Thankyou to Netgalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Our Black Hearts Beat As One merges ancient eldritch gods, the vile desires of humans pushed to their limits, and the nature of love, into a writhing mass of magic and intrigue.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, the wolrd building was fantastic, and taught me just enough to understand the rich pantheon of this world, without feeling like an info dump. LGBT representation is apways important to me, and felt organic and real.

A great, quick read, I would love to see more from this author.

In "Our Black Hearts Beat as One" by Brian Asman, Michael Mallory enjoys the pinnacle of success as the lead singer of the rising band, Modern Love. However, when an unexpected breakup shatters his world, he descends into the occult underbelly of the city in a desperate attempt to find solace. Amidst a landscape of wayward souls, brutal killers, godlings, and grotesque entities, Mike is on the verge of discovering an undeniable truth — there's nothing more terrifying than love.

Regrettably, Brian Asman's latest offering falls short, marking a significant miss in his repertoire. The novella introduces a unique "Black Magic" lore, crafted by Asman himself, but it fails to resonate. A perplexing decision arises as the author opts for an invented mythos rather than drawing from real-life gods and goddesses. The absence of familiar elements diminishes the potential for reader engagement, leaving them detached from the supernatural aspects. Instead of enhancing the horror experience, this choice results in a sense of confusion and frustration.

The novella's brevity may have contributed to its downfall, as the "Black Magic" world-building feels underdeveloped and left me struggling to connect with the narrative. The absence of real-world mythological references leaves a void, hindering the establishment of a comfortable foundation for fear to take root. Unfortunately, this deviation from established mythologies doesn't enrich the narrative; rather, it leads to a sense of alienation and the feeling of being out of step with the story.

Moreover, the protagonist, Mike, comes across as uninspiring, and the only compelling character makes only a fleeting appearance. This lack of engaging characters further contributes to my overall disappointment with the novella. It appears that Asman's storytelling style may not align with my preferences, and the experience is further exacerbated by the disconnect caused by the unfamiliar "Black Magic" lore.

In conclusion, "Our Black Hearts Beat as One" may not be the ideal introduction to Brian Asman's work for readers seeking a more relatable and immersive experience. The decision to veer away from established mythologies, coupled with the brevity of the novella, results in a narrative that struggles to captivate and resonate. While individual tastes vary, this particular work may leave some readers questioning the author's choice of narrative direction and longing for a more resonant exploration of horror and emotion.

This one was a real struggle for me. The way the plot was laid out just seemed very confusing and convoluted. The novella isn’t very long, but I really had to work on my focus to be able to get through. I have not read Asman’s other work to compare and know if it’s just his style of writing or it’s a one-off with this book. From beginning to end I don’t even really know if I understood what was happening. The cover was eye-catching and pulled me in, but the actual story? Just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review!
This book was really confusing for me. I didn’t really understand what was going on throughout the book until I was about 60% in. Then I kind of grasped what was happening. The story itself was very interesting and the writing was super unique. I just couldn’t really get into the book and I feel really bad about saying that. I know authors work super hard to create something they are proud of, and although the book was very interesting, it just wasn’t for me.

I found this book to just be an average read. Some of it was hard to understand. I did enjoy that Mike was the lead singer of a band, though!

This book was a surprise read for me.
I wanted to branch out with my storylines and read something I have never seen before.
While this book was original and creative, I found myself somewhat bored.
I thought this book was going to be more Horror forward but I felt that it was actually almost more Fantasy related with the references to Gods and magic.

Since this is a novella, it was super quick and easy to read, but I still felt that the storyline was leaving me wishing there was more to it.

I found this boring and wasn't able to finish it. Parts were ridiculous and it just made no sense to me. I didn't like the characters and couldn't find enough reason to carry on with it.

read this book if you want good characters, a good romantic thriller and a fun and quick read

it follows a heartbroken man that "erases" his heart but then goes on a litle quest to get a new one back

thank you netgalley for the arc

Having LOVED his first book, I was super excited to read this one & it did not disappoint! Fast pacing & high energy gave the right punk rock vibes to the storytelling! Loved the journey the MC went on! Creepy & unsettling vibes throughout! Would’ve loved a longer story though, with a focus on the past leading up to the present!

This story began with the heartbreak experienced from the abrupt end of a romantic relationship. What would you give to ease that pain? If your heart could stop hurting instantly, would you be willing to dabble in the occult and the dark magical realm?

