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patchworkbunny's review
3.0
Out of Heart is a simply told story, about grief and family. When Adam's grandfather (referred to as Dadda) dies, he donates his heart. Still dealing with their loss, two weeks later a man turns up at the door. His name is William and Dadda's heart saved his life.
This book requires a bit of suspension of belief. A man walks in off the street and is accepted into a family for the sole reason that the youngest family member recognises something in him. Implying there is a connection via the heart. It is explained later how William knew where the heart came from, but it still has a sense of fairy tale to it.
William and Adam both start having dreams about Dadda and the heart. William is with the family briefly, and is a quiet unassuming man, but he is a catalyst for plenty of changes for the better. At first I though Farah was deaf but instead she had an accident leaving her unable to speak but still able to communicate.
I felt it was lacking emotionally and there were a lot of different threads so no issue was looked at in great detail. One of Adam's friends make a distasteful joke about people thinking he's on the autistic spectrum and they will think he's crazy. There's a lot about Adam, that makes you think maybe there is some learning difficulty left undiagnosed. His teachers think he's capable but he just doesn't do the work. He communicates better through his artwork and creates sort of poems from jumbled letters, helping him make sense of his thoughts.
It might be better read as a middle grade book, where more complex explorations aren't required. It touches a little on poverty and domestic abuse, and there's a very gentle romance which is a very small part. I can see younger, serious readers who prefer their fiction without action liking this. Adam is fifteen and they do say kids like to read upwards, so maybe 12-14 is a good age if the topics are OK for them.
Irfan cleverly introduces the Shah's as Muslims in a scene where Yasmin and Farah are shooed away from Dadda's funeral by elder men from the community. Women are not permitted. I liked Yasmin, she repeatedly stands up for herself and by the end you can tell she sees some of this "community" as fools. I don't think their religion is ever spelled out but it is implied. This also explains why Dadda's heart donation was such a shock.
Organ donation is a topic of much confusion in the Islamic faith and as a result there is a severe shortage of donors among certain ethnic groups. It is not condemned in the Koran but some believe it will leave person incomplete in the afterlife. Yet saving a life is the greatest gift and should be encouraged.
The book is also illustrated, with a dot-to-dot at the end (this is relevant) and is interspersed with facts and quotes about hearts.
This book requires a bit of suspension of belief. A man walks in off the street and is accepted into a family for the sole reason that the youngest family member recognises something in him. Implying there is a connection via the heart. It is explained later how William knew where the heart came from, but it still has a sense of fairy tale to it.
William and Adam both start having dreams about Dadda and the heart. William is with the family briefly, and is a quiet unassuming man, but he is a catalyst for plenty of changes for the better. At first I though Farah was deaf but instead she had an accident leaving her unable to speak but still able to communicate.
I felt it was lacking emotionally and there were a lot of different threads so no issue was looked at in great detail. One of Adam's friends make a distasteful joke about people thinking he's on the autistic spectrum and they will think he's crazy. There's a lot about Adam, that makes you think maybe there is some learning difficulty left undiagnosed. His teachers think he's capable but he just doesn't do the work. He communicates better through his artwork and creates sort of poems from jumbled letters, helping him make sense of his thoughts.
It might be better read as a middle grade book, where more complex explorations aren't required. It touches a little on poverty and domestic abuse, and there's a very gentle romance which is a very small part. I can see younger, serious readers who prefer their fiction without action liking this. Adam is fifteen and they do say kids like to read upwards, so maybe 12-14 is a good age if the topics are OK for them.
Irfan cleverly introduces the Shah's as Muslims in a scene where Yasmin and Farah are shooed away from Dadda's funeral by elder men from the community. Women are not permitted. I liked Yasmin, she repeatedly stands up for herself and by the end you can tell she sees some of this "community" as fools. I don't think their religion is ever spelled out but it is implied. This also explains why Dadda's heart donation was such a shock.
Organ donation is a topic of much confusion in the Islamic faith and as a result there is a severe shortage of donors among certain ethnic groups. It is not condemned in the Koran but some believe it will leave person incomplete in the afterlife. Yet saving a life is the greatest gift and should be encouraged.
The book is also illustrated, with a dot-to-dot at the end (this is relevant) and is interspersed with facts and quotes about hearts.
emmachu130's review
1.0
Ugh.
I am sooo disappointed in this book. Have you ever physically thrown a book when you finish it? I hadn’t either until today but it was so frustratingly bad!
The writing style was irritating and repetitive. The story as a whole was slow moving and unrealistic, with the ending being incredibly rushed and anti-climatic.
The author clearly tried to add depth to the story and make it a really enlightening and emotional book but it didn’t work at all sadly. I found most of the characters quite irritating and barely any background information was given about William, one of the main characters. In fact, you are only informed of the fact he’s a middle-old aged man around 70% into the book. By this point, I already felt like giving the book up but I always try to finish books.
I could go on and on about how terrible this book was but I would end up rambling, just like the author did in Out of Heart.
I’ve had this book on my shelf for almost a year and was putting it off until I really needed a book to get me back interested in reading. This obviously didn’t work.
I am sooo disappointed in this book. Have you ever physically thrown a book when you finish it? I hadn’t either until today but it was so frustratingly bad!
