No Books, No Life

Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby

After Quinn loses her boyfriend in a car accident, everything changes. Not knowing how to cope without him, she tries to get closure by writing to the recipients of his donated organs. All of them write back and she is overjoyed to see them thriving with parts of him. The one person who never writes back is the recipient of his heart, Colton. Quinn feels that without meeting him she will never be able to move on. She tracks Colton down and slowly gets to know him, and even starts to have a crush on him. The only problem is that he doesn't know he has her boyfriend's heart and he doesn't want her to know about any of his heart troubles. Will they somehow manage to fall in love through all the secrets?

To start it all of, I absolutely love this cover! It is so simple, yet unique and memorable at the same time. I can honestly say that is exactly the same inside. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking story on so many levels and I honestly cannot recommend it enough!

I felt connected to all of the characters and honestly felt for them. Hearing both Colton and Quinn's stories really made me respect them more for all that they went through and how much strength they had. Even the most minor characters were 3D and had really unique things about them. This was actually a YA book where parents were present and I felt they played a huge part in the story. That made is seem even more realistic and personal to me.

Quinn annoyed me at times, like when she didn't tell Colton about him having Trent's heart and that stopped me from giving the book a higher rating than I did. I understand how she was scared to though and as much as I hate to admit it, I might have done exactly the same thing.

I loved how much this story talked about the ocean. As a person who has never been there, I can say I learned a lot more about the plants and natural formations around it.

If you want a beach read with some substance and heartbreak, this is for you! I really loved it and would definitely recommend!

***Thanks go out to HarperTeen and Jessi Kirby for sending me an autographed copy of this book! This did not influence my rating or review in any way.***

Thanks for reading!
~Bri