3.5 stars.
A melancholic and tender incursion into grief and pain, “The Shape of Your Heart”, by Debbie Howells (Boldwood Books), follows Callie and Nathan as they navigate through new experiences and relationships after loss and tragedy, and experiment second chances at love and life.
I loved that the story is equally hopeful, romantic, and has a dimension of despair and grief.
I also enjoyed watching the work in the garden and how it related to the healing process.
I liked both main characters and how they’re so good together and complement each other. Callie’s outspokenness and Nathan’s more reserved personality are a good match.
Although different they’re both authentic, honest people and both know, because they’ve learned from direct experience, the meaning of Horace’s “seize the day” aphorism.
I liked the loving relationship between the main characters and their families/friends.
Callie’s journey is both a geographical and a spiritual and emotional one.
Nathan’s precarious situation is handled with sobriety.
However, I thought the story was not very clear about Nathan’s issues, which are left a bit vague and underdeveloped; I felt it would benefit in terms of depth having these serious issues a bit more expanded.
An enjoyable read, addressing realistic issues, even if the twist was predictable.

This was a slowwww burn, really sweet, often somber, love-after-loss love story set on the English coastline. Lots of grief processing, lots of tea time, lots of therapeutic gardening, an overseas self-care walking journey, and an eco-friendly project. Family and friends are examples of love and support. The twist was predictable, but fleshed out in thoughtful ways. I was invested from the beginning.

Oh this book! I needed this sweet book. It was so good. I keep thinking about the characters they keep lingering in my head. Get job!
I just reviewed The Shape of Your Heart by Debbie Howells. #TheShapeofYourHeart #NetGalley
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This is a beautiful book, showcasing the remarkable ability of the heart to beat, endure loss and recover, time after time.

Callie’s story is very sad. Nathan’s story is mysterious but comes clear as the book goes on. Above all, despite fears, guilt and hope these two people find a way to recover and make dreams come true for their community. I absolutely loved this book and I think you will, too.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This has a sweet message and has to deal with grieving a lot. Can be triggering for those who are still hurting from their own loss. Good read overall.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher/author for the ARC!

My thoughts:
- the romance was intentionally very, very, very slow
- healing themes
- more monologue from both Nathan and Callie (glimpses into personality and mind - grasp their attitude and thinking)
- grief takes time, sometimes longer
- grieving makes someone afraid to make bold choices
- family support is crucial during grieving
- Nathan: understanding, patient, reliable, got a second chance in life
- Callie: has a deep trauma from her wedding day, very insecure about things, very wary, her trauma shaped her personality most of the time
- pacing very slow, but meaningful chapters
- like reading a healing book
- despite that, i didnt agree on certain things; Nathan allowing her ex to stay (even just for a little while) inside his house. That's just not a good move imo. In real life, he would be blind-sided again.
- Callie's grieving personality tires me eventually. I get it she was dealing with deep stuff, but her choices to say things were her own, but at least she admitted later at the end that she was being very stupid so yeah.

Callie is waiting for her finance Liam on her wedding day, and is instead thrown into grief and an entirely different existence than she had hoped for when he is killed on the way to the wedding.

This book had all the elements of a lovely and cozy read for me. It was a slow burn, meaningful and thoughtful. I liked the characters, I enjoyed the dialogue and the twist. I felt it was really well done, and a great first read of the year for me.

Thank you #netgalley for the arc. #theshapeofyourheart

This book was absolutely gorgeous and amazing.I loved Callie and how she was her own person from her sisters and how she connects with Nathan after incredible loss. I will be sharing a full review, but just initial thoughts this book is in my absolute top reading list.

Callie’s always been the least ambitious of her sisters but also the happiest, until fate snaps her fiance before they can say I do.

One year later, she is still putting her life back together, but she might be ready for more. With so much life left to live, she has to find a way to be happy.

