My list of favorite reads for this year is already too damn long, but I have to add Our Black Hearts Beat As One to that list now. This weird genre-bending, mind-fuck of a tale has stolen my heart. I would be hard-pressed to pick a single genre to which I would assign this novella. It is one part fantasy, one part comedy, one part tragedy, with a dash of horror, and a heaping helping of romance. I shudder at using the word "romance" to describe anything on my list of favorites, but at its core, this is a love story. An offbeat, fucked up, epic odyssey of a love story.

The characters and mythology of this book transform it from a simple story of a broken heart to something truly magical. I was so thoroughly intrigued and invested I felt like I couldn't read it fast enough. I suspect the genre-defying nature of Our Black Hearts Beat As One will make it fairly divisive, with readers either loving or hating it. Either way, I just hope people are reading it, because this is way too good to be missing out on.

Thank you Netgalley and Mutated Media for giving me a free copy to read. However, I sadly have to say that I did not enjoy this book. Nothing really resonated with me except the first two pages. I found the characters and the book itself boring and a bit confusing. This book may be for others but it was definitely not for me.

Our Black Hearts Beat As One, such a beautiful title for book that I’m quite torn about. I really enjoyed the horror and the occult elements to this story, but they seemed to get muddled and quite confusing. It was hard to try to envision some of the scenes in my head and I wish we knew more about Mike. I couldn’t connect with the characters and that is where I found this book to be lacking. Overall it was a short interesting read although I’m not sure I would recommend.

Thank you netgalley for the arc, all opinions are my own.

This book was very interesting. It gave my imagination a work out in that there were so many wonderful descriptions and I was able to see them in my head. I loved the journey that the main character went on and how he was able to discover that there was more to his life than one relationship. The occult aspect was one that I hadn't read much of in other books, so points for that. This book was a quick read, but it was packed with enough action to keep me engaged.

This was... so different from what I usually read, but I have to say it only made me want to read more by this author. Our Black Hearts Beat as One takes on the story of a man losing love and dealing with it - along with dark gods and divine spirits interfering in his and others' lives.

I started off slightly confused as there isn't much explanation regarding the magic system or belief system, whatever you want to call it, but that only made me more intrigued. This is honestly the only thing that could bring my rating down from a 5-star to a 4-star. After that, it's easy to get annoyed with the main character, but in my mind this only made the book more entertaining as I had no idea what he would do next. After a choice he makes in the beginning, I knew I had no way of expecting anything that happened. This book is a wild ride from start to finish.

I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this book for the next few days, if not weeks. There was just enough information left out to leave me wanting more without making this a frustrating read. Overall, if you like urban fantasy, mysticism, dark storylines and a morally grey main character, this book is for you.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all. The character development was poor from the start and I never got to fully connect with the characters. The plot was also a bit confusing and felt randomly pieced together, almost as if the story itself was rushed. Overall, I was quite bored.

There were SO many unexpected twists and turns throughout this book. What started as a seemingly normal breakup story, turned into so much more. Our main character, Michael, I found to be somewhat unlikeable, very 'woe is me' and pretty much causes a whole heap of trouble because he couldn't deal with the rejection. However, theres so much more hidden within the story that brings about a deeper understanding of the fact that he maybe was fated to go down this path from the beginning. I also loved the descriptions of the various 'creatures' and sketchy places throughout the book, I found it easy to imagine how everything looked and felt the disgust and confusion of the various characters.

This wasn't for me. I was confused about what was happening and I didn't enjoy this.
I received a copy via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

So this guy, Asman, is one of the most out of the box, unique idea-having authors currently writing.
I've read four of his books so far: this one, Man, F*** this House, NeoArcana, and Return of the Living Elves. Every time my thoughts after reading these books pretty much revolved around "I have never read anything like this before."
As far as Our Black Hearts Beat As One, it's surreal and smart without being pretentious. Basically, dude's girl leaves him, so he gets rid of his heart through a magic ritual, immediately regrets it, and does weirdness to get it back.
Good stuff.

