I ended up with mixed feelings about this. I really appreciated how messy this was - all of the main character's relationships have their struggles and everyone made mistakes and people didn't handle everything perfectly. I liked how the character development wasn't a neat arc. I just wanted more of that same nuance and considerations towards the ending. I felt like everything got wrapped up rather quickly and easily, which made the ending feel rushed.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to arc read this novel!

Don't let it break your heart was way more emotional that I thought it was going to be. As a story about growing up and finding relationships while discovering one's identity, there were a lot of strong moments that made me shed a tear or two. I have not ventured too far in YA queer romances but I was glad I took the time to read this one!

This is a very refreshing, and raw YA coming-of-age novel about a lesbian caught in a love triangle between her ex-boyfriend and the new girl they both like.

It was messy, and authentic and kind of nostalgic in that late summer, neon-lit teen indie film way. Parts reminded me of teen drama shows like SKAM or movies like The Half of It and Lady Bird: small towns, yearning to escape the place of your childhood, dreams of college, the bittersweet anticipation of growing up and moving on from what you wanted as a kid.

Alana and Gray are also flawed, selfish, childish and very wonderfully real (Steve & Robin–coded ships, love you❤) The author did a great job of depicting their unique past, and their enduring platonic love for each other.
I really liked that it wasn't a *romance*, but rather a realistic story of a young lesbian growing up in a homophobic small town. Tal and Alana's sapphic relationship was ok ig–Tal isn't really interesting beyond her role as quirky, perfect love interest–but again, what I appreciated more was Alana's self-journey and coming to terms with lesbianism: finding community and learning to discard her internalized shame. There's no forced "coming-out", but a gentle reminder of what we as queer folks owe one another.
On that note: YA coming of age novels really need to stop glorifying Portland and NYC and feeding into liberal gentrified dreams of "queer utopia cities". A lot of this boils down to classism really, but still, not all marginalized students have the privilege of flip flopping majors and switching their colleges on whimsy.
Anyway, good book.

Don't Let It Break Your Heart by Maggie Horne is a poignant and heartfelt exploration of love, resilience, and the complexities of moving forward after loss. From my perspective, Horne’s writing is both lyrical and deeply emotional, drawing me into the characters’ experiences and struggles. The protagonist’s journey of self-discovery and healing is beautifully portrayed, and I found myself relating to her as she navigates the ups and downs of life.

I appreciated how Horne tackles themes of grief and hope with sensitivity, allowing readers to reflect on their own experiences while feeling a sense of connection to the characters. The pacing is generally well-structured, though there were moments that felt a bit slow, which could take me out of the narrative flow. However, the depth of the character development more than compensates for any pacing issues.

Overall, Don't Let It Break Your Heart is a touching and inspiring read that left me feeling uplifted. It’s a wonderful choice for readers who appreciate emotionally rich storytelling that delves into the complexities of love and loss, reminding us of the strength that can be found in vulnerability.

I was so impressed by this book. Maggie Horne has honed a talent that created this perfect example of why I still read YA. I am always amazed when an author can write YA characters that touch the truth of so much we still deal with as adults. Overwhelmingly enjoyed!

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder for me to enjoy YA books, which is on me not the author. That being said, there are still some that sleep through the cracks and I enjoy in adulthood. I would say this is a really good YA book for the YA audience, it does not transcend into adult enjoyment as well, at least not for me. I think this is a very important story for the YA audience and has representation that could really impact someone. I hope more YA audience members will pick this up.

This was a heartfelt story about love, friendship, and self-acceptance. Alana’s journey of figuring out her identity while balancing relationships feels both relatable and emotional. A sweet and thoughtful read that explores how we grow when we embrace who we really are.

If you're anything like me, you've been craving a YA novel that focuses more on the nuances of friendship than on the romance. On the outside, Don't Let it Break Your Heart sounds like another love triangle romance, only with queer characters. But that synopsis hides the real main plotline: friendships and the line between inseparable and toxic.

