I'm really glad that when I requested this book from NetGalley, it came with something of a disclaimer. While it is, in fact, the third installment of the Helen Hoang series that began with The Kiss Quotient (review) and The Bride Test, The Heart Principle is tonally very different. *I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration. This post reflects my honest thoughts and opinions. Obviously.* If you're expecting a romantic comedy with neurodivergent characters, you may be disappointed. This book is a beautiful, heartfelt romance, but it's much more serious in tone and scope than the other two. Much of it reflects Hoang's personal experiences, and I find it incredibly brave that she was able to put all of this into words. It is brilliantly done, but it's not at all light-hearted. Still, if you read the first two books I'm sure you'll want to know what becomes of Quan as desperately as I did, so you're totally going to read The Heart Principle regardless of the tone shift. I just want to let you know what you're getting into, because this one is much lower on humor and bigger on feelings.

Anna Sun rose to fame thanks to a YouTube video of her virtuoso violin playing going viral. After that success, though, she finds herself completely burned out. She's mentally fatigued to the point where she can no longer play an entire piece of music without stopping. Then, her absolute trash human of a long-term boyfriend decides that he wants to try an open relationship so he can sow his wild oats before settling down, or whatever. Anna decides to take advantage of the situation and start seeking out meaningless flings. I mean, if HE gets to have an open relationship, why shouldn't SHE?

Enter Quan Diep. He's hot, tattooed, and rides a motorcycle. In other words? He's completely unsuitable boyfriend material, but the perfect candidate for a one-night-stand. Only... The whole one-night-stand thing doesn't quite work out. So they try again. And again... And suddenly they're dating. Quan is endlessly empathetic and supportive of Anna, who is grappling with her newly realized autism (obviously, she's always been autistic, but women often come to diagnosis much later than men. It's a thing.) Quan has been going through some difficult things himself, so the two sort of lean on each other. But then tragedy strikes, and Anna is thrust into a caregiving role she's ill-suited for. That, coupled with her general life struggles lead to a whole lot of intense soul-searching for our Anna and Quan being, well, kind of perfect.

Like I told you. This isn't a happy-go-lucky rom-com, but it is COMPLETELY worth it. Quan is the ultimate romance hero, and Anna is so brave working through the whole giant mess. Nothing is easily or quickly mended, but the journey. The journey will hit you HARD in the feelings. Whew, what a gorgeous book.

Helen Hoang has done it again with The Heart Principle! Although I loved her first two books, this one felt like it had something more. The struggles of both Anna and Quan were so touching and real. The Heart Principle is a romance, with a happy ending, but the characters go through a lot before they get there. This is also a story that says it's alright to fail, to put your health and wellbeing first, and to rely on others when you don't have the strength to carry on yourself. It's a special book, and it was well worth the wait.

#TheHeartPrinciple #NetGalley #edelweiss
Again, Helen Hoang has a winner! The Heart Principle is funny, brash, and sassy!

This book is achingly beautiful. It is heartbreaking yet hopeful and full of Helen’s signature sexiness. It is both completely different than Helen’s first two books and yet fully compliments everyone’s story.

An absolutely stunning, heart wrenching, yet hear healing masterpiece.
Wow...
This book is truly monumental in fiction. So many wonderful aspects that were woven into it, to learn from. The Heart Principle is about Anna a talented violinist, that has reached internet stardom from a viral video. Growing up there has always been lots of pressure to be the best at whatever she does, she had to also live up to her perfect older sister. With all the pressure to create a the next musical masterpiece Anna starts reaching burnout phase very quickly.
On top of her personal and mental burnout, her boyfriend of several years tells her he wants to see other people. He wants to "make sure" Anna is what he wants before they marry. (YUCK!)
Well Anna becomes brave one night and out of spite downloads a dating app to make sure she at least has her own one night stand.
What Anna wasn't expecting was finding Quan. A delicious, tatted, motorcycle riding bad boy, with a heart of gold to sweep her off her feet.
Anna and Quan connect on such an intimate level and they both soon decide that trying to coax up a quick one night stand is impossible for both of them.
As the book goes through the motions it is important to point out that as Anna is seeing a therapist mainly for what she thinks is writer's block, Anna is diagnosed with being on the Autism spectrum. Such a finding is monumental for Anna, as it starts to explain her quirks and the way she experiences the world.
What I love about this book is how easy it is for two neurodiverse people to fall in love. Quan is insistent on learning how and who Anna is. The wonderful conversations on intimacy and sex are so beautiful and healthy for two adults to have.
I had many moments where I swooned, chuckled, and had a therapeutic cry and released some deep things that only Helen Hoang could muster up in me. Make sure to read the author's note, as it is as important as the rest of the novel. This is def a 2021 favorite!

