Heart the Lover by Lily King was a book I was saving for a rainy (in this case, sunny) day because of the caliber of reviewers I trust who touted it as their Best of 2025. Please note this voice note includes spoilers.
After finishing it, I have a lot to book club about in this voice note, including:
what I look for in a book review(er),
the nuances of relationship issues depicted in the book, particularly around how friendships change around romantic love,
the choices Lily King could have easily made—that I’m glad she didn’t,
the intimate, short-story-like voice,
hindsight bias in narrative (always a curiosity),
stories depicting the awkwardness of grief,
considerations of friends-to-lovers, etc.
Related Books:
The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan; Normal People by Sally Rooney; Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson; Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley; etc.
The voice (video!!) note is 20 minutes long, and I tend to prefer listening at roughly 1.3x speed.
Also posted as a video! Written review to follow.
