"Heart of the Matter"

Another great book I read was, Heart of the Matter. My reading experience was like no- other.

Giffin, Emily. Heart of the Matter. St. Martin’s Press, New York, New York. 2010. (368 pages)

Heart of the Matter was a fiction book that involved two characters. These characters were easy to relate to and I enjoyed reading about them; I felt like I was becoming a part of their life. The reason I like to read fiction books versus non-fiction books is that I feel I can relate to the characters. When I read non-fiction books I have trouble picturing and imaging the events in my head, even though they are real, to when I read fiction books that are not real. When I was reading this book, I never wanted to stop or put it down. I felt like I was watching a really good movie and every time I had to stop, I felt really bummed. But when I would start reading again, it was just like I took the “movie” off of pause and pressed play. Within one sentence, I was immediately drawn back in and wanted to keep reading. This is an unusual experience for me because I normally do not like to read. However, when I was reading this book, I actually WANTED to read!

In AP Lang we are supposed to choose challenging books. When I picked this book out, I knew I would enjoy it because I had read three other books by Emily Giffin. I knew this book was going to be enjoyable, because all of the other ones were, but I also thought it would be challenging. The biggest reason I thought it was going to be challenging was because I struggle to sit down and read. I normally have no motivation. However, when I got into this book, I had my motivation. I wanted to know what was going to happen! And in order to find out what was going to happen I had to keep reading!

Some aspects of Heart of the Matter were challenging however, that I did not expect to be. The book was told by two different authors. Every other chapter was told between these two women. Tessa was one of the main female characters.  Tessa’s character was told in first person, limited.  As the reader I could only “hear” what she was thinking and not what anyone was thinking; it was like I was inside of her head. Valerie was the other main female character. Valerie’s character was told in third person. We were outsiders looking in on her life. We could not hear what she was thinking, but we saw all of her actions and were right there living them with her. The switching of characters and point of views was challenging because I had to constantly be aware to whom I was reading about. Between these two characters, there was also the factor of time. Time was told as it went on. A lot of the time we went back and lived the same period of time, but with a different character.

My reading experience with Heart of the Matter was the same as it was with all of Emily Giffin’s other books. I never wanted to put it down nor stop reading. I would highly recommend all of her books to any level of reader, and of all ages. Teenagers and adults will enjoy her book and won’t want to stop reading.