Anna Sun spends her life doing everything that others want her to do. She just can't say no. All her life she has been a little different and she has just learned how to deal with it. When violinist Anna becomes famous because of a YouTube performance, her life starts to spiral out of control. When her boyfriend of 5 years tells her he wants a temporary open relationship she is heartbroken but then ends up deciding that two can play that game! Enter Quan Diep, the sexy, tattooed, motorcycling gorgeous guy comes in! Anna wants a one-night stand with Quan but because of things from both of their pasts, it doesn't happen. When one try turns into several tries, they decide to just slow down and take things slow. For the first time in Anna's life, Quan actually "gets" her. When tragedy strikes Anna's family, it is Quan that tries to help rein Anna back in. Just when it looks like Quan and Anna will get their perfect happy ending, the past comes back to haunt them. It will take a lot of soul searching by both Anna and Quan but they will finally get their happy ever after.

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang was a sweet and sexy story that was filled with a lot of emotions. I found myself laughing one minute and then crying the next. I just wanted to hug both Anna and Quan. Separately Anna and Quan were not living their lives but were just going through the motions. Once they got together, they just made sense and you couldn't help but root for them. Overall this was a really great story that had wonderful characters and was well written.

Right after finishing the Kiss Quotient back when it first came out, I said to myself "there had better be a Quan book in this series', so naturally I had super high expectations for this book. And every one of them was met. Quan was such a great character and was balanced out so nicely by Anna. I love the the books in this series are the perfect blend of heat and heart and this one was an A+ addition to the series!

After thoroughly enjoying Helen Hoang's first two novels, I couldn't wait for The Heart Principle to be published. So when I got an advanced copy this year, I immediately added it to my Kindle queue. When I finally got around to reading it, I was instantly absorbed in the story and had a hard time putting it down!

Helen's writing is beautiful and heartfelt throughout the entire story. I cared a lot about both Anna and Quan and I wanted to see things work out for them. Unfortunately, Anna had some other obstacles in her way, which was mainly her family. Her older sister was insufferable and I wanted Anna to stand up to her so badly.

I loved the chemistry between Anna and Quan, especially with how they started texting about a documentary. Their banter was so sweet and comforting to read. It was nice to see how Anna could truly be herself with Quan. I love a good steamy read and the bedroom scenes were really hot in this novel. Definitely blush-worthy...

This story was really well-told with all its ups and downs. It addresses and emphasizes the importance of self-care. I definitely recommend it when it publishes later this month, but be sure to read Helen's first two novels, as this one contains some spoilers (mostly for The Kiss Quotient though). I hope Helen will continue writing her fabulous novels, as I am already wanting more! (I wouldn't mind if she continued Anna and Quan's story though, as a sequel could work well for them.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Anna: Nikki SooHoo
Quan: Shannon Kook
Priscilla: Ziyi Zhang
Julian: Alex Landi
Michael: Henry Golding
Jennifer: Rya Kihlstedt

A huge thank you to PRH International, Berkley & NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

CW: mentions of cancer, taking care of a stroke patient, death of a loved one, toxic family members, toxic partner and more I might have missed!

I’ve always loved this series and how each book has that perfect balance of sweet, steamy and heartwarming mixed in with angst and realistic portrayals of characters with mental illnesses but personally, this has to be the best one so far mostly because it had me bawling my eyes out constantly. I have to admit that I read this during one of my low days so all the feels and angst hit me a little bit harder than usual but I loved it!