Nathan knows not everyone gets a second chance at life and he’s not going to waste his. He’s left the city behind, moved to Cornwall and is starting over. When he meets a beautiful woman at the beach it feels like fate, but her heart belongs to someone else.

Could Callie and Nathan be just what the other needs?

Oh my word, what an absolutely perfect story, so much emotion taking me on a roller coaster ride of tears and laughter and the wonderful way that grief is handled

What a lovely and heartfelt story!
The Shape Of Your Heart is a book about real, weird, messy, painful, confusing, and shocking lives. It is a story about family, love, pain, loss, and grief. But, above all, it is an ode to beginning to live again.

If you like deep characters' analysis, touching dialogues and meaningful plots, this is the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Boldwood books for an advance read in exchange for this review.

Callie is on the way to her wedding, but Liam hasn't arrived yet. She learns that there has been an accident, and Liam is dead.

Fast forward to a year later, and Callie is fully into her grief. She spends most days either making small sculptures with sea glass that wash away or tending to her garden. While at the beach, she meets Nathan. Nathan has his own story and Callie surprises herself when she starts to develop feelings. However, she's not sure how to move forward based on her feelings of guilt over her own potential happiness.

This story is very slow, which I think is appropriate based on how it can be for people to process a loss and learn how to move forward. There's a twist in the story that I didn't expect, and it sometimes felt a it too coincidental for me. However, I very much liked all the characters and how respectful everyone was when it came to Callie and her grief. For me, the stars of the book were Callie's 3 sisters and her parents. They seemed wonderful and supportive of where Callie was in her life.

Plunged into the abyss of grief after Liam dies on the way to the church. Callie is devastated and shuts down, shrinking her life to part time work and her home.
As time passes her family make inroads to help Callie, a stranger who becomes a friend and a chance encounter in the graveyard starts the catalyst for changes.
Read the inspiring and powerful story about life altering changes and how Callie processes them and carries on with her new life, even though it was not what she had planned and hoped for

Theme song: “You can’t hurry love.”
This was a slowwww burn, really sweet, often somber, love-after-loss love story set on the English coastline. Lots of grief processing, lots of tea time, lots of therapeutic gardening, an overseas self-care walking journey, and an eco-friendly project. Family and friends are examples of love and support. The twist was predictable, but fleshed out in thoughtful ways. No steamy scenes. I was invested from the beginning and read this in 2 days.

Thank you #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for the arc e-book.

This is a truly beautiful story about love and loss. We follow Callie as she navigates her life without Liam and as Nathan enters her life, will she be able to move on? This is an incredibly emotional read but also one full of love and hope. I was mesmerised by this book and read it in one sitting, I was unable to put it down until I had finished it. Howells' throws in some twists along the way, I had worked them out but they were still wonderful plot threads. I cannot recommend this gorgeous read enough.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy.

'When the world says “give up”, hope whispers, “try it one more time”.’

‘Callie’s always been the least ambitious of her sisters but also the happiest, until fate snaps her fiance before they can say I do.’

Such a devastatingly beautiful story, I read this in one evening and as heartbreaking as it initially is, it was lovely to see how Callie developed through the book and depicted such a true insight into grief and heartbreak.

I loved Callie’s passion for the outdoors and nature, I found her Spanish adventure so interesting. You know I was googling the Camino de Santiago as soon I finished!

I didn’t particularly like the twist, it felt a bit far fetched, unrealistic and I initially felt a bit irritated because I didn’t feel like the book needed it. After I’d moved past that though, I loved the ending and how it circled back around to how the book started.

Overall, a really lovely read and one I would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Net Galley and Boldwood Books for the advanced copy of Debbie Howells upcoming book.

I read this in one day, which I suppose speaks for itself. It was a sloooooow burn, frustratingly so at some points but I suppose understandable given Callie’s history. It was an interesting premise that I didn’t see coming… reminded a bit of the film Last Christmas! The epilogue was sweet.