The Heart Principle

“The Heart Principle” by Helen Hoang follows a young violinist in crisis. Anna Sun can’t practice her music. Every time she starts, she makes a mistake, every time she makes a mistake she starts over. Every day it’s the same playing in infuriating circles. She’s begun to see a therapist, in an effort to, find out why she is having this glitch. What she finds out is far more life-changing. Anna’s therapist believes Anna is Autistic. That is why she is so burnt out all the time, her need for perfection in her music, her inability to voice what she wants, and her constantly changing her personality to match what she perceives people around her to want it to be.

Anna was never tested as a child, she’s never considered the possibility herself, only known that life is harder for her than for someone like, say her older sister. As we move through Anna’s story, she begins to discover herself, speak up for herself and change her behavior from pleasing others to caring for herself. While the journey is hard and there are some definite speed bumps along the way, it was such a powerful and inspiring story to watch as Anna worked through it and finally took charge of her life and made it work for her rather than everyone else.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I read the whole premise of the book when I chose it as my August book of the month. I read enough to determine it was a rom-com and while I was also extremely drawn to another of the choices, I chose romcom over fantasy/paranormal because too much fantasy can be stressful.

The joke is on me because this powerful story was a little stressful for me too. I relate to Anna on a lot of her issues. Am I autistic? I have no idea, okay that’s a lie, I’m beginning to suspect that I am, but like Anna, I was not tested as a child. Also, I’m not going to decide based on a book, there are several other factors and in the end, I would eventually talk to a professional should I decide I want an actual diagnosis or confirmation.

Moving on…

I really appreciated the characters in this book, they were all so loveable…except Anna’s sister. That B*** was so unsupportive and know-it-all that I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. General PSA, if someone tells you they are autistic, they were assigned an incorrect gender at birth, they are x…you don’t get to tell them they are wrong no matter how well you know them…unless they are telling you they think they’re a terrible person and then obviously tell them they are wrong. My point is, Anna’s sister really got under my skin, she was constantly guilt-tripping Anna, constantly degrading her. There was probably some resentment for having to basically raise Anna as a child, but girl it is not Anna’s fault, calm down a bit and maybe see your own therapist. I found it surprising the way Anna’s mom reacted. Her apology, her promise to do better. Her begging Anna to never cut her from Anna’s life, that she would work on herself and change however necessary to always be there for her daughter. I was expecting her to be like Anna’s sister, given the way Anna’s sister reacted and it was a really nice surprise in the story to see that their mother was supportive.

Overall, I loved this story, and while I wouldn’t personally consider it a romcom, because while it is about Anna and Quan’s relationship, I think it’s about something so much deeper. To me, this novel was about Anna accepting herself, the way she is, about finding what her true personality is, and stopping changing for other people. To me, it’s about Anna finding her power, her voice, and herself.

This novel is out on August 31st and I highly suggest ya'll pick up a copy...just maybe keep some tissues near as well. 

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