What a heartfelt story that touched me in so many ways. There were moments when I had to step away from the book, but I always came back to. Loved it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This is beautifully written with a promising premise, but it suffers from some pacing issues. It has a bit of a slow start and then lags again quite a bit in the middle, May still use this for book groups and see how it does because I think kids who are willing to put in the work to get through the whole thing will find a lot to relate to, but I'm not sure many of the kids I work with will make it that far.

I couldn't get into the story at all unfortunately. I could breakthrough the slow pacing, or piece together where the plot was taking me.

Harriett is dealing (barely) with the death of her brother and the fact that she probably to blame for his violent and untimely death (TW: school shooting off page). She going through the motions of everyday life with her brother’s best friend Luke - who also feels guilty and her cousin Nikka - who just tries to make things better but constantly makes stuff worse.

It’s not until Harriet makes a new friend at school, that she can start her journey towards forgiveness for herself. Harriett, Luke and Nikka travel to the place under the pool where they all have seen the ghost of Tunde. The magical realism is beyond amazing, and the multiverse that they travel to is slightly complex but simplistic enough that you’re easily drawn in.

There’s some takeaways from this book: first your words have power and the phrase be careful what you wish for is taken quite seriously. Secondly, you cannot stay at the anger stage of the grieving process; it doesn’t make anything better and you only make those around you miserable. And lastly, forgiveness begins with you forgiving yourself first, if you cannot do that, then things won’t sever go your way.

This book left me in a daze that I couldn’t shake for days after I finished reading it. At its heart, it’s a story about grief. Harriet, the main character of the novel, feels responsible for the death of her brother, Tunde, after he is killed the same day that she tells him “I wish you were dead.” She is wracked with guilt, ostracized at school, and overcome by feelings of separation from all those around her, despite the best efforts of her cousin, the school’s “cool girl” Nikka, and her brother’s best friend, Luke, who desperately tries to look out for her. When the seemingly impossible begins to happen, pulling Harriet, Nikka, and Luke together and underground to a world where Harriet might have the opportunity to live the other possible realities of that fateful day, she must face her grief or choose another path for herself, one that may lead her even farther away from those she loves.

I commend the author for her use of speculative fiction, especially in a YA novel. When you write about potential parallel universes and make the reader question what is considered “real” within the narrative, it is sometimes hard to not lose the heart that holds the story together. However, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich’s exploration of grief from a young girl’s perspective, even while mixing the extraordinary with the ordinary, was focused and heart wrenching to read. It thoroughly depicts depression and survivor’s guilt in a way that I have not seen in a long time. While some other reviews state that the underground universe distracted from the central themes, I’ll say that I enjoyed the more experimental and fantastical elements of the story; the pages flew by once I reached this section of the book. It was at times jarring, and didn’t always make the most sense, but we as readers are able to relate to Harriet, who is equally confused, yet still drawn into the world. Adding these elements to the novel served to represent and highlight Harriet’s struggle with her own emotions. The conclusion, while not as resolute as some may have liked, to me left a clear message: that we are not alone in our grief and that despite what we might wish, we must continue to swim against the waters that threaten to drown us.

Thank you to NetGalley, Levine Querido, and most importantly, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich for writing this book. Additionally, a final comment: The cover art is absolutely beautiful, and it’s what initially sparked my interest on NetGalley. I went out and bought the physical copy as well when it was published, and I love that the physical hardcopy has textured pages like water! I thought that this was a wonderful choice, since so much of the story revolves around the water that acts as a safe haven, a portal, a destroyer, and an uplifter all in one book.

A young girl deals with grief and guilt in You’re Breaking My Heart by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. If you have a sibling, then you can relate to the fighting that often occurs between them. No matter what age, often things are said that are regretted later. In the case of Harriet, she tells her brother she wished he would die, the morning he is shot and killed in a school shooting.

The author weaves together grief, guilt and fantasy as Harriet deals with her current existence in the aftermath of her brother’s murder. We all have moments in our Iives that we wish could have a do-over with. We wish we could say something different or make a different choice.

Harriet feels out of place at her new school, until one day another girl just as “weird” as her shows up at school. She talks about an underground world where there are more people like the two of them. An escape from the bleak life Harriet is living in the aftermath of her brother’s death. It’s a mind-bending, fantastical place beneath the subways of New York City that promises to be an escape that doubles as a second chance.

Her guilt, grief and depression are hard to process in the wake of her brother’s death and her mother’s distance. This underground place might be the second chance or it could be something darker. But Harriet must contend with this decision of whether to stay or go. Whether choosing this dark place is a brighter choice than her grief in her regular life. She takes this journey with her cousin and her brother’s friend.

This is a whirlwind of a speculative novel. It’s an exploration of what it means to have a second chance, as well as how much is a second chance worth.

Also, love the image of a Black girl on the cover swimming.

