Review: Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

Title: Things We Know by Heart
Author: Jessi Kirby 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: April 21st 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

When Quinn Sullivan meets the recipient of her boyfriend’s donated heart, the two form an unexpected connection.

After Quinn loses her boyfriend, Trent, in an accident their junior year, she reaches out to the recipients of his donated organs in hopes of picking up the pieces of her now-unrecognizable life. She hears back from some of them, but the person who received Trent’s heart has remained silent. The essence of a person, she has always believed, is in the heart. If she finds Trent’s, then maybe she can have peace once and for all.

Risking everything in order to finally lay her memories to rest, Quinn goes outside the system to track down nineteen-year-old Colton Thomas—a guy whose life has been forever changed by this priceless gift. But what starts as an accidental run-in quickly develops into more, sparking an undeniable attraction. She doesn't want to give in to it—especially since he has no idea how they're connected—but their time together has made Quinn feel alive again. No matter how hard she’s falling for Colton, each beat of his heart reminds her of all she’s lost…and all that remains at stake.

This is the second book I´ve read written by Jessi Kirby and I´ve liked both, but Golden is still my favorite. Things We Know by Heart is a YA contemporary romance novel about second chances (and miscommunication).

The story is told from the point of view of Quinn, a girl that put her life on "pause" and for the last year she has been in mourning because of the death of her boyfriend Trent and what has helped her a little in her grief is to accompany Trent´s mother to meet and talk with the recipients of his donated organs, so far she had meet almost everyone, but she had not met the recipient of his heart, and despite having sent a letter requesting to meet him, she has not received any response.

And not for a twist of fate she meets Colton, the receiver of Trent heart and from the start there is a connection between them, to which Quinn initially resists, because for obvious reasons she doesn´t tells him that she knows about his heart transplant and that she was the girlfriend of the donor, creating a tangle of complications from which she can not undone, because although she wants to tell him the truth there is something that stops her, causing more problems.

So in the end the main problem between Colton and Quinn is the lack of communication and that both keep things/secrets from each other. And this issue after a while it became tiresome, because as a reader you know that the more secrets are between a couple (or attempted couple), when the truth comes to light ... if it comes to light ... .will blow up in their face.

Things We Know by Heart is beautifully written and although the plot is not original it´s interesting and the message is about second chances, plus it has a cute and sweet romance (with its obvious complications).