Review: Matters of the Hart

Matters of the Hart by M.E. Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m an eclectic reader, I’ll give anything a try. My bookshelves are covered in all kinds of reads – from deep philosophical tomes to mindless romance, from edge of your seat thrillers to quick and easy young adult novels, and everything in-between. I would like to think this makes me a pretty good judge of books, that I can work out what to expect, yet Matters of the Hart managed to prove me wrong.

Although the synopsis intrigued me, it left me with rather broad expectations. I thought it would be your typical sports romance – lots of drama and plenty of steam – yet it turns out I was completely wrong about this one. Sure, there was some sport, along with drama, but labelling this a standard sports romance is such an injustice. This is a deeply moving read, one of the most powerful books I have read in quite some time. This is one of those books where, upon completion, you need to sit down and spend some time wrapping your head around the emotions brought about throughout the story.

You see, this one will hit you so hard.

There are plenty of books on the market that deal with heavy topics, yet I have never read one that hit me quite the same way this one did. I started the book at midnight, telling myself I would just read a couple of chapters before bed, and the next thing I knew it was coming up to three o’clock and I was a bundle of feelings as I turned the last page. It grabbed me from the very start, and each page I turned left me feeling more and more.

Although Matters of the Hart is the third book in M.E. Carter’s Hart series, it works perfectly fine as a standalone. There are elements throughout this one that clearly link back to Change of Hart and Hart to Heart, but it is not necessary to read those books first. Matters of the Hart stands solidly without any knowledge of the prior books. You will be left with the desire to go and read the prior books upon finishing this one, though, as you’ll want more details about the past of the characters. Such is where I’m currently sitting – I adored this one, and now I have the desire to immerse myself even deeper into the world through getting the history of the characters. As I said, though, you do not need to know anything about this series to enjoy this one.

Matters of the Hart sucks you in from the very first page, leaving you desperate for more of the characters and their story. It is filled with heavy topics, aspects that will threaten to leave you bawling, and it is painful in the most beautiful of ways. It is not for the faint of heart, but those who are willing to read this will be rewarded with a truly amazing story.

I’m not going to go into detail about all the topics covered, because of spoilers, just know they’re all really well done. I especially enjoyed watching the way our female character developed over the course of the book, the way she reacted to what happened to her. As someone who works with victims of such crimes, it was great to see a story reflect the journey so well – looking at how it impacted her life and the life of those around her, along with the various emotional states experienced after. By the time we reached the end, especially one of the scenes towards the end where she has a lot to say, I could feel my emotions flying all over the place. It reminded me so much of the some of the cases I have worked, of the pure emotions felt whenever a person reaches the point of empowerment where they feel able to share their story and make a difference for the future. Honestly, it hit so close to home – especially with how I then went to work the next day and dealt with such cases, the emotions of the story fresh in my mind and making me realise just how real it was.

I was so close to giving this one a five-star rating. In fact, a small voice in the back of my head keeps suggesting I go and change this to a five-star rating. It’s just little things, such as repetitiveness in the writing, that had me holding back on handing that five-star rating. It’s an elusive rating for me, one I so very rarely give. But this is certainly the closest I have come in a long time.

Without a doubt, this is one of the strongest four-point-five-star ratings I have given in a long time. So worth reading.

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