Blog Tour: This Heart of Mine by C.C. Hunter (Review)

“Don’t do anything you know you’ll regret. But do enough to know exactly what you’ll regret and learn to regret less.”

A new heart saved her life—but will it help her find out what really happened to its donor?

Seventeen-year-old Leah MacKenzie is heartless. An artificial heart in a backpack is keeping her alive. However, this route only offers her a few years. And with her rare blood type, a transplant isn’t likely. Living like you are dying isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. But when a heart becomes available, she’s given a second chance at life. Except Leah discovers who the donor was — a boy from her school — and they’re saying he killed himself. Plagued with dreams since the transplant, she realizes she may hold the clues to what really happened.

Matt refuses to believe his twin killed himself. When Leah seeks him out, he learns they are both having similar dreams and he’s certain it means something. While unraveling the secrets of his brother’s final moments, Leah and Matt find each other, and a love they are terrified to lose. But life and even new hearts don’t come with guarantees. Who knew living, took more courage than dying?

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Personal Thoughts:

This Heart of Mine is a genuine portrayal of life of a teengage girl living with chronic illness with a dose of mystery.

Leah McKenzie’s heart failed due to virus that caused Myocarditis, so she has an external mechanical heart to keep her alive while waiting for a heart that will match her. But with her rare blood type, Leah is not very optimistic in getting a transplant soon.

Matt Kenner has lost his twin brother, Eric after declared brain-dead due to the gunshot in the head. Eric’s heart match to Leah’s need, so she received a new heart the same day Eric’s died. Leah knew Matt and Eric, they attend the same school and live in the same town, and after realizing that she has Eric’ heart, she can’t help but think that Eric is gone and she is alive because of it.

The police ruled Eric’s case as suicide, but Matt doesn’t believe it. He knows his twin brother very well, and he can’t accept that Eric will take his own life. When Matt and Leah finally able to catch up with each other, they learned that they’ve been having the same dreams lately, and it’s all about Eric. Like Eric is telling them something about his death. The two then try to find out what actually happened that night Eric died, hoping to bring justice for Eric.

Told in alternating views between Leah’s first person and Matt’s third person narrative, This Heart of Mine offers story of griefs; from Leah and her family who is dealing with Leah’s condition, to Matt and his mother’s grief after losing not only Eric but also Matt’s Dad, and also those friends who are somehow connected to those who are gone like Eric.

Aside from dealing with griefs, and the mystery of Eric’s death, and more than the romance between Eric and Leah, the story also reminds readers how important it is to live in the moment and take chances in life. With Leah’s condition, Leah doesn’t know how long she has to live. Even with the new heart, there’s still the possibility that her body will reject it. And Leah learn to accept that the hard way. She learns to appreciate whatever time she got and try to live her life as normal as possible. She seize the moment, try to be brave and be happy with her life even with her condition.

“Don’t be afraid to take a chance. Win or lose. That’s what life is, a bunch of chances.”

C.C. Hunter successfully delivered a heart-warming story with a touch of mystery in this first contemporary novel of her.

A story with a heart.
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* This review is based on an eGalley I received courtesy of the publisher, MacMillan in exchange of honest opinion about the book.

Hear The Wolves by Victoria Scott

“The circle of life isn’t a circle at all. It’s a straight line, with hunters on one end, and prey on the other.”

Sloan is a hunter.

So she shouldn’t be afraid of anything. But ever since her mom left the family and she lost hearing in one ear in a blizzard, it’s been hard to talk to people, and near-impossible to go anywhere or do anything without her dad or big sister within eyesight — it makes her too scared to be on her own.

When they leave her home alone for what should only be two nights, she’s already panicked. Then the snow starts falling and doesn’t stop. One of her neighbors is hurt in an accident. And the few people still left in Rusic need to make it to the river and the boat that’s tied there — their only way to get to a doctor from their isolated Alaska town.

But the woods are icy cold, and the wolves are hungry. Sloan and her group are running out of food, out of energy, and out of time. That’s when the wolves start hunting them . . .

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | BD | Goodreads | Publisher

Personal Thoughts:

Victoria Scott new novel, Hear the Wolves follows a young girl in a richly drawn small town Rusic Alaska, trying to survive the wild and the cold snowstorm.

Twelve year-old Sloan Reilly knows a thing or two about hunting. She’s pretty good with guns. When her dad and sister left her alone to vote on keeping the township separate, Sloan find herself in the middle of blizzard trying to help a terribly injured neighbor, Ms. Wade. Together with other five people, Sloan brave crossing the river to Bernon with wolves surrounding them. They don’t have enough supply for the journey, and not much enough choice either. Will they all survive the cold and the hungry wolves?

Sloan as the main character is both strong and vulnerable. A combination that makes her and her narration captivating. Her fears and struggles both internal and external were very well drawn. Creating an emotionally intense story for readers to get lost into.

The wolves are frigthening making the reading experience on the edge. But more than being the hunters or villain in the story, the wolves remind readers that they too are victims. Like Sloan and her gang, the wolves are just trying to survive. They need food, and since the people of Rusic eliminate their source of food they have to get something else to survive. Most of the times, our actions affect someone or something else. There’s a law of nature, a inevitable process we all part of, and we need to be aware of how we as a humanity contribute to it. We can’t always think of ourselves as superior being as if the earth owe as something. We have parts to do too and other living and non-living things to consider.

Overall, Hear the Wolves is a pleasant surprise. It has an intense and realistic plot that delivers a powerful punch. Readers will surely find Sloan’s story not only inspiring but also unrelenting. A survival story of both physical and emotional that won’t leave readers for awhile.

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* This review is based on a copy I received courtesy of the publisher, Scholastic Press Philippines in exchange for an honest opinion.