When I first heard about this book I knew I had to read it. A young adult book that centers grief with a magical twist? Count me in! I was so drawn to the story but it started off a bit slow and I was so confused on what was happening for a good bit. Sometimes there were entire scenes where I was bewildered. Overall, I enjoyed it. It has so many elements that I appreciated. The nods to Narnia and Hitchcock (my mom had me watching his movies very young), the pop culture references, the love of the library, and just the ability to see myself in another socially awkward girl I feel like I would’ve loved this as a kid. Those rats and the tunnels were totally giving a little nostalgia for a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan as well. 😂 I think with a little polishing this would make a dope movie! I would definitely recommend it to a fantasy loving teen or preteen especially those who might be having trouble dealing with grief.

This character-driven emotionally powerful story is about a young woman who struggles coping with grief and regrets. Vivid imagery of the ocean, time travel and magical realism adds depth and heart to the story. It deals with the exploration of stages of grief and flaws of characters. This book should be recommended to teens and all those are dealing with grief and loss. Thanks to Hear our voice tours for the opportunity to spotlight this important novel.


“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

“It’s water, it’s talking to me -no, shrieking at me-as we continue in the dark. It’s trying to tell me something, but I don’t understand. All I can do is be very afraid and follow its sound.”

“If you know in your heart who you are, that’s enough, our story is written in the stars.”

Dealing with grief is not easy. I haven’t read too many books that dive into magical realism and I think this was an interesting introduction. Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich did a great job tackling grief from a young person’s perspective. When our loved ones cross to the other side, we’re stuck here sorting out our feelings. For some, pressing forward can be easy and for others it can be a bit difficult. When it comes to grief, there is no timeline or a rule book. No matter how you battle grief, losing a loved one is always going to change you in some fashion. My favorite thing about this read is that although Harriet was the main focus, we were able to get a glimpse of other people that were also affected by the death of her brother.

Side note: I loved that the author chose the color blue for the cover. I’m sure the creative choice was mainly because the main character loved swimming/the water. However, through research I discovered that the color blue represents sorrow. But it can also represent calmness, serenity, and peace. I think this book was the perfect representation of the color blue because it captured every emotion of the color.

Harriet Adu is dealing with life after the death of her brother. After telling her brother "I wish you were dead" at the end of an argument he is murdered in a school shooting. Harriet feels she is to blame for that. Luke, her brother best friend, was there when the shooting happened feels guilty for not stopping the guy. Harriett and Luke both have to deal with the guilt the feel from the situation. This book was the healing journey from the eyes of someone who felt guilty for what happened. Through family and friendship Harriet was able to get to a place of peace with dealing with her loss. I loved when Luke tried to cheer up Harriet with the song from Charlotte's web. It was so cute.

For those of us who lived as teens in the 90's, Harriet reminds me of someone who was never in anyone's top 8 on Myspace. She's a loner, sullen, kind of grouchy, and throughout the book as we have flashbacks of her childhood with her brother, cousin, and her brother's best friend, they seem like the 3 Musketeers and she's some hanger on they keep around just for the heck of it. It seems like the loss of Harriet's brother and the last thing she said to his exacerbated an already sad existence.

Despite the description of this book I could never have imagined that Harriet, Luke, and Nikka would end up... where they ended up. It was like if you took the Cheshire cat, that Caterpillar, and the weird scary parts of The Wiz and shoved them into Coraline with some STEM... I think.

I think this book can best be described as a manifestation of grief and sadness, and the impact of childhood versus the intent of those around you. The farther we read, the less sure we were of Harriet's childhood experiences. And don't even get me started on the mom. What does she know??
This was one of the most unique thought provoking books I've read in a while!

A story of siblinghood, grief, guilt, and the supernatural. The author takes us on a powerful journey with Harriet Adu as she experiences grief following the death of her brother. Harriet knows it’s her fault even though it’s really not but in her mind it is.

Soon she’ll learn the tongue is a powerful thing and you should be careful what you wish for. The morning she had an argument with her brother Tunde and wished he was dead was also the same day she lost him. The situation was a tragic coincidence yet Harriet can’t let go of the fact she feels she’s to blame.

This book had a great premise and I loved the direction it was headed with the magical realism spin. But I think that’s where the book began to veer off from its original point. I would’ve liked more backstory on the underground city Harriet, Luke, and Nikka ventured into. Was it a real place or something they imagined. This was the only part of the book that didn’t make complete sense to me.

The pool seemed to be a symbolic place for Harriet since it’s where she usually felt free. When she had a supernatural encounter in the pool and sees a glimpse of Tunde’s ghost Harriet questions the impossible. That part made me wonder if maybe certain things began to manifest around her because she spoke them into existence.

Overall, this was a great speculative novel certain elements gave off a Don’t Look Under the Bed meets Us theme. The author did well providing vivid depictions of the scenes and characters. Special thanks to the author, @levinequerido, & @hearourvoicestours for my gifted copy‼️

I received a free advance reader copy as part of the Hear Our Voices book tour. All thoughts are my own.

