it, I was mulling it over! I will review just enough not to give it away.

Our narrator (unnamed and in a point of history we don't know) is in the fall of her senior year at an unnamed college. She serendipitously meets two star students in her 17th century lit class--Sam and Yash. These enigmatic best friends live off campus in a home of a famous professor on sabbatical. The guys nickname her Jordan, and she quickly falls into their boisterous friend group that takes their intellectualism seriously.

Drama ensues. However, I think revealing more would ultimately give too much of the plot away. This novel follows "Jordan" into adulthood. She still has to reckon with decisions made in her youth, but is also deeply affected and transformed by her time with Sam and Yash.

The language, emotional sensitivity, and banter will transform you with its ode to intellectual friendships, a creative life, forgiveness, and family. I cried and laughed. Lily King is masterful at her art, and we are all bless to consume and digest it.

This is the first book I have ready by author Lily King. The story started out a little slow for me but I was hooked by the time I was half way through the book and I couldn't put it down. This is a love story and follows a small group of friends (and lovers) through time. Jordan is the main character. Her two close friends are Sam and Yash. She meets them during their senior year of college. They stay in touch through the years. Is there a secret? Yes! And I recommend you buy and read the book to find out. I plan to read other novels by Lily King. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic Press for the Advanced Reader Copy.

Lily King is always good for a strong story and complex relationships. A college love triangle creates lasting bonds that shape the protagonist's life. Witty throughout, literary references abound, and challenges of health and difficult re-connections must be faced. The choices made resonate with me, as being in a spot between a rock and a hard place is often difficult to resolve neatly.

A young woman in college meets two boys who are friends and roommates in her literature class. She quickly becomes enmeshed in their lives and starts dating Sam, but also loves Yash. When she and Sam break u,p she and Yash start an intense love affair. The people you meet in college when you are first trying to figure out who you are and who you want to become are always the most influential and important people in your lives. This is the case with these three friends. The second part of the book follows the main character (we only know her as Jordan, a name given to her by the boys). She is married to Silas and has two sons. Her world is rocked a bit when Yash visits them. The story about what happened between Yash and Jordan unfolds. When a tragedy occurs, the friends from college and their families are brought together again.

A wonderful story! I haven't read Writers & Lovers but I am going to pick it up right away.

For any readers who haven't read a Lily King book, whether or not to recommend this book is easy: read it. It's emotional and gorgeous and has an expected page-turning quality near the end, even though what's coming is very much a foregone conclusion.

Now, if you have read a Lily King book - specifically if you've read Writers & Lovers - and you've also read the summary for this book, yeah, sure, you should still read it. Just know that the "connective thread" is less a thread, more a whole sweater.

I really, really don't understand the point in hiding this. If you have the ability to recall any details from Writers & Lovers whatsoever you'll know the big "reveal" before the college section is even over; and even if you don't, it's extremely obvious after the time jump, so why all the subterfuge? It benefits the book not at all and, once I was sure, was actually pretty annoying. Not sure if it was the publisher's decision not to be clear with the summary or what, but coyness for the sake of coyness isn't all that enjoyable.

The book itself is very enjoyable, thankfully. A lovely, true-to-life portrayal of relationships, rich and emotionally intense. King does amazing things with dialogue and with these seemingly spare sentences that build and build to an emotional tipping point. And as for her characters, it is so incredible to me that so many of them who have what are basically walk-on roles feel so fleshed out and real; naturally this goes trebly so for the major characters. And all the literary asides, the way she talks about writing: so perfect. I think this is another reason I was bothered so much - the book is good enough without needing to play keep-away!

So yes, I would absolutely recommend this. Just maybe brace yourself for this one weird and pointless obfuscation.

Did I read this book every free chance I had while at work? Yes. Why? Because I was so enamored by the characters. They felt so real and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. Lily King crafts characters so deeply and richly that they feel like old friends. The impact they had on me was quite big---I was rooting for the relationships to work, I was hoping that everyone would be okay, and in the end, despite all the sadness, I think everyone did end up okay. That's another thing Lily King does so well; she builds a story with a foundation of hope. I will certainly be recommending this book.