Overall, I enjoyed this. I was definitely intrigued, as it took me MAYBE 2 days to read. I definitely didn't see most of the twists coming, but I also had to reread chunks to make sure I understood what was going on.

Mike was definitely an interesting character, but I also felt like he was a little flat, and not just because that was the point of 1/3 of the book. I was interested in the why of his thoughts and feelings, not necessarily just that they existed.

I'm definitely not mad that I read this, and I'll be looking out for more from Brian Asman.

Punk rock romance and mystical horror at its finest! I really dig this story. The characters are unique and interesting and the overall vibe is magical yet macabre. It’s a little cheesy like MFTH and I loved it!

Brian Asman's 'Our Black Hearts Beat As One' is, simply put, an amazing read! It's not simply a love story; not even "grief horror," as some reviewers have said. It goes beyond that into Gaiman territory, reminiscent of the best storylines in The Sandman, meant to both delight and unsettle with its great writing, the riveting visuals, and, above all, the deeply existential thinking that has gone into it. Asman dedicates his novella to "the heartbroken," namely, every one of us who've felt the bitter taste of abandonment and the sorrow of love foregone; presumably, that's everyone. His story, however, may not be for everyone: it's heavy on dark urban fantasy, neologisms, alternate realities, supernatural horror, and magic realism. The humor, what little of it there is, is mostly black. The voice of the narrator sometimes angry, sometimes sad, always assured, perhaps even familiar. The plot is, briefly, that of an Odyssey in a fabricated alternate urban realm of gods and things simulating those gods. Making a deal with one of them is a heartbroken vocalist in a band. Having gotten rid of his heart to stop the pain of a breakup, he embarks on a journey to get a new, stronger, happier heart, by finding and giving three love stories in exchange. That's the deal he's made with the god-thing. Guiding him through this underworld of stories is a fascinating female character, a flawed helper with knowledge of the occult, her story itself filled with magic and drama. Once the basics are clear, Asman's tale takes a much darker tone, it grabs hold and hits the ground running as we are introduced to bizarre but compelling characters with powers we don't always fully comprehend. Asman's point seems to be that, unless it's given a novel symbolic meaning, the pain of a broken heart will inevitably consume all life, all worlds, and all gods. Do yourself a favor and pick it up immediately when it comes out on October 24th!

Thank you to Mutated Media and NetGalley for providing a review copy.

For fans of: grief horror, Neverwhere, gorgeous prose
This book is the embodiment of love as self-harm. The breakup that leaves you wrecked, the emptiness the ending leaves behind. My only experience with Brian Asman was Man, Fuck This House, which I greatly enjoyed. I had no idea he could write such beautiful, gut-wrenching prose. This is grief horror at its finest and one of the best books I've read this year. Strong 5 stars

It took me a while to determine my thoughts and feelings about it.
The narrative is both endearing and fast-paced. At times, I found myself pausing and questioning if I might have missed some important details along the way.

When Mike's girlfriend ends their relationship, he descends into a deep depression and makes the impulsive decision to replace his own heart with one that's incapable of feeling. Soon, he realizes his mistake and embarks on a journey into a world of magic where he must uncover love stories to construct a new heart for himself.

While I liked Mike,I truly wished for a greater presence of Evangeline character in the story. With her cynical outlook and a haunting past, she is an exceptional character.

In summary, I relished this enchanting love story that delves into themes of love, life, and heartbreak.

A friend whose taste I trust implicitly strongly recommended this book to me. In fact, she said something along the lines of, "you NEED to read this so I have somebody to talk to about it!" She had thoughts. Lots of them. And by the time I finished it, I had thoughts too.

Our Black Hearts Beat As One is a genre bending dark fantasy-horror-supernatural adventure-magical surrealism mash-up with elements of a bittersweet love story and John Dies at the End black humor. It has flashes of things that feel sort of familiar, but they don't add up to anything quite like you've read before.