The writing style was irritating and repetitive. The story as a whole was slow moving and unrealistic, with the ending being incredibly rushed and anti-climatic.
The author clearly tried to add depth to the story and make it a really enlightening and emotional book but it didn’t work at all sadly. I found most of the characters quite irritating and barely any background information was given about William, one of the main characters. In fact, you are only informed of the fact he’s a middle-old aged man around 70% into the book. By this point, I already felt like giving the book up but I always try to finish books.
I could go on and on about how terrible this book was but I would end up rambling, just like the author did in Out of Heart.
I’ve had this book on my shelf for almost a year and was putting it off until I really needed a book to get me back interested in reading. This obviously didn’t work.
janaybrazier's review
2.0
Update: I reread this book for a YA book club and have ended up lowering my rating from 3 stars to 2 stars. This book jumped around so much and didn't give enough detail or description, but at the same time I wasn't really bothered about getting extra description because I wasn't invested enough in the story to really want more.
I was kindly sent this book by the publishers via NetGalley and I read it very quickly. I liked the characters of William and Adam and I liked that it was such an interesting, unique concept for a plot. I don't know why but I did feel as if there was something missing but I can't put my finger on what that is. Maybe I'll reread it at a later date to see if I can go a bit deeper into it and decide what it is. Overall, I it was alright.
I was kindly sent this book by the publishers via NetGalley and I read it very quickly. I liked the characters of William and Adam and I liked that it was such an interesting, unique concept for a plot. I don't know why but I did feel as if there was something missing but I can't put my finger on what that is. Maybe I'll reread it at a later date to see if I can go a bit deeper into it and decide what it is. Overall, I it was alright.
carolineroche's review
5.0
I loved this book. It is a sensitively told story about William who gets a donated heart. The heart was donated by Adam's grandfather - and William feels increasingly drawn to the family. Visiting them one day, he meets Adam - a teenager who desperately misses his grandfather and resents the fact that his heart now lives in William; and his little sister Farah who is a selective mute. Their mother welcomes William into the family, and Adam has to work out his grief and guilt - guilt because he feels he is responsible for Farah's condition.
A beautiful story of love and families from Irfan Master. This book deserves it's place on the Carnegie longlist.
A beautiful story of love and families from Irfan Master. This book deserves it's place on the Carnegie longlist.
sad_vibes_on_radio's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
thewritebooks's review
3.0
Though this book wasn’t right up my street, I did love the way it was written. It wasn’t prose or poetry but the way the story read gave me that feel.
There were quite a few deep aspects to this book to beware of TW for domestic abuse, hospital scenes (organ donation), and death. I felt it was a shame the book was so short because there was so much to cover- a longer novel could’ve gone into more detail.
I loved the relationship between our two protagonists and how they almost immediately struck up a strange bond- sort of friends, sort of not. This has been on my TBR for ages so I’m glad I finally read it!
There were quite a few deep aspects to this book to beware of TW for domestic abuse, hospital scenes (organ donation), and death. I felt it was a shame the book was so short because there was so much to cover- a longer novel could’ve gone into more detail.
I loved the relationship between our two protagonists and how they almost immediately struck up a strange bond- sort of friends, sort of not. This has been on my TBR for ages so I’m glad I finally read it!
r0bin_05's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Islamophobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Body horror
centurylore's review
3.0
3/5.
This story, which I devoured within two hours, was pleasantly surprising. With its realistic characters who experience some truly difficult moments aid in making it such a delightful book to read. The simplicity of the plot is also easy to appreciate. There's no unnecessary entanglements or chapters shoved in to make up a word count. It's just a lovely, breezy book that touches on some of the more painful topics in life. Death, organ donation, racism, friendship, love and poverty are just the start!
However, I do find it quite off putting that some of the characters do not seem to have been fully fleshed out. Laila, Adam's grandparents and William could all do with a bit more personality, in my opinion. Additionally, a tad more insight into both Farah's illness and her way of communication would be grand, too.
In saying that though, the overall presentation along with the choice of quotes and facts within were absolutely lovely and a great touch! It's clear that a lot of attention went in to designing its appearance and it most definitely paid off.
This story, which I devoured within two hours, was pleasantly surprising. With its realistic characters who experience some truly difficult moments aid in making it such a delightful book to read. The simplicity of the plot is also easy to appreciate. There's no unnecessary entanglements or chapters shoved in to make up a word count. It's just a lovely, breezy book that touches on some of the more painful topics in life. Death, organ donation, racism, friendship, love and poverty are just the start!
However, I do find it quite off putting that some of the characters do not seem to have been fully fleshed out. Laila, Adam's grandparents and William could all do with a bit more personality, in my opinion. Additionally, a tad more insight into both Farah's illness and her way of communication would be grand, too.
In saying that though, the overall presentation along with the choice of quotes and facts within were absolutely lovely and a great touch! It's clear that a lot of attention went in to designing its appearance and it most definitely paid off.
katsbookishthoughts's review
5.0
I didn’t expect to enjoy this but I found it a refreshing look at the issues around transplants and the other things that families who are linked to them have to deal with. I found it a light read which pulsed with vitality. The ending came out of the blue and I wished it had finished differently. I also enjoyed seeing the story arch. Not everything is sorted, it couldn’t be, and some of the challenges are only being looked up to now but it is good to see that things are getting better.