I loved this book so much. First of all, the cover is BEAUTIFUL.
Secondly, the writing style is really enjoyable and easy to read.
Although it had a bit of a slow start, and was a bit predictable at some points (I pretty much guessed all the details and history of Suwa and Santi's relationship from the get go), the story and characters really kept me engaged the entire time. I also love that the book had amazing representation.

I really enjoyed this! First of all, I love the diversity- Japanese-Korean gay trans mc, mixed Filipino pansexual mc, queer and BIPOC side characters. It also covers some heavy topics like abuse, transphobia, and mental illness.

This book is everything my young queer heart would have wanted in high school. It's messy and jaded and feels so real. My heart wasn't prepared for this book but I will recommend it to everyone.

Santi and Suwa connect on the internet as young teens over a love of anime and music before falling out with one another. Years later, they meet when Santi moves to Los Angeles, not realizing who they are to one another. As they spend their final year of high school together, they grow closer and learn more about each other and their pasts.

I thought the format of this book was unique and clever. Music is a big part of the novel, and the chapters are set up to resemble a music tape with track numbers on side A narrated by Santi, and side B, narrated by Suwa. I loved the friendships in this, and the support systems and found family that each of the boys' surrounded themselves with. At times, I felt that the pacing was a bit off, with big jumps of time in the span of a paragraph, which sometimes through me off from the story. I loved how complex both Santi and Suwa are, and enjoyed reading from both of their POVs. I liked how their friendship rekindled, as they spent more time with one another, and how much they came to care for one another.

DNF ant 20% the story did not hold my attention unfortunately, I found myself not listening and doing other things. I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happens

CW: Transphobia, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders,Sexual content, Alcohol

Thank you so much to Lio Min, Macmillan Audio, and #NetGalley for the opprtunity to listen to this advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Okay y'all. OKAY. I adore this book. LOVED IT. Stayed up until 2am finishing it and immediately wanted to start it over. I recommended it to friends before I finished it, and then I reaffirmed my recommendation when I was through. So I hope you know I mean it when I say I love it.

Lio Min crafted such a heartfelt story of love, hope, coming out, and finding your voice. I rooted for so many of the characters. I wanted to listen to all of the music they were listening to and creating. I was so taken with the description, growing up with internet friends, music being a huge driving force in my life growing up, and accepting my own queer identity. Oh, and seeing Mary H.K. Choi describe it as "dizzying" and "sexy" (wholeheartedly agree). I cannot wait to see what Lio Min does next, they did such a brilliant job with this novel!!

If you love a good YA queer romance, please check out this book. I can't promise anything, but I know it will give you the chance to feel all the feels.

5 out of 5 stars, one of my favorites of 2022

I loved the intensity of this and how it wasn’t just a happy growth. There were ups and downs, and the characters really had to work to get back. However, a lot of it could have been solved by proper communication. All in all I give it a 4 because it is definitely one I recommend.

rep: Japanese-Korean gay trans mc, adopted mixed filipino pansexual mc, non-binary sc, sapphic sc, Black lesbian sc, Black sc, Latinx sc, Asian scs

Rating: 4.5

This was a really beautiful book. It deals with grief, lots of emotions, moving on, accepting oneself, family, friends and music. The characters go through a lot of emotional highs and lows. They go through losing friends and putting themselves out there, being vulnerable and gaining new ones. It has a good mix of lots of angst and loft of fluff. It’s somehow heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

It focuses a lot on friendships. At the beginning we learn about Santi and Memo’s online friendship, and you can really see how it grows and how close they become. Years later, Santi still thinks of Memo and holds on to that grief of losing him. Then he meets Suwa and his friends at his new school and they slowly start forming a friendship. Once we get halfway through the book, things are revealed and they both are reminded of their past griefs and previous friendship. It’s very emotional and a hard journey for both of them.

Music is also a big part of the story. Santi and Suwa are both in a school marching band. Suwa has also been making music and wants to break out as a solo artist. It’s a hard journey for him though, because he doesn’t want people to focus on him being trans, so he hides it for a long time. He just wants to be himself and make music people will love.

Santi and Suwa’s relationship is really wholesome, but also complicated, messy, very emotional and has its ups and downs, spanning years. Some places I didn’t know if they were going to be able to come through on the other end together. I even wondered if I wanted them to end up together, after all they’ve gone through, and are still going through. They each had their own reasoning and I understood why they did some of the things they did. It was sometimes frustrating, but relationships and emotions are complicated.