I enjoyed the mystery and suspense surrounding the story. The big reveal of the real consequences and meaning of “collecting stories” was interesting.

(I received a free review copy from NetGalley.)

2.5 stars I'm rounding up. I'm torn on this one. I really liked the middle, the collecting of stories and why they were doing it. I was even on board with the mc's broken heart and his need to want a quick solution.

But the rat king circle and the visit to the bar were just odd. The mc rolling with it all was even weirder. I found his blah reaction to everything a bit of a letdown and it made me, the reader, feel less connected or pulled in. I almost wish this had been longer, so we'd had more time to flush the story out and really be pulled in. I think the crappy apartment, strained friendships, and famous artists would have felt more authentic (and would have pulled me in more) if I'd had more time to get to know the characters.

But this was an interesting short, I did like the stories and how it was set up with an interesting conclusion.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

This didn't really feel like a horror to me. It's more about gods and magic but a lot of it was quite mundane. There were some scenes that were very hard to picture, and unfortunately the end ruined what was an average book to a mockery, with a trope the class was told to avoid early in primary school. There were some editing issues (most notably hyphens used instead of dashes which took me out of the book so figure out what the hell a sound-rotten cloth was). It started out as coping with a breakup and then fell into 'I love you's with someone else fairly quickly timewise and just became very cheesy. The end left a sour taste, unfortunately.

Yeah… no. This book was a bit boring to me, long winded and some parts just didn’t make much sense. All seemed a bit ridiculous in parts too, but oh well

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t crazy about Man, Fuck This House but I’m happy I gave Our Black Hearts Beat as One a chance. First off, I’m a sucker for a good title or book cover and this one has both. Superficial, but whatever.

Our Black Hearts Beat as One had me so invested. I liked Mike enough but I loved Evangeline and found myself wanting more of her story. It’s a novella, so it’s already a quick read but the pacing was great and the atmosphere was perfectly creepy while also maintaining a good storyline and I loved the ending. I’ll definitely be back for more from Brian Asman, thanks to Mutated Media for my eARC.

I feel like this is one of those books that you either love or hate and I fall on the side of love it. This was such a fun book. It starts and immediately takes off on this weird twisted journey of our lead character, Michael Mallory, trying to piece his life back together after his long-time girlfriend leaves him. He is heartbroken and does something rash, he performs a ritual to get rid of his heart. And it works. A little too well though. He becomes a shadow of his previous self and all of his friends and bandmates are concerned. So he goes on a quest to get his heart back which involves him collecting three stories about love and bringing them back to a creature in the basement of a bar. Little does he know that these stories that were so freely given come with a price.

This was a really fun book and the pages just flew by. I haven't read anything else by this author but I liked this so much that I'm going to read whatever else that he has. Highly recommend if you are looking for a short creepy read.

Our Black Hearts Beat As One - Brian Asman

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoyed this book, it very much gave me spooky vibes which were perfect for Halloween.

I was a little confused with this one but I still liked reading it. It was super gothic/horror and such a quick read.

The part where Evangeline shares her story had be absolutely gripped and dying to know what was going to happen.

I would recommend this if you are looking for a book to read this Halloween season! 🖤

What haven’t we all done in the name of a broken heart? What a blast it was to read this dark and gritty little book. I got strong Grady Hendix's We Sold Our Souls vibes but much more centred in its urban setting. Michael was a likeable and affable protagonist and the cast of monsters, demigods and side characters was diverse and terrifying. Evangeline's character was a riot to spend time with and I could happily read a whole book about her own journey.

Overall this was a great read and I will be checking out Man, Fuck This House ASAP if it’s anywhere near as fun as Our Black Hearts Beat As One.

I have been trying to read this for months and I simply cannot get into it. :( I'm bored. I appreciate the arc copy!

I love this author's writing style and he has such fun and interesting ideas for his novels. I haven't read Man, Fuck This House but I have been interested in doing so for a few months now. Brian knows how to grab a readers attention, but his books are just weird enough that I feel as if only a select population will be able to enjoy it.

This book started out strong and I loved the "witchy" vibes and spell book found by the main character. However, halfway through the book, it seemed to drag on and included information that made it difficult to understand. Overall, a nice spooky book just in time for Halloween, but I felt that it was missing something.