For fans of “The Boys Next Door” by Jennifer Echols and “Holding Up the Universe” by Jennifer Niven.When an amateur chef attempts to use food as his love language, Landra, who struggles with anorexia, finds his approach off-putting. In fact, she finds Brian to be rather annoying. Undeterred, Brian snags Landra in a friendship that eventually grows into something else, as she finally trusts him … finally trusts him enough to sample some of his homemade gourmet treats.
But things have not evolved to the level Brian would like, and soon he realizes Landra’s issue isn’t only with the food he makes. She’s into the football team’s hottest player. But Brian isn’t about to get one-upped by a jock. He decides to ask Landra out at the same time that Landra manages to snag a date with the football star.
As if dating isn’t hard enough, Landra must battle her anorexic impulses and self-esteem issues if she is to find the boy of her heart. When the voices of self-doubt and shame drown everything else out, Landra will need to give herself permission to be happy. And Brian? Well, he will have to find a way to Landra’s heart, even if it isn’t through her stomach.
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I surprisingly enjoyed “Hungry Hearts” by Julie Hoag. This is the first book I’ve read by this author – having received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. I almost stopped reading this book after 2 chapters. I wasn’t engaging with the characters and I was worried that I was going to end up being critical of the way the author handled the heartbreaking story line of eating disorders in teenagers. I paused for a few days and actually went and took a look at some of the other reviews for this book. After reading the nice out pouring of support for how the subject is handled and grounding myself that this is a YA book (part of my issues were centered around the “attitude” of the main character – once I reminded myself that she is a sixteen year old- I was fine). I picked the book back up and was able to enjoy it over the long holiday weekend.
Overall – it’s a good book and tells an empowering message to anyone struggling with eating disorders – maybe it will speak to them and help them get the help they need. Stick with it – you’ll be glad you did. I know I was.
Happy Reading…enjoy!
A heart touching YA novel that is both romantic and deals with mental health.
The author treated the health issue delicately along with providing the readers a compelling debut.
The main character Landra struggles with anorexia. Through her main character the author presents us the life of a person who deals with anorexia and how it affects a person’s life.
Hungry Hearts is a romantic novel that expresses the story with flowing writing style. This story of love and health issues is guaranteed to hold readers.
Julie’s accent is gritty adjusting the story’s details. She penned a debut that is worth appreciation.
I would give this book 5 stars for the selection of characteristics provided to each character. Would definitely recommend this novel and would love to read more from Julie Hoag.
This book was tough for me to read. I am not sure if this book just wasn’t for me or if it was something else. Landra, our heroine, her story broke my heart. She is struggling and TRULY needs help. But with barley any attention from her dad and no adults ever being around she is spiraling down this terrible path of destructions and it killed me to read it. I wanted to jump into the story to help her so badly. Brian, who is obsessed with Landra, is extremely creepy and weird. I had to speed read through his parts. I kept getting full body chills (the bad kind) anytime he was mentioned. Everything he did were red flags in my book. Like whom says or calls someone “My Queen” to a person they don’t truly have a relationship with? Everything about him just didn’t do it for me. Hunter, Landra’s main love interest, was a real bore. Nothing he did or said stood out to me unfortunately and I honestly didn’t care about him. I was really excited to read this book. I know I was going to be reading something out of my normal comfort zone, but I was excited to read this and see what it was all about. It just ended up leaving me disappointed. I think that this book had so much potential, but it just didn’t do it for me and did not hit the mark. Maybe I can’t read YA anymore? Sad to say this but, am I TOO OLD for YA? Or was this book just written very much like a teenager would think/act? I don’t know exactly what it is, but it just didn’t do it for me.
I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.