I really enjoyed the two main characters. They were such geeks. Having met online and just nerding out because of an underrated anime they both like. That’s just so adorable.

I love all the diversity and representation. Two queer POC main characters, and lots of queer and POC side characters. It’s great to see.

The narrators both did an amazing job. Their voices fit really well.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

Going into Beating Heart Baby, I had no idea what to expect or even what the plot would be like. I was reeled in by the beautiful cover and by the blurb that read "love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock". However, as I read more and more of this book, it felt like a warm comforting blanket gently wrapping my soul.

Lio Min managed to capture the beauty and rawness that comes with coming of age, finding your identity, first love, and the importance friendships (both online and off). There were also many pop culture references that spoke to my soul. I'll be honest that I don't really like it when my contemporary YA reads are filled with pop culture references. Often, they feel very American and white to me. However, it brought me so much joy to hear titles like Hana Yori Dango and Card Captor Sakura dropped in this book. As well as all the asian cuisine!!

Santi and Suwa's story was compelling and well written. It is diverse and it feels raw and real. This book is definitely in my top reads this year and I would definitely recommend it to all.

I wasn't aware that a big focal point of the story is being transgender. I was drawn in by the unique cover. The narration is fine. Usually, I will dislike a book when there is too much detail. Unfortunately, this one needed more detail.

The book moves quickly through a series of random events. You can't make a connection with any of the characters. It needed more introspection and less talk of school events. I can't see this being a memorable read. Mainly, I am not the target audience.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advance copy!

This book is pure magic. I laughed at parts. I cried at parts. I felt my heart strings tugged and my heart shattered. I'm so in love with this book, I'm honestly struggling to write a review. I'm sitting here smiling at my screen like a moron because I just love these characters so freaking much. This is the kind of book I wish I had when I was a kid. This is the kind of love story and the kind of YA romance that needs to be everywhere. Not just because of the LGBT+ aspect, yes, that's a huge aspect. Maybe I wouldn't have taken until my 30's for me to come out as queer. But also that it's not a perfect romance. It's messy and it's jaded. And they both get their own redemption arc. Supportive but blunt friends. Even birth parents get their own sort of redemption, but with boundaries, and parents of our hearts are chosen. This book is everything. I love it so much!! I could go on and on. but honestly everyone needs to read this book!!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC audiobook.
A million Thank you's to Lio Min for creating this wonderful book and these lovely characters.
And Thank you to Alejandro Ruiz & Jensen Silvio for lending your voices to these characters and bringing them to life

I LOVED this book!!!! I’m so glad I requested the audio. I loved the set up with the music interludes and the narrator! I also got lucky and won a physical copy I’m going to cherish! I felt every emotion under the sun reading this incredible YA novel. Beautiful… moving… and all together fun! A love letter to music, art, and sharing your story.

Oof. Right in the feels.

This book absolutely captured all of my attention from the second I started it to the very end and as someone with ADHD that is impressive 😂

This book is told in two POVs where one has the first half of the book and the other has the second half and I didn't know that going in so I was a little bit shocked but maybe if I had read the summary or something you know anyway.

I loved how much this book is about fate without talking about fate. I love that there isn't one big fix for everything and that their relationship is ongoing and changing as their circumstances change.

I love the big group of queer band nerds and the found family elements. I honestly really liked this book.

My one critique, if I had to, is that I felt the pacing was a little bit off. And maybe this is something to do with the audiobook or listening to the audiobook at a faster speed and maybe missing some things but it felt like they were some weird time jumps or like things would change within a sentence and or a paragraph and all the sudden it was a different day or whatever. That's really it. The last like few minutes of the audiobook to have different voices every sentence or so and that threw me off. I think maybe with a physical copy it would work and you might know who is talking but it was hard as the audiobook. Overall though, definitely one that I will recommend to folks and one that I would read again.

Rep: biracial Filipino pan cis MC, Korean japanese gay trans MC, multiple queer and trans POC secondary characters

Two kids meet online and find understanding and connection with each other, but an accidental sharing of a deeply personal creation splits the two apart.

Now years later Santi is the new kid again and afraid of be the other, again. Instead he finds home and love.

Suwa wants to fully embrace who he is but is struggling with family rejection and fear of sharing his personal life with others.

The two fall in love, but they aren’t the newly acquainted friends to lovers they’d assumed.