Ultimately, it is at the black heart of it, a for-reals love story, but NOT a heart thumping, bodice ripping, cheesy love story drenched in treacle. It is a heart-wrenching, punch to the guts, kick to the shins kind of love story. Our anti-hero Michael Mallory and Evangeline, his guide through the alternate underworld, are deeply flawed, damaged, and desperately broken humans on a harrowing journey, testing themselves against vicious killers, small gods, and a whole lot of lost souls to find three stories to exchange for the restoration of Mike's heart: a love won, a love lost, and a love avenged.

Among the many things I really, really loved about this book were the invented words, product names, brands, mythologies, etc. I had to look so many of them up, never sure if they were real or not: rainmelons, Gumzys, Stretherford Torchhounds, hedgerholes, actor Ibsen Cress who played the dad on Takes One to Know One, the Darlingham Monkey-Man. It was an absolute fucking delight.

The dude had existential dread seeping out of the the pores of his sentences, paragraphs, and whole passages, which were just breathtakingly turned out:

"If God exists, he sleeps, because not even a superintellect could bear the knowledge it contained all potentiality."

"The God of Concepts punishing himself with eternal sleep for his creation Urda-Ek-Dia, the Great Before and After. So nothing truly new could ever be introduced, just variations on a theme."

"Just pistons and gars, a traveling chemical show upon which we all impressed meaning out of terror and boredom."

This book is one long, beautiful, dark night of the soul and I loved every second of it. Now I need YOU to read it so I have somebody to talk to about it! It drops on October 24th!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am providing this review voluntarily.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review!
Spoiler: this is a story about love stories.

I finished this book a few days ago, and it took me a few days to figure out what I felt about it.
When Mike's girlfriend breaks up with him, he goes spiralling into depression and decides to replace his heart with a new one that doesn't feel. Shortly realising his mistake, he finds a world of magic and has to find love stories in order to build a new heart for himself.
The story itself is cute and fast-paced. Sometimes I found myself stopping and wondering if I missed some information along the way.
I liked Mike, but absolutely loved Evangeline. I really wanted some more of her in the story. Cynical, with a traumatising past, she's an amazing character.
Overall, I enjoyed this little love story about love, life and heartbreak

I didn’t expect this book to be as beautifully written as it was but holy shit. The writing and the plot both blew me away. The grief you feel through Mike not knowing exactly what went wrong in his previous relationship and trying to figure out exactly what ended it and how exactly to get over said heartbreak was so beautifully done. I didn’t expect this to be a supernatural horror/romance going into it but the way it played out to be two broken people coming together to help pick up the stray pieces was chefs kiss.

This book takes a fascinating look at heartbreak and how much it sucks. Nailed that part. The characters shine, though the misguided guy meeting the mysterious wise girl trope felt a bit too YA. The plot gets twisty and it shook me a little bit. But I found my bearings by the end and really enjoyed this one.

I’m not sure if I know what exactly went on just now. I know there are a lot of deeper meanings in there but I feel like that Al just went right over my head

Michael Mallory is doing great. He's the lead singer of a moderately successful band, cool apartment, and great girlfriend. Until his girlfriend abruptly breaks up with him. Unemotional, already packed to leave, and without any fanfare at all. Like nothing they had mattered to her at all. He's left heartbroken--no, heartexploded--and bleeding all over his whole life. He can't stop thinking about her and the life they should have had. He starts to blow up everything around him. Until a strange red rover demon thing in a drain tunnel leads him to an increasingly depressing part of town no one seems to know about. An unseen woman offers him whatever he wants in exchange for three stories. But, like all horror stories that grant wishes, it isn't exactly as advertised.

I was so set to give this book five stars. I absolutely loved "Man, Fuck This House." Magic and musicians are some of my favorite things. There are so many beautiful pieces here, but they don't fit together quite right.

Like "It Follows", this book doesn't quite take place in our world. It's an interesting concept and I love the imagery and hints we get about the cosmology, but many times, it left me feeling like I was floating just outside of understanding. I kept trying to google things that don't exist. I get that, perhaps, this was to put us in the same position Michael, an unbeliever, is in, but he never seemed very curious about anything or asked the questions I wanted him to.