TW: lesbophobia (including slurs and bullying); homophobia; anxiety; forced outing; aftermath of a hate crime; past use of revenge porn

Alana and Gray are the It Couple at high school, always together since they were babies. Then Alana comes out as lesbian, and... nothing really changes? She and Gray aren't dating anymore, but they are still attached at the hip and as close as ever. [This dynamic was SO interesting and unlike anything else I've seen in YA.]

When Tal moves to town both Gray and Alana develop feelings for her. Only Gray expects Alana to help him get the girl, because why wouldn't she?

At first I thought Tal was going to be kind of manic pixie dream girl-esque, but thankfully she developed into a wonderfully complex character that suited both Gray and Alana's character. But of course, Tal really isn't a main character. The story focuses on Alana and Gray.

There are quite a few side characters that sometimes blurred together, but their purpose was also to showcase different types of friendships, especially the contrasts between Alana and Gray's friendship and Alana and Tal's friendship.

I also want to give bonus points for the perfect small town Maine setting. The author really captured what it's like to live in a small town, especially when you are always the elephant in the room, regardless of where you go.

The discussions of being queer vs being part of the queer community were also enlightening, a topic I want to see explored more in LGBTQ YA. Now that it's become more socially acceptable to be gay and in high school, there are different expectations from the others around you. If I had to rank the order of importance for these different themes, that would be number two, after the discussion of friendships and toxicity.

I don't think there is anything else I want to share, other than that you should read this book. Especially if you feel like you've read everything YA has to offer. Don't Let it Break Your Heart is a fresh take on the genre and already incredibly underrated.

Rep: lesbian main character, queer major character, Black lesbian side character, side character who uses they/them pronouns, multiple other LGBTQ+ side characters

Thank you to the publisher for a finished copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

don't let it break your heart follows alana, who had been dating the school's golden boy, gray, for years before she came out as a lesbian. but gray and her are still best friends, and spend all their time together. when a new girl called tal starts at their school, gray and alana make a plan to get her together with gray, but alana likes tal more than she can admit to herself, or to gray.
i had high expectations for this but most of the book just left me annoyed at the characters, unfortunately. i understand that they were supposed to be like that, but still.
let's start with the supporting cast, they were such a well-done portrayal of what some friendships can be like. they've all been "friends" forever but they always treat alana like shit, especially after she came out. i used to, and still have some friends like this. it's so hard to let go of them, no matter how much they bother you and make your life so much harder.
gray was so annoying for the majority of this book. he needs to get his shit together and stop acting like alana belongs to him and expecting her to be with him all the time.
alana was also pretty annoying. i get that this book was supposed to show that she did not feel like she was a part of the queer community, which is why i'm still conflicted on this part, but it just felt like she thought she was above that, if that makes sense? i was about to go and murder her when
SPOILERS
she didn't go help tal and callie with the café, it just felt like she was picking and choosing in what ways she wanted to be involved. (which she does address, but i just don't feel like she'd stop doing the same things, not that i know her LMAO but idk) like wdym you left your crush who you love oh so much and let her deal with the aftermath of a homophobic attack on a queer friendly space SHE BROUGHT YOU TO just bc you didn't feel like it. i'd go help them even if i hadn't even heard of it before if i physically could? i don't think i'd forgive her if i were tal tbh, but whatever.
SPOILERS END
i was also quite annoyed at her for not telling gray she liked tal, though i get why she did it. and for being so attached to gray and not being able to stand up for herself when she wanted to say no. and for never telling gray that she was hanging out with tal but obviously not lying. also their whole friendship seemed a bit weird to me. like wdym you don't say hi or bye on the phone. wdym you don't apologise to each other bc you know you did not actually mean to hurt the other? anyways. enough about the bad characters !!
tal was so sweet. she deserved better than alana imo, but oh well. she protected alana from being hurt by gray and other people at her school, hid what they had going on from gray without alana even telling her to, was so nice to alana. everything.
gray's family was super sweet !! it was nice to see the small interactions they had.
(why do i have a thousand things to say about the characters i didn't like and about ten words each for the characters i loved...)
the first like 35% ? i think? was super boring, i was literally so close to dnfing but didn't just bc i wanted to review it since i had the e-arc and also bc i had faith tal and alana's relationship would pull through, and after a certain point i was definitely more hooked!
overall, i wouldn't really recommend this tbh, but from what other reviews are saying, it looks like i have the unpopular opinion here, so do with that what you will ig.
thank you to the publisher feiwel & friends and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

