Review: Hearts Are Like Balloons

Hearts Are Like Balloons by Candace Robinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hearts Are Like Balloons is the second book released by Candace Robinson, although it’s the first of her books that I have read. I’d been planning to read her first book, Quinsey Wolfe's Glass Vault, anyway, but after reading this one my need to read it has increased tenfold. If it’s half as wonderful as this book was, I know I will thoroughly enjoy it. They’re two very different kind of books, I know that, but Hearts Are Like Balloons has certainly put Candace Robinson on my reading radar.

Hearts Are Like Balloons is a deeply emotional read. From the very first page, we’re pulled into the heartbreak; so much so, I needed to put the book down whilst reading it at work. I could feel the emotions building inside, and I genuinely feared someone would walk into the room and find me with tears rolling down my face. Honestly, it hits you so hard. Due to this, I feel as though I’ve been reading the wrong books in this genre.

In all honesty, it’s one of those books that is extremely difficult to fit into a single genre. Many will label it as contemporary romance, but to do such a thing is to break it down into one small element when it is made up of many complex component parts. It is so much more than a simple contemporary romance, as it’s a read that will hit you on so many different emotional levels. This is why I feel as though I’ve been reading the wrong books. I quite often find contemporary romance reads involving deep emotional situations simplify and twist things, to the point where heart-breaking life situations are almost being romanticised. Such is not the case here.

The story hits you with life event after life event, portraying a true to life scenario. Told across a number of years, we’re shown how life has both ups and downs. There are the happy moments and there are the sad moments, showing us the rollercoaster that is life. Throughout we get to watch our characters grow, we get to see how different situations change them, all the while falling more and more in love with them. Whilst the story does provide us with the happily ever after you expect from the genre, I wouldn’t particularly call it a happy story. There are scenes that will make you smile, but the tugs at the heartstrings outweigh the joyous moments. That being said, I wouldn’t call it a sad story either – as I said, it’s realistic.

With wonderful characters you will grow to love, with situations you grow invested in, and wonderful writing, this story will hold you tight throughout.

Without a doubt, it’s a book worth grabbing.

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