I really, truly wanted to like this book but I felt such a disconnect with the main character and the side characters. There's a huge tonal shift from the first half to the second half of the book, I might not have minded it so much if I wasn't so busy being annoyed with Harriet's cousin and her friend who had an extremely interesting way of showing they cared about her. There were many times, in the 2nd half of the story, where I just thought they should stay out the way and let her make the decisions. (And I didn't appreciate the way the story tried to make me sympathize with Nikka and Luke. They never came across as genuine even as all 3 characters were very much grieving in their own ways.)

And finally, I hope this isn't in the final copy, but a warning for antisemitism: character (Harriet) calling another character (Nikka) a Nazi

I can’t say that I was exactly ready for this book. When I heard about it I was thinking there was going to be some talk of grief and the guilt that she felt. And for the most part, that’s what I got, but there was so much more to it that I wasn’t expecting. And I can’t lie, it threw me off a bit. Not in a bad way, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

Ok so the very first thing was the way they portrayed the grief. The mysterious girl coming in and thinking all the same things, and being the only one who likes the same thing she does. It was interesting tho that everyone else could see her tho. I thought it was also weird that she was there to help her and she literally did nothing to help her. I hated that she didn’t have anyone. She needed to get help. As the book goes on she is given even more hard times while she’s trying to keep it together. Her guilt manifested into some really weird things.

Usually I am a huge fan of books on serious topics, but this one is speculative, so it seemed like it was out there. I wish we hard learned more about the accident and what all those images and animals had to do with her grief. Like the rats? Was it just from the story her mom used to tell her? I also didn’t like that there was no explanation for these things. I try to read as a teen since that’s what I would think they’d see in the text, but I think without explanation this might be a little difficult for some readers. Idk, it was weird. But it was also beautiful. The author did a great job in making sure that even tho what was going on seemed weird, it was also set in some really beautiful prose. And I appreciated that.

The ending was just ok. I liked what happened, but I wanted some type of explanation on it. Like she came to terms, she no longer felt guilty, she just accepted it and let it go? What happened? I thought that was just me because I’m not a fan of books that seem open ended, but after talking to my friend, she also thought the same. It just seemed abrupt and I would have liked to have a little more with her finding her family and friends again.

The characters were just okay also. They’re introduced, and some of them even have some large parts, but none of them have a clear ending. Like what happened to her cousin and her brother’s bestie? She tells them what she’s been dealing with, they cry and then it just stopped at her storyline? And her mom let them go on their way, and then disappeared? Idk, I think I wanted more in that aspect.

This book was beautiful and haunting, but I still needed more. I understand that it is a speculative book, but there should have been some more info because speculative or not, I was left mostly confused but with a smile on my face. If that makes sense lol

You're Breaking My Heart is certainly a lovely book, you'll find no argument from me there. We meet Harriet, who is not doing well and still deeply grieving from her brother's very untimely, violent death. Obviously, you will feel for her, even more because she blames herself. I knew going in that this was definitely going to give me the feels, and it did, to an extent. In fairness, I think that the things I did not love about this book are more personal preferences, and hopefully won't apply to all readers. Thing is, I had really thought I was going to be getting a real look into what a do-over would look like, how the outcomes would make Harriet feel, etc. Basically, a big focus on healing for Harriet, her picking up the pieces, etc.

And to some extent, I definitely did, and that is what I liked best about this story. There were, however, some narrative choices that simply didn't work for me. For one, their is a point of view shift literally in the middle of one of the chapters. We go from third person to first, and perhaps it was supposed to be symbolic but I have no idea. I didn't care for it, though I do prefer first person so I could live with it once I adjusted. The real struggle for me was the fantastical element, which was far stronger than I'd anticipated. The whole bit with the underworld realm or whatever it was kind of went way over my head, and mostly just confused me instead of providing an avenue for Harriet to explore her grief, which I assume to have been the point.

The story was still worth it, for me, because I did enjoy the parts where Harriet was coming to terms with what happened, was having to reflect on how she can move forward, and was finding people who may be able to help her through this. And if you are a fan of contemporary fantasy, this is certainly one you'll want to try, as I imagine you'd have more luck with those bits, and would certainly still enjoy the character-driven components as I did.

Bottom Line: A lovely story about grief that was a bit more fantastical than I had bargained for.

This book was truly beautiful and had me feeling all of the feelings. Going through loss is difficult especially when there's guilt attached to it. This book did a great job of illustrating big feelings and finding ways to navigate them. Lovely read.

Thank you to netgalley and Levine Querido for allowing me to read this amazing book. This book was so damn good.

Harriet didn't mean to wish her brother was dead. Sure, all siblings fight. How could she have known that he would die the very day she said those fateful words? Since his death Harriet has withdrawn from everyone, including her cousin and her brother's best friend. When a mysterious girl at school suggests that Harriet could see her brother again, she leaps at the chance to undo her mistakes.

I loved the premise of this book and the symbolism about dealing with grief is solid. Despite all of that the story struggled to hold my interest and the scenes in the Underground were just too strange for a lot of my readers.

“You’re breaking my heart” by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is absolutely stunning. I was enthralled at every turn. Definitely a high recommend for me.