Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And then the worst things fly out of her mouth. She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since. In 2016, she was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger's syndrome. Her journey inspired The Kiss Quotient. She currently lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two kids, and a pet fish. Visit her online at helenhoang.com, facebook.com/hhoangwrites, instagram.com/hhoangwrites, and twitter.com/hhoangwrites. You can find more of my reviews of Helen's works here.
When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment. And when her longtime boyfriend announces that he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. Translation: She's going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the man, the better. That's where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in. Their first attempt at a one-night stand fails, as does their second and their third, because being with Quan is more than sex—he accepts Anna on an unconditional level that she herself has just begun to understand. However, when tragedy strikes Anna's family, she takes on a role that she is ill-suited for, until the burden of expectations threatens to destroy her. Anna and Quan have to fight for their chance at love, but to do that, they also have to fight for themselves.
This novel's power comes from its ability to fictitiously relate a powerful personal experience. Hoang is not shy about detailing some of her experience getting a later-in-life autism spectrum diagnosis. If you've read any of her previous author's notes, you'd know that writing about people on the autism spectrum is personal. However, that is taken to a whole new level in The Heart Principle, in a way that makes this her strongest novel. As Hoang details herself, we are even closer to the characters in this novel than we've been to any of her others, thanks to the first-person point-of-view. As you're reading, you also get the feeling that some of the experiences and details are pulled right out of real life. Even though this is Anna's story, and these are Anna's struggles, there are whispers of something really real and raw backing it all up. Not that that's necessary to make a great novel; it just heightens a great novel even further.
Another absolutely powerful move on Hoang's part is how she details Anna's and Quan's physical relationship. They match and mesh so well on an emotional level, so really narrowing in on how they translate that to the physical is such a great thing to see in contemporary romance that we don't see enough. Hoang also takes care to detail Quan's insecurities about his body—another thing we don't see nearly enough in contemporary romance is the male's point-of-view about his physical insecurities. Quan's might be a special case, but the statement still stands. Watching Anna and Quan learn each other both emotionally and physically makes the payoff of when they finally do get together even better. It also makes the ending that much more satisfying, which is something I'll explore further in the review.
One of the absolute most heartbreaking parts of this novel was Anna's relationship (or, really, lack thereof) with her sister, Priscilla. For so many reasons, this dynamic was so cutting—I am an older sister myself (not by 15 years, but older nonetheless), and it was heartbreaking to watch and understand how little Priscilla understood or respected Anna's needs. At the beginning, it was very clear that Priscilla's behavior is downright disgusting—she's rude to Anna when Anna tries to open up, and holds all of Anna's mistakes against her without trying to understand the ways Anna is different. What I love about how Hoang writes this relationship, though, is how she doesn't let Priscilla get away with being one-dimensional. Via an overheard conversation and through other characters, we learn a little bit about what Priscilla is dealing with. And while that absolutely doesn't excuse her behavior, it reminds us that even our worst adversaries are still human. When The New York Times Book Review says that Hoang writes with empathy, this is the pinnacle of that.
I've been talking in one of my classes lately about endings and unsatisfying versus satisfying endings. Of course, The Heart Principle has a satisfying ending—how could it not? There are obvious reasons as to why a happily ever after is guaranteed from this novel: anything from marketing schemes to Hoang's previous novel endings would have told us that the happy ending was on its way. But the happy ending comes without sacrificing the reality of it. While the ending wraps up in about twenty pages, Anna's life isn't wrapped up in nearly so neat or short a way. It takes her a long time to heal, which is measured out for us in the lengths of days, weeks, months, years. And even once she feels healed enough to tackle her biggest obstacles, not everything in her life is resolved. We don't leave her in this "first place" grand-champion spot. I loved that about the ending—we know how some things end up, and we don't know about others. More than anything, this is what made the novel as powerful as it is.
There is so much that my review can't cover—I would love to narrow in on the depiction of caretaking versus caregiving, and the burnout Anna feels on all sides. Really, all I can say is, this book completely elevates standards of what should be expected from really real contemporary romance. And, that you should read it.
For fans of Helen Hoang's themes, characters, and writing—while this may seem to be the end of the line for The Kiss Quotient series, it seems that Hoang and her Berkley team have more projects in the works. Until we get an announcement of anything new, you can find Helen online at helenhoang.com, facebook.com/hhoangwrites, instagram.com/hhoangwrites, and twitter.com/hhoangwrites. You can find more of my reviews of Helen's works here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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