This was such a heart-warming story of self-discovery and love. I believe it was my first contemporary romance without any fantasy elements in it, and I'm glad I picked this as my first!

The characters are fantastic. The main character Alana was so funny, I really want to be her friend. It was heartbreaking to watch her think that she didn't have a place on her own without someone else, and I loved watching her slowly realize her own worth. Gray was a bit complicated for me as I found him pretty frustrating times, but believably so. As Alana herself says, whatever else he may be he is still a high school boy. I'm curious what he'll be like out of high school as he lets the charismatic act drop a bit and becomes more authentically himself. And then there's Tal. Omg Tal. I honestly get why everyone fell in love with her immediately, she was funny, cool, and cared deeply for people in her community.

Their relationship dynamic was so complicated, which made it really interesting to watch them navigate it. Gray trying to fit both girls in his life, Alana worrying she's betraying both of them, and honestly Tal just being oblivious I think, just going with the flow to be with Alana. It was unlike any relationship I'd read before, which made it very unique and exciting.

All of them grew in various heart-warming ways throughout the story. It had me gasping, on the verge of tears, and smiling and kicking my feet. So really the full spectrum of emotion. By the end, I was teary-eyed and clutching the book to my chest. It left me feeling really light and happy.

Overall, if you like stories of complex teen relationships, coming-of-age stories, and people discovering their own worth, you'll like this sweet YA romance.

I didn’t love this like I thought I would but I would still recommend it. I was just expecting it to focus more on the romance that it did.

First: THE CHEMISTRY!!!!!! Tal and Alana’s chemistry was undeniable and so much fun to read. There’s nothing I love more than cute banter and they delivered. Genuinely, it’s the kick-your-feet-and-giggle type of reading experience. I liked Gray and the familiar ease that came with his interactions with Alana; you can feel their history and feel how well they know each other. But Tal just ~gets~ her.

Speaking of Gray, I loved the way this book handles the evolution of friendship. Especially as it relates to being inseparable but needing to find oneself. Alana has always been “Gray’s Girl,” and now that she’s not, she struggles to find where Gray ends and she begins. Tal being thrown into their dynamic challenges that. Not only is she the girl of Alana’s dreams, but she also helps Alana discover what it means to exist outside of Gray, as her own person, navigating her sexuality.

Don’t Let it Break Your Heart is an amazing book about identity, sexuality, and complex relationships. RUN—don’t walk—to add this to your TBR!!

I was gifted this copy by Colored Pages Book Tours and Macmillan in exchange for my review! <3

I started to read this book with the back cover copy in mind. It left me with some pretty specific expectations of what Alana and Gray’s relationship would be like, and I was a little confused when it played out differently. I didn’t really see Alana setting Gray up with other girls. It seemed more like she endured his prowling and did her best not to roll her eyes about it because she felt guilty about breaking up with him.

There’s something about Don’t Let It Break Your Heart that feels like a train wreck you can’t look away from. The writing is good—consistently insightful and full of compelling, realistic characters. The relationships between Alana and her friend group have this ticking-time-bomb feel to them. Some of that comes from the group’s toxic patterns and the undercurrent of homophobic feelings among some characters.

