This is a great YA book that covers just about everything a teen faces! There's love, friendship, panic over how heart surgery will affect the rest if his life....yaknow, the usual 😉

Jesse tries hard to squeeze everything into the short span of time he has before the surgery. The drama and scrapes are well plotted and utterly relatable.

[I received the Audiobook of “Broken Hearts and Zombie Parts” through NetGalley from Bolinda Audio and in return have provided an honest review 😁]

Heart-aching, Awkward and Authentic.

I need to confess. I went into this with my breath held and one eye (ear?) closed, nothing to do with the adorable artwork or the title. But as a gay man, with a brain lightly seasoned with health anxiety I worried how a teenage rom-com around a queer kid wrestling with a serious medical condition was going to make me feel.

In short, I was right to be anxious. Through Jesse’s experiences, William Hussey manages to peel away my defences and and prod all the right nerves and break me down and then manages pours a cool, warm and wholesome balm over the wounds to make it all feel better.

Quickly a lot of my early concerns about the book were addressed very quickly. Jesse was overbearing, but not annoying. Chris Nelson’s narration quickly helped me to warm up to Jesse as verbal diarrhoea erupts from him as he and “Big Si” get acquainted. I like the protagonist - tick.

The straight best friend Caspar? Quickly established to not be an unrequited love interest. A sigh of relief - tick.

Morgan, initially I thought she annoying - was bossy and reminiscent of other female friends of two boys from a wizard book series and a demigod book series. But through her body image subplot she is quickly established with unique layers that allow me to warm to her as much as I needed to. - tick

The rest of the ensemble were deliciously brought to life by Hussey’s writing and Nelson’s narration, Brianna, Louis/Louie, Mother Sparks, Dean, Ethan and of course Tiny are all well-rounded and continue to have purpose, adding more worth as the story unravels - beyond what they appear to be offering when initially introduced.

A special shoutout to the subplot involving an elderly character and dementia, there is an allegory of Alzheimer’s as a hungry disease that nibbles away at a person with its insatiable appetite until there’s nothing left that had me feeling hollowed out. Superb.

As for the main plot. Stunning. I was expecting, and accepting, a run of the mill teen rom-com similar to Heartstopper or Simon vs the Homo sapiens Agenda. Instead we are taken to other places entirely. From the end of Chapter 32 onwards - I could not stop listening. I was driving back to London during my final listening session and at that point had to pull onto a motorway services to give it my full attention.

During a few points I was moved to tears, as a queer individual myself there are a few gut punches along the way but how those threads are treated in the resolve it was overall a very cathartic experience.

I was equally as moved at the Authors Notes that closed off the novel and feel incredibly honoured to have been able to share what is clearly a very personal novel.

I definitely look forward to checking out more from William Hussey and Bolinda Audio in the future..

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I am not the target audience for this book, but I'd read Killing Jericho by William Hussey, and wanted to see what else he had to offer.
Within minutes I was smiling at Jess.
He was fun, and endearing.
I thought his enthusiasm might wear thin quickly, but it didn't. I just liked him more and more as the book went on.
It's warm, amusing, and some good emotional moments, issues teens face on a daily basis.
The narrator gives a perfect performance.
Very very good.

I received an audioarc through Netgalley all opinions are my own..

I really enjoyed all the characters.
I really like Jesse as the narrator and MC. He is so awkward, funny and real.

I immensely enjoyed the plot of this book, and I really like William Husseys writing style!

The audiobook narrator Chris Nelson, also did a really good job. And I think that is also one of the reason why I enjoyed this book so much.

I would definitely listen/read this book again!

Heartfelt, heartbreaking and humorous 💖 The perfect mixture of vulnerable and hilarious - Broken Hearts and Zombie Parts is a must read!

