Book Review | “Heart Bones” by Colleen Hoover

Title: Heart Bones | Author: Colleen Hoover | Genre: Contemporary Romance

“‘You can fill your life with nice things, but nice things don’t fill the holes in your soul.’ ‘What fills the holes in a soul?’ Samson’s eyes scroll over my face for a few seconds. ‘Pieces of someone else’s soul.’”

– Colleen Hoover, Heart Bones

My Thoughts

I don’t think I could write a bad review about a Colleen Hoover book if I tried. If you’re a fan of contemporary romance, you truly can’t go wrong with any of her books. Heart Bones is a heart-wrenching story about two self-proclaimed damaged people, Beyah and Samson, and the solace they found in one another. This story certainly pulls on the heartstrings but not so much that it will have you sobbing. It features Colleen Hoover’s signature angst and slow-burn romance.

The characters are well developed, if a bit inconsistent at times but I found that inconsistency lent itself to the realism of these characters as human beings. While the personalities of the major characters were well established, I did find myself craving more physical descriptions of the characters. We learned little more than the eye and hair color and height of the characters. I do tend to revel in the small details when it comes to physical descriptions, so anyone else reading Heart Bones likely wouldn’t even give that a second thought.

The plot moves along steadily and doesn’t drag at any point. If anything, I wished the falling action would have been extended a little more as it seemed to rush to get to the end a bit. I love this story’s take on a (somewhat) carefree summer romance at the beach. I’m a sucker for a good summer fling, I don’t know why. That being said, the plotline went a lot deeper than just a “cute” summer romance; it dove into tough topics including addiction, child neglect, and even touches briefly on some political issues. All of that just added to this rollercoaster ride the Colleen Hoover always seems to take me on and truly made me think about the people I have probably prejudged due to circumstances beyond their control.

The progression of Beyah and Samson’s relationship felt organic and left me wanting more until the very end. While I wouldn’t say their romance was the most swoon-worthy that I’ve encountered, the undeniable attraction between Beyah and Samson paired with the secrets and tension made for a dynamic that held my attention. There were times where I wanted to scream at Beyah for ignoring blatant red flags, but I had to keep in mind that she was only eighteen and had never experienced a relationship such as this before. As with every Colleen Hoover novel, there was a bit of *spice* in this book but nothing extreme – I gave it two out of five stars (or, chili peppers) on my spice rating – more of a Cholula than a Topatío if you speak in terms of hot sauce, as I do.

Overall, I love any book that can make me swoon, gasp and even blush a little and make me think about how I view the world I live in. I rated Heart Bones three and a half stars, which, on my scale means I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I recommend you pick it up the next time you’re looking for a good new adult contemporary romance.

Check out my Heart Bones inspired Spotify playlist!