I liked that Tal’s addition to the crew altered the dynamics of the group a bit and brought a fresh perspective to relationships that Alana had been in so long that she never stopped to question. She voiced some of the things I’d been thinking, which felt validating as a reader, too.

Alana’s journey of self-discovery is frank and vulnerable. She recalls the slow demise of her romantic relationship with Gray and her growing inability to deny her identity, as well as her deep feelings of guilt and inadequacy at some points in her experience. I felt like those feelings were pretty real and Horne explored them in a way that I haven’t seen done in young adult literature before and adds some important notes to the conversations about identity.

Readers who enjoy upper young adult stories exploring messy relationships and first love will find a lot to love about this bold story. Perfect for fans of Marisa Kanter and Robin Talley.

*4.5 Stars*

I honestly didn't really know what to think of this one at first. And I actually started then decided I wasn't in the mood and put it aside for a bit before I picked it up again. But when I did, I really got into it and I couldn't stop reading. It made me feel all the feels. I got happy, angry (often) and teared up too. I really sympathized with Alana and was on her side even when everyone was mad at her (except Tal, Tal was right). I think my favorite was the love interest though. She was great and I loved getting to know her.
Anyway, I really liked this book, it had a lot of messy, vivid characters and I loved seeing them interact and grow throughout the book.
So, yes, a great first YA book by Maggie Horne, I can't wait for more.

Alana is a high school senior who’s recently broken up with her best-friend/boyfriend, Ethan Gray. Gray is a perfect person, per Alana, who’s an overachiever and a very popular guy, but simultaneously super insecure. He requires a lot of bolstering, but she doesn’t mind this because it allows her to remain his best friend and stay super close to him. Alana doesn’t exactly know who she is if she isn’t “Gray’s Girl,” even if she’s recently accepted the fact that she is, in fact, lesbian. She feels really uncomfortable in their mutual friend group, sure all the straights want to undermine her deep platonic love for Gray. They live in rural Maine, so there are not a lot of options for friends if she and Gray can’t get along.

With a new school year comes a new girl, Talia, who’s just moved from Portland, Maine. Tal is tall and funny and beautiful. She’s the perfect next girlfriend for Gray, if Alana can help Tal see how great he is. Unfortunately, Alana is also attracted to Tal, and afraid it’s destined to be a miserable experience crushing on a straight girl. However, the more Alana and Tal interact, the more Alana seems to believe Tal isn’t a straight girl after all.

This is more a coming-of-age story than a romance, with Alana figuring out her future and how to navigate it, thanks to meeting Tal. She sees herself in queer spaces, makes friends with queer people, and finds her purpose, mostly due to an act of homophobic vandalism that leaves her unmoored. Alana also experiences outing by a person who had been a friend (a frenemy), which could feel traumatic to some readers.

I liked the story told from the messy, angsty inside of a high school girl’s brain; it felt like Inside Out 3 with all the thoughts whizzing around Alana’s head. She’s very intuitive, and doubts the intentions of most of the people she’s been “friends” with for her whole childhood. She’s not the Queen Bee, and she is fine with that, but she also doesn’t want to be a pariah. Alana’s very human and humble, honestly. She doesn’t anticipate dating again in high school, and her attraction to Tal is frustrating and unsettling. And glorious. I loved how she sought to do better and find purpose when life got even more complicated and it looked like all her friends were turning on her. It was awesome watching Alana finally stand on her own two feet–while wearing Gray’s stolen jacket–and examine her core desires, and how those could guide her on a new path, away from her codependent life with Gray into something more healthy.

The book started out murky for me, due to all the characters, their nicknames, and Alana’s internal monologue, but I soon got into the swing of it. There are nice small town life vignettes, and good growth for all the characters. While it’s not a traditional romance, there is a connection and a happily ever after.

thank you to the publisher and Netgallery for this arc.. i loved the characters so much!! This was the perfect YA sapphic romance. I wish I had this when I was younger. I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future! 😍

I am actively gnawing at this book because it is so very relatable and it's something I wish I could have read as a teen instead of the Buzzfeed "Am I gay?" quiz. Yes the quiz clocked me.

