The Hearts We Sold

by Emily Lloyd-Jones

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

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Dee Moreno is out of time.

Her money is gone and her boarding school is telling her they'll have to pull the plug on her at the end of the semester.  Dee can't go home.  She just can't.  And she has a really good reason.  She has an account with trust money from her grandmother, but that doesn't mature until next year.  She's not just out of time, she's out of options.  Then the demon shows up.

The demon will take her heart for the money.  When Dee says yes, yes doesn't understand the truth about him.  About the world.  She doesn't expect to make friends or fall in love.  But, somehow, as one of the heartless, her whole world comes together.

Dee is one of the most incredible YA protagonists I've seen.

Not only is she kind and intelligent, but it takes incredible strength for her to survive her home life.  Dee isn't rich and she's not at a boarding school because she's the smartest of them all.  She's there because it was her way of pulling herself out of an emotionally abusive home life with two alcoholic parents.  I have so much respect for this girl.  A less-than-perfect home life is something we don't normally see in YA fiction.  Alcoholic and/or emotionally abusive home lives are horrifyingly common and I thought it was so important to represent this sort of background.  Especially because Dee is incredible.  There are scenes outside of the supernatural that require such strength of character, and they were my favorite scenes in the book.

I also adored the love story in this book.  It was not (necessarily) a googley-eyes type of relationship, but it was raw and real and heartbreaking and I really really loved it a lot.  This is the type of romantic relationship I want to read every time.  I thought it was handled really well.  And I was defintiely rooting for everyone.

I did not predict this book.

I feel like there are aspects of it I probably should have figured out.  There was literally a moment at like page... 340?  Where I went, "OH MY GOODNESS SOMETHING BAD IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND I CANNOT HANDLE THIS."  Then I spent the rest of the book flailing.  Books don't often do that to me.  They don't usually surprise me.  A lot of them, I just want to rush through?  "I know what's happening, moving on."  This book surprised me at every turn.  It's such a good book to show escalation of drama because it lets you settle in and get comfortable, then "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING STOP THAT NOOOOOOOOO".

It's really important to have a surprising book.  It engages the reader.  It makes them fall in love.  More authors should be doing this.

This book broke my heart in all the best ways.

I loved this book.  It was a gem - a diamond in the rough.  I haven't read Emily-Lloyd Jones' other books and honestly?  I don't think I'd've picked up The Hearts We Sold if it had not come in my September OwlCrate box.  Now I am a huge fan of her work.  Her writing style really draws you in and her characters are interesting and real.  Even the minor characters like Cora and Gemma were amazing.  I honestly cannot find a single fault in this book.  Do yourself a favor and pick it up - it's a fantastic read.