I feel like I need to talk about my love for Anna in detail because she’s now one of my fave main leads ever. Reading from her in first person POV made it much more easier to connect to her which I enjoyed! I saw myself in the way she struggled to become this amazing person she once was that everybody was proud of and comparing it to the person she is now. I saw myself in the way she constantly tried to be the person accepted by her friends and family. Her talks with her therapist was so eye-opening to me! I didn’t even knew there was a thing called “masking” and the way her therapist described it made me realize how I’ve also been unconsciously doing it.

Then there’s Anna’s journey in accepting the labels she’s been given and how it helped her make sense of the things she always thought was just her being lazy, odd and unproductive. I also liked how this explored the struggles of being a part of an Asian household who doesn’t believe in mental illnesses. It broke my heart seeing her constantly be shut down when she brings up what might be wrong with her bc it’s an experienced I’ve gone through before. I also couldn’t help but sob at how much I felt connected to her during those moments she felt so helpless and trapped being a part of her family and how it’s almost like she was screaming at the top of her lungs without anyone noticing the pain she was in.

All in all, Anna’s story was a story I would wish for myself knowing that there’s hope towards the end. Her recovery period was still rocky but so realistic that it was so reassuring. Anna gave me hope that we can all get the healing we deserve!

Alongside this, I loved that we finally got Quan’s story and how he dealt with the aftermath of what happened to him. It was saddening seeing him being this shell of a person he once was but I was glad that Anna filled that void for him. Their friends to lovers romance was wholesome and heartwarming. I loved their friendship, banter and natural chemistry! And ofc, their octopus documentary watching moments and inside jokes were adorable! Despite the heavier tone this took, it still had that steaminess that I enjoy in Hoang’s romance books!

Overall, this is definitely my fave book in the series so far and one of my top faves reads this year! Quan and Anna’s story is so raw, heartfelt and unforgettable that I’ll be thinking about it for days! Thank you Helen Hoang for sharing your story and helping people like me in still believing that there’s light at the end of even the darkest tunnels.

Another Helen Hoang book about someone on the autism spectrum. This one focused on what it’s like to try to fix yourself for others, to be who you’re expected to be and what happens. I really loved that piece of it even though it was hard to read and you wanted to shake her family and tell them to quit it. I might have felt differently if I grew up in a family like that, with particular expectations. It is interesting how many individuals on the autism spectrum can be in one small world but I’m willing to suspend disbelief because it’s such a nice small world, and there probably are groups where this is true.

Can I give a book all the stars??? Because I would love to give The Heart Principle all the stars. When I tell y'all I cried through most of this book, I am not kidding. Everything about this was so beautifully written. I wish I could write more words to express my love of this story but I just don't think I have any. Anna was such a beautiful and broken character who had so much growing up to do. And then there was Quan who was so patient and caring toward Anna. Please everyone read The Heart Principle.

I started this and when I got into the first little bit, I wondered where this was going. Anna's character ran her life by a patterned routine that she couldn't stray from and it was making her sick with the thought of failure or disappointing those around her. She has a hard time saying no and displeasing people which takes a bigger toll on her every time she does it. After her long time boyfriend decides that he'd like to have an open relationship so he can test out the waters before settling down, Anna's determined to take advantage of this too since she doesn't want to do this, to begin with. Quan's life is coming back to him after a clean and healthy shot at living it and after getting back to everything, his next shot is at his sex life. Michael (which, AHH I just want to go back and read Michael and Stella's story again) is on his ass about it too so Quan's solution? Dating apps, and a lot of them. Anna just so happens to have the same idea and one night, the two virtually cross paths.

They've both got a LOT to work through and it's possible that it won't be as easy as they thought it'd be. Patience is key and the longer they talk to each other, the more their bond grows. Anna, once a viral star, is now struggling to not only bring music back into her life, but struggling with a big burnout that she can't begin to understand the way she thought she did. Quan entering her life seems to be the blessing she needs but it doesn't help that part of her she hasn't let him see yet.

