Heart the Lover

LoveReading Says

“You knew I’d write a book about you someday”. And here it is. Her story. An absolute belter. It might just be my favourite book of the year.

Our narrator. The “daisy”. Hink. Jordan, named after F. Scott Fitzgerald’s character - is swept into the orbit of two brilliant, intoxicating young men in her senior year of college: Sam, the quiet scholar with his panting laugh, and Yash, all long, thick, dark hair and charisma. 

Bonding at first over an assignment on Bacon, their friendship blossoms into something deeper: late-night games, banter, longing, and first love. 

Bursting with bookish, breathless talk that makes you feel lit from within, it’s a homage to literature.  She’s the English student who gets As and A-minuses and polite notes at the bottom of essays, but never the perks or seminar invitations. A watcher on the edges until love pulls her to the centre. But heartbreak isn’t far behind. 

Decades later, a successful writer with several books under her belt, the one that got away reappears. And just like that, they’re back in her life. But not for long.

Part love story, part homage to literature, it’s a novel that holds both laughter and ugly crying in its grip.

I adored every damn word. I cackled on the tube. I shook my head wishing I’d written it. I savoured every page. Every laugh, every pang of longing, every single ugly, ugly tear. The writing envelopes you from the first line and doesn’t let you go until the last.

It’s witty, dry, bursting with humour, and sadness - and yet overflowing with love. A read in one sitting kinda book. The sort that leaves you bereft as you close the final page.

Jordan’s voice peels back layer by layer until she’s revealed in full, raw and real. It’s life, love, and literature tangled together. And now I want to read everything Lily King has ever written.

Deborah Maclaren

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