Honestly, was just bored with this one 😣

Couldn’t get into the story, didn’t care for the characters.

I had read and enjoyed some of Brian Asman's previous works, so I figured I would give this one a try. Our Black Hearts Beat as One is much more cosmic horror than Asman's previous works, but I still enjoyed it. It still has a great sense of character and atmosphere. Definitely recommended.

We know hope isn’t dead
We can hurt so good again
No matter what we’ve done
Our black hearts beat as one

I had such a great time with this book, the story takes us along a dark, twisty turny kind of road and I enjoyed the ride!

We follow our MC Michael through the turmoil of heartbreak. Finding oneself along the way, but getting pretty lost throughout the process. Trying to find his way back to himself, he meets other broken people who become the threads to help him come out of his grief.

I loved the creepy, supernatural and occult feel of this book. It was grimy and dark and somewhat confusing, but it all came together in the end. I had a chuckle at the fourth wall break close to the end, and you know what- I did chose my own ending for this one, as it was left open ended. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a bit of a gritty, supernatural romance novella.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

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!

Our Black Hearts Beat as One felt like an unfulfilled promise. While it had a few moments of intrigue, the overall reading experience left me unsatisfied. I believe that with more attention to character development and a tighter, more engaging narrative, this book could have been better.

Disclaimer: this was gifted to me by netgalley and in exchange I'm leaving an honest review. All opinions are my own
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I have no idea why but in my head Mike looks like MGK??? IDK HOW TO GET RID OF THAT IMAGE. GIRL HELP.
I don't have a lot in a positive way or negative way to say about this book. It confused me. If you like books about witchcraft, heartbreak and the occult you may enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mutated Media and IBPM for the advance reader copy.

I didn’t know what to expect from this book especially after reading Man f this house, which was also a weird rollercoaster of a story.

This is a weird love story that is also filled with horror. A lot happens and I’m still not sure what it was exactly.
This was a short and easy read.

"Our Black Hearts Beat as One" by Brian Asman is a book that left me with mixed feelings. The author's imaginative storytelling and unique plot twists kept me engaged throughout the story. However, I found some of the character development to be lacking depth, making it difficult for me to fully connect with them. While the pacing was generally good, there were moments when the narrative felt slightly disjointed. Overall, I appreciated the author's creativity, but I wished for more emotional resonance and polished execution in certain areas.

After getting dumped by his girlfriend, popular punk rock frontman Mike Mallory finds himself cursed and desperate to have her back in his life. The only way to do that is to slip down into his city's well hidden and protected underbelly to learn more about an ancient way of life that his ex lives and breathes.
Without much character building, we follow Mike and a few others, there to help guide our heartbroken hero along the way.
To break a spell, he must draw inspiration from others' stories of love and loss to write the ultimate love song.
Filled with angst and occult magic/folklore that could have used a bit more exploration, Our Black Hearts Beat as One is a worthy, quick read for anyone who's ever experienced the anguish of having their heart ripped out of their chest and swore they would do everything differently if they could only have it back.

Thanks NetGalley, Independent Book Publishers Association, and Brian Asman for the copy of this book.

This is a lovely story about love and healing with a bit of magic and some scary supernatural creatures.

Michael Mallory's heart is broken after his girlfriend Kara moves out with no explanation. After a few days of grieving, he decides to take action and perform a spell to take away his pain. He soon realizes his mistake and explores the town's underground occult to heal and get his heart back.

While I liked this story, I did get confused a few times with the occult storyline. I think I figured out overall what was going on but some sections I had to reread. I really liked the characters in the book. Michael was a likeable guy and I was cheering for him all the way but I think Evangeline stole the story. I recommend the book for those to like lighthearted horror.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect went I decided to read this book. It was a quick read. It was a little confusing to me in a couple of spots but overall a good read. I just wish there was more on Evangeline