SKNDASKASASKJSDS ALRIGHT!! I'LL BITE!! Honestly, I'm going to be completely transparent and say that at first, something bothered me about Anna's people-pleasing, but when I figured out what was actually going on and when we learn about what's actually going on... god I just wanted to wrap this woman up in a hug and never let her go. My goodness, the way that she carried the weight of everything with no one knowing, I felt like I was drowning so I can't imagine what she (and by the author's note, Helen Hoang) might have been feeling. Quan was an absolute gem of a person. His patience and unwavering understanding of her emotions and inner turmoil was so helpful and I'd guess refreshing after Anna's entire support system (save from her friends) was applying more and more pressure on her as she got older.

The writing was beautiful, not that I'm surprised. I've always loved Helen's work and I will literally eat up anything she wants to offer. I'd been waiting so long for this one as well, I had to have it and I needed it to be good. Rest assured, this was wonderful and very important. I don't want to get into any of the bigger details in this because I think it's better if you learn it the way you're supposed to, so for now I will say that I hope readers are gentle with this book and appreciate all the big parts for sure, but the smaller ones in between were the ones I seemed to latch onto.

I can't wait to add this onto my physical shelf with The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test. The two of them are very special and this one does not deviate from that pattern one bit.

Oh, Helen Hoang! You've gone and captured my heart with The Heart Principle--a romance that reminded me of why I love the genre so much. Hoang excels at writing hot yet thoughtful stories about two people who find they are not just compatible, but better together and that's what makes her novels so special. So all the⭐ and ❤s for The Heart Principle!

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint.

This was not the original gender swapped Sabrina concept. And while I do hope Hoang uses that concept for another character, this concept is so timely and raw I'm glad of the change.

Anna exhibits Autistic qualities from the beginning, but is not diagnosed. It's clear early on that it's a possibility. She has to set alarms to remind herself to eat etc., she thinks too much about how others will react to her and schools her features the way she thinks they want hiding her true personality. It's not until her therapists points out that her behavior in therapy indicate to her that Anna is Autistic. Then Anna realizes that it describes her perfectly.

Unfortunately, Anna's older sister, Priscilla, dismisses her diagnosis and says some pretty cruel things to Anna. Like that she's using it as an excuse for her laziness and shortcomings. Ouch. This hinders Anna's own acceptance of her diagnosis and embracing being herself because Priscilla has such an influence over her. Anna's journey to accept herself, her diagnosis, and learn to be herself and ask for what she wants consequences be damned is a huge part of the story. She has to learn to stand up for herself and what and who will make her happy in life. It's a tough journey to read, but a needed one and relatable for anyone struggling with a diagnosis.

For Quan, we find out that between books he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent surgery. He's self conscious now seeing himself as not whole. He's worried about what women will think if they find out he only has on testicule and see his scar. But Anna didn't know him before and doesn't care. She accepts him as he is now, just as he accepts her Autism as just a part of her and not something to be corrected. I've got my own surgery scars, albeit larger ones, and I can relate to that self conscious feeling of not knowing what a potential partner will think. I do wish he'd introduced Anna to Stella and Kai though as she needs to meet some other adults on the Spectrum that she can relate too.

This story wasn't just about accepting yourself and your partner. It was also about burnout. Anna is burned out with her music but doesn't fully recognize it. Then when her father suffers a massive stroke, she struggles to help take care of him, much to Priscilla's annoyance, anger, and disappointment. The novel addresses job/artistic burnout but also caregiver burnout as Anna breaks down over Priscilla's unrealistic expectations and then crashes mentally after her father's death no longer able to deal with it all. It take her a long time to mentally recover and get back on her feet mentally and artistically. This is a super important topic to address and burnout becomes increasingly something we deal with. And caregiver burnout is something that is not talked about enough.

