Review: Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West

 

Listen to Your Heart

by Kasie West

May 29, 2018
352 pages

Goodreads    Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
Talking to other people isn't Kate Bailey's favorite activity. She'd much rather be out on the lake, soaking up the solitude and sunshine. So when her best friend, Alana, convinces Kate to join their high school's podcast, Kate is not expecting to be chosen as the host. Now she'll have to answer calls and give advice on the air? Impossible.

But to Kate's surprise, she turns out to be pretty good at the hosting gig. Then the podcast gets in a call from an anonymous guy, asking for advice about his unnamed crush. Kate is pretty sure that the caller is gorgeous Diego Martinez, and even surer that the girl in question is Alana. Kate is excited for her friend ... until Kate herself starts to develop feelings for Diego. Suddenly, Kate finds that while doling out wisdom to others may be easy, asking for help is tougher than it looks, and following your own advice is even harder.

Kasie West's adorable story of secrets, love, and friendship is sure to win over hearts everywhere.

 

Review

I love Kasie West and have always adored her books. She's my contemporary go to author for all the cute and swoony feels. Listen to Your Heart was sweet and fun though one part of it had me feeling more conflicted than I want to be.

Kasie West excels at creating the best of family dynamics and Listen to Your Heart was no different. I adore Kate's big family. They were a messy but merry bunch. The adults were perfect role models and the kids lovable. It's easy to want to become a part of them.

The love interest Diego tugged on my heartstrings. He was gentle and patient but I didn't enjoy the ambiguity to the identity of his crush. I thought it was obvious from the very beginning who he liked. The pep talks and personal things he shared with his crush really only pointed in one direction. "Success doesn't happen without some failure." (ARC, p. 79). Very apt advice given all the confusion and misunderstandings they had to clear up to get together.

Kate is a girl that's very mature for her age. She acts responsibly- helping out her parents and caring for her brother and cousins. I loved how fond she was of the lake and her family's business. I 100% understood her shyness and lack of confidence. "But his statement implied that success always came after failure. I knew that wasn't true." (ARC, p. 79). Kate's struggles with the podcast and her future were all very genuine and relatable. I'm glad she wasn't alone and had active support from her friends and family.

My biggest issue with Listen to Your Heart is the romance. Some people would probably disagree but I felt like there was a love triangle. An almost one. Definitely more than one pair of feelings were involved in the love line of the story. Since it dragged on for most of the book I was wary of it all the time. The relationship(s) were one(s) you had to tread carefully around. I'm just thankful things didn't turn into a love square. They worked out nicely but not without some frustrations.

Another beautiful relationship in Listen to Your Heart was the friendship between Kate and her best friend Alana. Knowing each other inside out they held a deep and solid bond. Even when there was a conflict between them they resolved it amicably. An exemplary friendship!

Even though Listen to Your Heart didn't become a new favourite of mine Kasie West remains at the top of my favourite author list. Her stories have heart and I will never not be excited for more books from her!

 

*I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. All quotes were taken from the ARC I received.