We follow Jesse Spark who has recently been diagnosed with a heart complication that requires major surgery to repair. With the surgery deadline looming he propels his goals into high gear & has two weeks to:
1. Complete his epic zombie movie
2. Find love - because he isn’t sure what dating will look like post surgery with his changed body.
This novel is packed full of beautiful friendship, coming of age reflection, self acceptance, queer representation, raw depictions of chronic health conditions, complex emotions, hilarious shenanigans, brilliant mc narration, strength and love. I truly adored this book and cannot wait to read more works by William Hussey.

Method read: 🎧

Thank you so much to Bolinda Audio for the advanced copy. Chris Nelson did an amazing job narrating and bringing the story to life! 10/10 recommend!

before i start i need to get two things off my chest, number 1 is the title- bloody brilliant! and number 2, the medical storyline satisfied the doctor geek inside of me.

if i had to pick my favourite part of the book it has to be the characters, they were all so different and they were written believably as teenagers, with all the typical teenage drama! each of our main friendship group had their own individual difficulties- looming open heart surgery, a weight-loss-obsessed mum, parental death and dementia. all providing the background to messy teenage love.

i thought the filming of a movie gave such a unique way of telling this story, and makes it stand out from other YA novels. i thought the book came to a very wholesome ending which is always a bonus!

Oh. My. God.
Everybody shut up, sit down and listen:
That. Was. AMAZING!

Really, this book was so incredibly cute and funny and sweet and heartwarming and painful and „I have hearts in my eyes“!
The story surrounding Jesse was so wonderfully told that I’m a little at a loss for words. The whole book is written in first person perspective and gives a wonderful insight into the life of the boy we accompany. And Jesse is so approachable? He’s clumsy and talks too much and always at the wrong moments. He’s always on the edge of his seat and really just wants to help, but makes everything worse. He reminds me a bit of Stiles Stilinski from the „Teen Wolf“ series in his whole manner and God, I love him for that alone.
I don’t care if some situations/scenes are a little over the top because everything is so matching and cute.

I asked myself several times how realistic it is that these young people are making this zombie film and doing it so professionally, and then I thought „Who cares, I love it and all I want is for Jesse to be happy!“.
But not only Jesse, all the other characters grew on me and I’m sure I’m not the only one. This book is just pure comfort AND has zombies!

The writing was light and easy; it was simple to follow. I wouldn’t say it was particularly challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. It was just ... Jesse Sparks. Was like a teenager whose head is everywhere at the same time.


The English audiobook picked up the mood of the story perfectly and Chris Nelson gave Jesse and everyone else so much character that I fell a little in love with his voice. There was so much emotion happening that my heart almost jumped out of my chest.
If you like audiobooks, you should definitely listen to this one, because what Chris Nelson has delivered here is perfect. Just. Perfect.
I don’t know what else to say, except that my expectations were totally blown away.

A queer romcom of a read with a slight edge to it. Jesse Spark has discovered his heart isn’t working the way it should and, in the next few weeks, he will be having a major operation to fix it. Before that, Jesse decides that he needs to do two things: make his epic zombie movie on a non-existence budget and fall in love (because who would want to fall in love with him once he has a scar on his chest?). But with two best friends being weird lately and him keep finding himself in bizarre situations, will he get the movie done and kiss the boy?

This is funny and sweet as heck. I think this took me a while to read as I’m not the biggest fan of overly sweet reads and this just dances the line for me. It’s lovely and funny, while tackling (with the lightest of touches) issues such as self-acceptance, friendship, homophobia, body image and others. A little predictable at times, but such a fun ride to go on! I know William can write dark thrillers really well (I love Hideous Beauty and I have his adult thriller, Killing Jericho, on my TBR), but he’s a dab-hand on writing rom-coms as well. More please!

Unlike Williams other books, broken hearts and zombie parts is mostly funny and cute and full of heartwarming parts.
This book is a rom-com or more like a dramedy. It deals with some more serious topics like body image, homophobia, bullying but without dragging the whole mood down
I absolutely loved Jesse and would love to see more from this character even though the story ended