I really wish I could say
nice things about this book. I really want to write a good review, but I
can’t.
I think this is such a shame to
say this about such an inventive and innovative book but I have my reasons.
Heartbeat is a very interesting book in that the narrative is run through
the medium of short poems making up the chapters. The story itself is about a
girl called Annie and her love for running. Her friend Max and she love running
everyday, leading very happy, peaceful lives. That is the basic story. That
is, in fact most of the story. I know I may be being incredibly critical, but
it is very difficult to find some of the points to some of the stories in the
novel. For example, Annie’s grandpa forgets how to make fried chicken and
Annie’s mother asks why, because he made fried chicken every day. That’s where
that story ends. It doesn’t appear again in the story, no mentions of it
again. I saw this as a symptom of Grandpa’s age and his tendency to forget
things, but for most people, it seems quite odd and random. This happens a lot
during the story, with lots of loose ends.
Unfortunately, another bad
point, I think the use of language in this book is extremely limited and
childish, and though it may be aimed at younger readers, I’m sure the majority
of my age will agree with me.
All in all, I do not like this
book. At all. The only thing I like about it is the very interesting idea of
having poems to tell the story. Still, it isn’t a good novel, taking me only
three-quarters of an hour to read.
Personally, I don’t know how
this book got into the shortlist.
