A review by betweentheshelves
Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn

emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Explorations of grief definitely seemed to be a trend in YA romance in 2024 because there were a lot of them. To be fair, it is a pretty popular theme to explore in YA, it just felt like there were a lot of them this year. Which I'm thinking is a side effect of the pandemic, because it's likely a lot more teens have had to deal with this because of that.

Anyway! This book hit all of the right notes when it came to exploring grief. Case is struggling with the fact that his best friend is gone and how that influences his own future; especially when it means Walker's dreams go unfulfilled. Winnie is struggling with pursuing her own dreams when she has to take care of her younger siblings. Both Winnie and Case have excellent chemistry, and they bring out the best in each other. Hahn also made their voices distinct enough that I didn't get confused when they switched POVs, which isn't something easy to do!

I do feel like the resolution at the end felt a little too quick, especially when we're talking about Winnie's POV. And while I understand the need to include pop culture references, it felt like there were a lot in this (though maybe it's just because they tend to bother me), so they took me out of the story a little bit.

All in all, if you enjoy cowboy romances and explorations of grief, definitely check this one out!
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