Review: Out of Heart by Irfan Master

Publisher: Hot Key Books
Publication Date: 
Source: Review copy from publisher
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Blurb: 

Donating your heart is the most precious gift of all.
Adam is a teenage boy who lives with his mum and younger sister. His dad has left them although lives close by. His sister no longer speaks. His mum works two jobs. Adam feels the weight of the world upon his shoulders.
Then his grandfather dies and in doing so he donates a very precious gift - his heart. 
William is the recipient of Adam's grandfather's heart. He has no family and feels rootless and alone. In fact, he feels no particular reason to live. And then he meets Adam's family. 
William has received much, but it appears that he has much to offer Adam and his family too.

Thank you to Hot Key Books publishing for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for a full review. 

This was an interesting novel and it was much different than what I was expecting before going into it. The novel tells the story of Adam, a teenager with a passion for drawing who lives with his mum and sister and of William, a man without family who has received the heart of Adam's recently deceased Grandfather. 



The novel had such a unique plot and although I enjoyed reading about the many twists and turns of Adam's life as he tries to do the best for his family and himself, I didn't feel gripped to the novel. I really enjoyed reading from Adam's persepctive, his voice was honest and engaging. I enjoyed his relationship with William and their slowly growing friendship was nice to read about. I liked reading about Adam's passion for art and his feelings for Laila.

The charcters in the novel were well written. I particularly enjoyed Adams mother- she was fierce and strong and resilient. Adam's younger sister who does not speak was also a really interesting charcter and I loved reading about her as the story unfolded more.

The novel was broken up with little illustrations and facts about hearts or quotes from books about hearts whhich I thought was interesting.  In the novel it never said what age William was and I assumed he was a teenager like Adam but then later in the novel found out he was a man! This jarred me a little and I think the novel could have been a little more descriptive with characters in places. 

The writing style sometimes felt a little flat for me but I enjoyed the novel overall and read the book in a day. I liked the short chapters of the novel and the cover is striking yet understated. I just felt the novel was a little lacking in places and did not grip me as much as I would have liked. 

A unique and interesting novel of family, loss, passion and belonging.