Weak Heart

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also, i loved how cohesive the plot is, how even the smallest details come together in the end to make sense. my only complaint would be that i wish there was more emotional resolution towards the end, more apologies, more feelings, a little epilogue giving us a reassuring glimpse of the future. but i'm being greedy, i just wanted to spend more time with these characters. Jamie is a charmer, who might seem carefree, but who has problems with drinking, making bad decisions, chronically being late and messing everything up. But now he’s starting over, moving to a new city to be closer to his childhood best friend. Isla- Queen. Everyone stans her. She's just an adorably stubborn selkie, and reading a seal's perspective on humanity was different and super weird and awesome! It definitely made the book a lot more immersive. I loved how she was constantly longing to go home, but also so determined to stay. Her arc was also based on realization, I guess? About who her person is. I really loved that. The magic feels woven into the landscape and beaches, keeping itself and the folk who live here safe. It’s like a defence mechanism; it’s gorgeous to look at, but if you look too closely, it draws you in and drowns you.”

FYI: This book has a LOT of Scottish slang. If you are a simple midwestern farmer like I am, it'll will take time to get used to the slang. I actually really like the slang as it really brings you into the setting! You just may want to reference Urban Dictionary now and then (It took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out Pants means Underwear haha!)Atmospheric and neatly woven queer story that will place you in the middle of the Scottish Isles feeling weak in the knees. Ban Gilmartin serves quality and tenderness in their emotional self published debut!

As a selkie, Isla has always wanted to stay in the sea and doesn’t really understand the impulse that her mother and brother have had to give their pelt away and stay on land for love. All she needs is her herd and her yearly day with Kit. However, things may start to shift when she meets Tanis, who is very hot and also a powerful shapeshifter, oh and runs the local pub that has amazing food. Their relationship was truly perfect and everything I wanted from it and it brought a little bit of light to the overall dreariness of the story. I unfortunately have to say that I wish there'd been a bit more development in the romance... There were really sweet moments where they showed signs of liking each other, but *I*, the reader, didn't really feel it... 🙁 To make matters worse, there were a few moments of "telling instead of showing", like: The atmosphere of this story is on another level, everything felt very anchored on the Isle of Mab and its magic is so well weaved in. Thomas’ visions feel very vivid when reading them and every moment of terror experienced by the characters is enhanced by the setting. This was so captivating and I had a hard time putting it down, it was so easy to get drawn in by every aspect of this book and feel everything deep in your heart. it is mentioned that Jude got a lamination machine and had been leaving signs for Jamie all over the house. It would've been cool to see this slowly become a tradition, and to see Jamie's initial reactions.We’ve never said I love you. That’s not what we do. He says you keep me sane. I say you keep me focused. We talk around our feelings. We’ve planned a future together, but that’s not new. We’ve always had a future together, ever since we were kids. Wherever he went, I was always going to follow.” Isla is a selkie who has only recently taken human form. She’s cold, hungry, miserable...and dead set on discovering what has happened to her best friend. She knows that Thomas could help solve the mystery, if only she could convince him to join her. Unfortunately, Thomas has absolutely no intention of doing so...until she tells him that the person she's seeking might have a cure for his visions. The representation of depression. It's extremely accurate and kind of unsettling (in a good way). In some of Jude's parts, it was like looking in a mirror. at some point Jamie mentions that he'd thought about sleeping in Jude's bed several times, but *we* never saw him think about that before Jamie. Oh, Jamie. I love this mad lad with all of my heart and soul. He's a total himbo with a heart of gold and you just can't help but love him.

This was such an emotional, realistic and heartfelt story with complex, messy and imperfect main characters, who nevertheless completely stole my heart. I just wished for them both to find happiness and to take a chance on love. The ending. It's an open ending. It's not a fairytale where everyone is better and perfect. For the most part, everyone is still struggling with their issues and I like that. It shows that healing take time and effort! Edit: I wrote the above after reading the first complete draft, when it was still in its awkward teenager stage. This update is my third read—the first time reading the finished, published version—and it’s still all true. But now the gangly promising teenager has grown into their own, and it’s so incredibly lovely.you can’t say you’re living for others and simultaneously hide from life and hope it won’t find you. other people can be your push, but you have to do it yourself. you have to face your life and take control of it. you have to try. The way this book show representations of LGBT I found so lovely, it never felt like one-note. They have a purpose and are all beautiful souls. Although I feel like these are human emotions and there is something for everyone to relate to. But that’s what you get when you make complex characters with complex issues. Absolutely brilliantly written and I can not express how much I admire the craft and skill behind this. It’s a ride through every emotion from happy to sad, funny and so so emotional. I loved it so much more than I have words to describe.

the romance that slowly developed btwn jamie and jude felt so natural and like it made perfect sense for these two to love each other and be a couple. there were such sweet and heartwarming scenes btwn them as their feelings for each other peaked.... man.... it was so 😔 in a good way. and then things get too real and the part where jamie wanted jude so badly and jude wanted him too and yet kept pushing him away and avoiding him was so. it hurt bc it was so familiar. and the things they thought in their heads and said to each other, so much of it felt so familiar bc i've been in similar patterns before and it just... hit hard. but im glad they got to resolve it in the end.This has to be one of the most unexpected books I’ve ever read. I went in it with very little knowledge of what it is actually about and I feel like it only enhanced the experience. today i’ve been the kind of person i want to be. the kind of person i think i can be. like, maybe if i can do things like this—be useful, be good, help others, maybe it’ll help me stop treating everything like it’s temporary.” There is a light is a beautiful story set in Edinburgh about two very broken people and how they end up connecting. I loved how this book took a look at second and eight and twentieth chances. When you are broken and life is messy but in the imperfection, you are still worthy of love. Meet Thomas. He's had strange visions for years, but they’ve gotten worse recently, bleeding into reality until he doesn’t know which is which, paralyzing him with the accompanying migraines. Having tried solutions from therapy to exorcism, all to no avail, Thomas is on the brink of leaving for America to search out a cure when a stranger bangs on his apartment door and launches herself into his life. At the heart of the story there is this mystery of why Kit tried to kill Thomas, their relationship and complicated feelings harboured about the past. The book is very focused on its characters and their dynamics, their imperfections and the messiness of relationships.