I want to talk about Priscilla for a moment. While it's easy to say "what a bitch", and you'd be right. She treats Anna horribly and not like a younger sister. She has unrealistically high and unreasonable expectations, she's the type to think she's the only one who can do it "right", she looks down on anyone who doesn't "grin and bear it", won't deal with her own stress and anxiety issues, and worst of all keeps their father alive because she doesn't want him to die and doesn't recognize he's suffering. While Anna's mom comes around and recognizes that Anna's Autism diagnosis fits, Priscilla does not. She repeatedly scoffs at it, tells Anna the way to deal with her anxiety is to "just do the thing" and "stop being a baby". If anyone needs therapy, it's Priscilla, but she scoffs at Anna and their mom going. I was hoping that she too would get some help, but alas it looks like she doesn't. And I have to applaud the choice to have Anna not have her sister in her life if she's going to be such a bitch. I loved to hate her, but like Anna know that she needs help too because if she's this hard on others, what must it be like inside her own head. *shudder*

Overall, this was an emotionally raw story that pulled at the emotions. It evokes empathy and sympathy for the characters and makes you want to cheer when Anna finally learns to say no. Helen Hoang has a way of making her characters so authentic and real and relatable, and she doesn't miss a beat with this one. I've struggled with getting close to burnout myself, so seeing it on the page was wonderful and so timely with everything going on and the attention it's getting. It's also her most "her" as it's revealed in the author's note Helen's own battle with burnout and thinking she wasn't good enough and caregiver burnout after her mom's bout with cancer. And I think this really comes off the page as it has the most authentic feel of her books to date, all the characters feel more real than in previous books. The issues she addresses in this one are at a time when they are sorely needed and I'm so glad she chose to write this story at this time.

Five Lightsabers. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Thank you to Berkley for the advance copy of this book!

I recently read The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test and was very excited to be able to read this early. This was such a good exploration into what expectations can do to someone and how burnout can affect every day life. It also really shines light on the concept that sometimes family can be the ones that hurt you and you cannot control it, only how you react.

The main romance was great as always and I cannot wait for more from Helen Hoang.

All of Helen Hoang's books have this way of breaking my heart and putting it back together, and this one was no exception. I've been waiting for Quan's story for so long (this confident, brash, tattooed, heart-of-gold motorcyclist!) and to see how he softens around Anna -- and how Anna builds him up in a way he didn't know he needed until he met her -- warmed my heart. This book definitely had some heavy moments, and I was furious with Anna's family for their callousness, but ultimately so proud of Anna (and Quan!) for finding a way out of the dark.

The Heart Principle reads like a novel but feels like a memoir. It is apparent from very early on that this book is a little different from Hoang's previous titles. While the romance is still there, this book deals with more serious topics and can get quite dark at times. While there is a "happy ending" in a sense, the book seems less about the romance storyline and more about the personal journey Anna goes on.

Wow, what an emotional read! Hoang’s writing is always wonderful and personal, and her character growth is amazing and believable. I empathize with Anna as she tries to stop masking and have her family understand that how she was acting around them wasn’t really her. When he mom meets with her at the end of the book, and genuinely accepts her, I teared up. It felt incredibly genuine to me and I know that’s because Hoang was also telling her own story with The Heart Principle.

My only critique is that the end chapters seem to move quickly and it seems to wrap up things rapidly. There are also time jumps where weeks and months seem to pass as she recovers from burnout and it makes the end of the book move faster. But as someone who has cared for someone with autistic burnout, I know that time really does move that way for them.

Hoang captured my heart with The Kiss Quotient, and though I didn’t enjoy The Bride Test nearly as much, I was still eager to read The Heart Principle when I saw it offered on NetGalley. The Heart Principle is written in a different style than it’s predecessors, and the result is a deeply felt and raw portrayal of love, loss, and learning self-acceptance. The main character, Anna, struggles with hiding her social difficulties and exerts great effort to mold herself into the person her family and boyfriend expects. At the end of each interaction she is left mentally and emotionally drained, hardly able to take care of herself. She is completely blindsided when her boyfriend proposes an “open” relationship, and as she grapples with this new reality, she meets Quan, the “bad boy” with a heart of gold. Both Anna and Quan are wearing masks to hide their inner struggles, but once together, they find a safe space to be authentic within their burgeoning relationship.

This really was a beautiful story, though much sadder in tone than the other two books in the series. The author’s note at the end is worth reading and explains why she chose to make this book different.