Can we get some commotion for a lesbian coming of age story which takes place after the coming out portion? Yes I am nosy and want to know how everything plays out afterwards. Don't Let It Break Your Heart absolutely delivers that with the absolutely hilarious but tragic storyline of "oh shit my ex-boyfriend has a crush on the new girl and so do I". She's giving all the absolute teen awkward queerness of "am I avoiding the Victoria Secret's poster at the mall too obviously" along with the heart-breaking realization that you are capable of falling in love for the first time after dating boys.

Alana and Gray have been the perfect pair all through high school, and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian. Sure their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever dynamic is stronger than ever. Enter in the new girl, Talia. Gray is complete head over heels for her and begs Alana to be his wing-woman. As she begrudgingly agrees to his over the top plotting she finds herself liking the time she spends with Tal way more than she thought she would. As the two grow closer Alana must decide between staying loyal to her best friend or trying to follow her heart for the first time in her life.

"Be good tonight. Keep the door...huh. I guess it doesn't matter, does it?"
"If we do close the door, I promise to not get your gay daughter pregnant."

This had some killer humor which actually made me laugh out loud a couple times. I can thoroughly say I really enjoyed myself with this one. Alana and Gray's dynamic was so endearing and familiar. It's so nice to see platonic soulmate love held in such high regard as something even greater than romantic love. The struggles with being queer in a small town and having zero gay friends really strikes you deep and is very relatable. Alana's growth throughout this story was worth seeing as she found her community and was able to experience the small baby gay moments.

"Tal knows I'm gay, the same way everyone else knows it, but it sometimes feels like I don't have any more room for another person, another coming out story, another reaction, another change."

Tal was a good love interest in regards to helping Alana grow confidence and explore a community outside her small town. The romance was cute and it definitely had the feet-kicking moments but I do wish Tal was fleshed out a bit more. Overall I had an amazing time with this story and devoured in completely in 2 days!

This book is a coming of age story about first love and learning who you are. Alana broke up with her boyfriend, Gray, last year, but it didn't seem like much had changed. Their relationship went from dating to best friends, but it still looked the same. When new girl Tal shows up at their student council meeting, everything changes in an instant. Alana suddenly understands what attraction is, and as Gray checks out the beautiful newcomer just as hard, she realizes she doesn't stand a chance against him.
Alana agrees to help Gray with his plan to woo Tal, even as her heart tells her not to. As they spend more time together, she realizes she's in too deep, but it's too late. She doesn't believe Tal could like her back, but there's more to the new girl than meets the eye.
Alana spends a lot of the book doing what Gray wants, what he likes, and going along with his plans, just like she always has. When she starts spending time with Tal, Alana realizes that she doesn't know who she is or what she wants. Everything has always been about Gray. That was comfortable, and didn't require hard decisions. Tal helps her to realize that she's her own person.
I think this book does a great job at showing that teenagers really don't have it all figured out and it's hard to discover that you really don't know who you are without someone else. Alana has to think long and hard about who she is, who she wants to be, and what she wants to do with her life. A life that may or may not include the people she loves the most.
I really enjoyed watching Alana come out of her shell. Tal showed her how it feels to be seen, and that she deserved better than her "friends." I loved watching their relationship develop, and how Alana became a better, more vibrant person because of it. This is a really good sapphic coming of age story, I highly recommend it.

I am nearing the end of the story, but I would say that I like this book! Wonderful characters (though I have mixed feelings with Gray sometimes), good writing, and nice setting. Overall, this is a good book to read during fall time or any time of that year!

4.5 stars, round up to 5 stars.

I received a gifted copy in exchange for review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Colored Pages Book Tours and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group!

I HAD SO MUCH FUN READING THIS ONE!!! It's been a while since I've encountered a good sapphic tale so definitely glad for this one!