A tender, fragile book by a talented writer (this book review includes some spoilers)
Article originally published in Counter Arts on Medium on March 25, 2026
You’d think that with all the suffering in the world, we would like to read only happy books. And some of us women are, indeed, addicted to romance novels. But for all those women, there are many who read horror fiction, which is hard for me to countenance, especially when those people are good, loving humans.
And, well, then there are people like me who want to read love stories but somehow often read books with loads of suffering too, not just happy love novels. I do it because my favorite writers include more pain in their books as they age. One of them is Lily King, who has recently published a novel called Heart the Lover.
King is a delicate writer. She knows how to distill imaginary facts to wispy feelings, and yet in this novel, what touches the heart — pun intended — is the hardness with which Yash removed himself from his relationship with Jordan. Jordan’s life in college with a trio of young men — Sam, Yash, and Ivan — is poignantly rendered. They make food, have sex, and talk about the classes they take. Jordan talks with Yash about a short story that reads like saying goodbye to one’s youthful nature, which sends a pall over their own hopeful discussions about life, God, and beautiful writings. There are a few notes about writers Jordan studies, which she shares with Yash, who is well-read and passionate about literature, to the point of translating a story from Ovid back into Latin.
And yet Jordan is the dreamy one, while Yash is the one who doesn’t feel ready to dream away his life in her arms. And Jordan suffers because of it — because, for her, despite also having a relationship with Sam in college, Yash is the one she wanted in her life beyond her college years. At least as a friend. But she doesn’t even get that.
Heart the Lover is meant as a prequel and sequel to King’s 2020 novel Writers and Lovers. It’s not as finely wrought as that previous book of King’s, but it still has a magnetic quality.
As a reader, I can’t think of what I would have added to this book, which tells me it was well conceived. There’s the campus novel, then an interlude with Jordan and Yash, and then the third part, which strikes a somber note and was rather unexpected.
I was hypnotized by this third part of the book. It’s painfully sad, but doesn’t lay the grief on thick, doesn’t overindulge or milk its power, or the power of death. In that, the author is still very romantic. She is not the significantly younger author of Writers and Lovers, but she’s not jaded either. She’s still tender at heart, pun intended, and she believes in telling a story of love even as she deals with severe grief and life’s vicissitudes.
The whole book was a fast-paced and satisfying read, despite the grief included — even though, yes, I had to put the book down before finishing it, because I couldn’t take the sadness that evening. Also, because I wanted to stay with the characters a little longer.
If you like romantic books interwoven with sadness, you may appreciate Heart the Lover. Again, it’s not as poetic as Writers and Lovers, but the author’s style does fit the subject matter and her own, a little more hardened demeanor, as an aging woman and mother who has been through rough times.
I hope you’ll have a good reading experience of this book, because, much as it deals with suffering, it’s a book bathed in hope and love, in the beauty of a love that transcends time and, in remembrance, makes even a sad love story a balm for the soul.
To a happier, healthier life,
Mira
HappierHealthier.Blog 