The stakes seem a little...wishy washy? We don't really see much of Michael prior to the breakup with Kara, then he's distressingly depressed and obsessed, then he's a dick, then... there's just not too much character development. I loved Keegan and Donnie, but we don't get to see much of them, even when it really seems like we should. Gabrogian seems to mostly come out of nowhere and confuses the nature of the world further by being...whatever the fuck he is.

Which brings me to the stories. NGL, I love this framing device, but it was a bit whiplashy for me. I feel like having stories within stories is a great way to flex writing muscles and really lean into some other voices and styles, but none of that really happens. And the stories themselves are just kind of banal. Except for Gabrogian's. I honestly could not tell you what exactly is going on there. 


And, as for the ending... I don't like it. I won't spoil anything here, but I just felt like it was all too perfect. 


It's not a bad book. It's short and fun and has some absolutely killer imagery. Plus Donnie and Keegan. Absolutely pick it up if you feel so compelled, but know it's a bit more of a popcorn story than anything truly scary or deep.

Horror books have a special place in my heart. Prior to working at the library, our collection of horror books was slim to none. We had the typical Stephen King/Joe Hill books but not much other selection. Since working here we have buffed up our horror collection to include diversity, different levels of horror, and book length.

Our Black Hearts Beat as One will have a special place in our library, I can't wait to see if we are able to order it.

I would like to thank Netgaller and Brian Asman for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Despite this being a novella. it took me quiet a while for me to finish. I like the beginning of the novel however towards the end i kept losing interest and found myself getting a little confused on what was going on, this may have just been me as i kept picking it up and putting it back down.

“Hearts break. But they don’t just break, they explode. Destroying everything around them”

I had fun with this author’s other book: “Man, Fuck This House.” This one, though, takes itself a lot more seriously.

There are a few cool ideas here, but some of the book was hard to follow. (Mostly the second half.) There were also three stories within the story, with several characters talking into a tape recorder telling about their experiences. Two of those tales were a bit cliche and another was confusing. The book did a lot of explaining of a religion that involved naming a bunch of different gods and who they were and what they did, and my eyes glazed over during those parts. (As I often say, this may have just been a "me" thing.)

This story has the “ideal hot goth chick character.” (She's got an attitude and practices witchcraft. What a sizzling little number!) As soon as she stepped onto the page I thought, “Oh no.” There did turn out be more to her, to be fair. But it felt like the dark version of the Manic Pixie Dreamgirl. Remember that whole thing?

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. I liked one of the monster designs and there was an interesting set piece, (the weird room with the fans), but the story went from confusing to cliche to overly sappy and those are all things I just don’t like. I did enjoy “Man, Fuck This House,” though!

TW: self-harm, suicide, suicidal ideation.

I didn’t really connect with this story at all. While the premise interested me, I found myself skimming much of the story. There were some good parts, namely Evangeline, but overall just not my favourite.

You truly cannot go wrong with a book by Brian Asman. Our Black Hearts Beat as One is a love letter to the pain that is a love which fell apart... set amongst a terrifying and fantastical backdrop of the occult.

“Hearts break. But they don’t just break, they explode. Destroying everything around them”
Well if that doesn’t adequately describe a break up…I don’t know what does?! This was my first novel by Asman and it will definitely not be my last. His writing style is effortless. I loved the idea of a semi famous rock star being dumped and totally destroyed over it. Instead of sex revenge, he tries any and all means to get her back.
Even though the novel is short-it has a ton of vibrant energy. The Underworld and the stories depicted are vivid and full of atmospheric descriptions. I couldn’t help root for Michael Mallory and I really enjoyed the ending. Thank you to @thebrianasman for my advance copy!

A beautiful romantic yet dark and twisted story that was hard to put down.
It was really something different with great fast paced writing. This is my first book of Brian Asman but i certainly don't think it will be my last.

I did not connect with this story. I was interested at first, but just how he acted and thought didn’t pull me in. I did like the Rat King, but by the time people were telling their stories, I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the characters and what they were going through.

"Hearts break. But they don't just break, they explode. Destroying everything around them."

A fun and quick read. Nothing ground-breaking, but I enjoyed it.