REVIEW: Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby

[Kayona Nicole]

In Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby, the protagonist -Quinn- loses her boyfriend -Trent- in a car accident their junior year of high school. Quinn sent out letters to all the recipients of her boyfriend's organs, and got replies from each one of them except for the one who got the thing that was most important for Quinn to find; Trent's heart. Quinn believes that finding Trent's heart will finally bring her some closure, so she takes matters in her own hands and goes out to search for the one she needs to hear from the most -Colton Thomas- (even though it is against the rules for her to go after a recipient who does not wish to be contacted). After their first disastrous run-in, and poor Colton having no idea what's going on, Quinn and Colton continue to meet. But, an attraction between the two begins to form, and Quinn doesn't know what to do about it, leaving Colton confused more often than not. Seeing him and knowing what he has beating inside his chest only leaves Quinn in thoughts of her loss. Yet she can't seem to keep away from him.

Okay let me just start this off saying that Things We Know by Heart gave me a very good first impression on books by Jessi Kirby. I absolutely loved it! I have never read any books about organ donors, but this book made me want to read more about it. At the beginning of each chapter there would be a fact, a quote, or a statistic about the heart. These little quotations were one of my favorite parts of the book. There was on quote by Michael Nolan that was one of my personal favorites that says, "There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue those." It was just a quote that I really loved that is kind of like the cliché "Follow your heart" but there is just something about it that really spoke to me.

One thing that I found to be a bit annoying was Quinn. Although I really admire and like this character there was something that she did that I was just like "Oh my gosh just do it already!" But, of course I have never been through something like she's been through and I can only imagine how hard it would be to do something like that (I'm not going to say what it is because it will just ruin the book). My favorite character was Colton. Sweet, honorable, live life to the fullest, Colton. Oh, he was just so sweet and patient with Quinn and I loved him!

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Young Adult novels and some great character development.