Being a teenager is challenging enough, but growing up in a small town with rigid, judgmental views makes it even harder. This story captures that struggle beautifully, showing the toll it takes when a teen feels forced to hide their true identity from their parents and community just to avoid scrutiny.

The book explores how witnessing someone else face rejection for not conforming to societal expectations pushes you to retreat further into yourself, donning a mask to survive. But secrets have a way of surfacing, and the tension builds as you question how much trust you can place in those around you.

This story hits like a punch to the gut—it’s raw, powerful, and nearly impossible to put down. I highly recommend it to anyone who is open-minded and willing to reflect on the ways we judge others and ourselves.

Very well done. This one comes out February 11, 2025✨

This was the first book I've read by Heather Levy but definitely will not be the last! A little bit mysterious and a little bit sexy, This Violent Heart was a recent favorite for me this year.

I felt like the author captured the "struggles of growing up in a small town" well but he connection between Devon and Keaton was underdeveloped which made the book feel flimsy.

This is a new author for me but I’ve enjoyed this introduction. Characters are solid, plot was promising and intriguing, and romance was a balance of emotional and heartfelt! This was a beautiful book!

Growing up being a teenager is hard. Growing up in a small town with small town views becomes even harder! This story does a great job trying to show exactly how hard it is. A teen has to hide her true identity to her parents and her town just to save face. Seeing how a different person has been treated for not fitting into the mold of how you are “supposed to be”. You learn to hide deeper into yourself. And you have to wear a mask of who that is to protect yourself. But secrets have a way of coming out. You want to trust your friends but how much can you trust them.
This story hits hard. Such a hard book to put down. I highly recommend it to someone who is open minded and not easy to judge!

ARC Review of This Violent Heart by Heather Levy
* * * * *
A romance filled with guilt, secrets and redemption, as a woman opens herself up to the past that haunts her and unravels someting more than she bargained for.

After a work tragedy that is tied to her own personal life, Devon decides to return to her small town filled with religious gossiping homophobes that love to talk trash and hold small minded traditions.
There, she faces her family whom she has kept her own secrets from, and faces one of the people that held her heart with love along side Summer...Summer's brother Keaton.
It was only meant to be temporary.
There was nothing to be dug up...until something was found.
Summer's death was not as simple as it was made to appear.
Summer was hiding a big secret.
One that got her killed.

We switch back from the past the the present as we follow Devon in 2025 in her profession and facing the people that she left behind in the events of 2012, with a flow that does well in building the main character and increasing the thrilling mystery. Love the ties of the journal thrown in as it builds your suspicions and stuns you to what happened to Summer.
Summer's own side of the story is compelling, as you are thirst to find out what happed to her and the monsters that drive her into fighting and being strong and holding together so many lies.
Devon's sexuality in a setting as her home town is also a topic that was grea tto dive into, as it features people who hold their religious positions highly in a very toxic way, as well as parents who either accept or dismiss their children's love choices.
Absolutely thrilling read!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Devon Mayes thought she left her hometown—and its ghosts—behind. But in This Violent Heart, Heather Levy pulls her back to the haunting memories and tangled relationships that shaped her, crafting a dark, emotionally charged story that blends mystery, personal reckoning, and forbidden desires.

The Premise:
Returning to Arkana, the small, conservative town Devon fled years ago, is like stepping into a time capsule filled with unresolved grief. She’s forced to confront the trauma of her best friend Summer’s supposed suicide, her feelings for Summer’s twin brother Keaton, and the oppressive weight of her own hidden truths. But when new revelations suggest Summer’s death wasn’t what it seemed, Devon and Keaton dig into the past—and uncover secrets that some will do anything to keep buried.

What Worked:

Levy masterfully balances a dual narrative: the slow-burning tension of a murder mystery and the emotional depth of a protagonist grappling with identity and trauma.
Devon is a beautifully flawed heroine. Her inner conflict—about her bisexuality, her guilt, her complicated feelings for Keaton—feels raw and real, giving the story emotional resonance.
The setting, a small-town Arkana steeped in judgment and buried secrets, is evocative and atmospheric, practically a character in itself.
The twisty plot keeps you guessing, with each new reveal pulling you deeper into the web of lies surrounding Summer’s death.
Why It’s 4 Stars:
While the tension and stakes are compelling, the pacing occasionally drags in the middle as the narrative tries to balance Devon’s internal struggles with the external mystery. Some of the secondary characters could’ve been fleshed out more, too. Still, the book lands its emotional punches, delivering a satisfying, bittersweet ending.

Acknowledgments:
Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake, and Heather Levy for the opportunity to read and review this thought-provoking ARC. This Violent Heart is a gripping exploration of the things we bury and the truths we must face.

Final Thoughts:
If you love mysteries that delve into the messy, complicated layers of human relationships, this one’s for you. It’s a story of reckoning—with the past, with identity, and with love—wrapped in a haunting small-town mystery. A perfect read for fans of Sharp Objects or The Night She Disappeared.

This book was one of those reads that you can’t put down! The suspense captured me, and the reveal at the end highly disturbed me. If you’re looking for an addictive thriller told in the past vs present POV, look no further.

Thank you to Montlake and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this gripping tale of loss and self-discovery, therapist Devon Mayes returns to her hometown to confront the past and uncover the truth about her best friend Summer’s death. As buried secrets resurface, Devon and Summer’s twin, Keaton, must navigate guilt, hidden desires, and danger to solve a mystery someone wants to keep hidden. This gripping tale of loss and self-discovery had me hooked from the first page. Devon Mayes' return to her haunting past and the unraveling of Summer’s tragic death made this book almost unputdownable. The emotional depth, forbidden feelings, layered mystery and plot twist made this an unforgettable read.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to access and read this book!

I seriously could not put this down the whole time I was reading this and managed to consume it in one sitting. The complex characters and rhetoric around religion and sexuality was so refreshing and really nicely done. The ending felt perfect for me and it was a very satisfying end to the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed This Violent Heart and I’m definitely going to look into more of Heather Levy’s writing.

This Violent Heart is told between two life moments: 2012 and 2025,; going back and forth between high school years and the present day. Summer is Devon's best friend, and when she dies by suicide, everything changes. Devon moves on to become a therapist, but the death of her of her friend always haunts her. Devon feels guilty for what happened back in high school. And now, with the turmoil that is happing in present-day, Devon needs to go back home and sort out what really happened. Complicating things is Devon's relationship with Summer's twin brother. A complex subject and a compelling plot made this read hard to put down. Mature subjects are a part of this read.

I love a small town whodunit, especially when the main character returns after many years, ruffling the feathers of the townspeople who thought they got away with something. This story perfectly weaves together the past and present in parallel and I felt like I was solving a mystery along with the main character. I appreciated the sensitive way that themes of belonging, identity and trauma were captured and interwoven throughout the story.

I cannot put into words how much i enjoyed this book, it was one i couldn’t put down without wanting to pick my kindle back up again to find out what happened next. I liked the flashbacks from when she was younger to present day, as well as the journal entries that showed a different side to the story from a different perspective. I typically find it harder to get into books that are written in third person but i didn’t have that issue here.

Es un libro que aborda temas como la orientación sexual, la violación, el suicidio, el abuso de poder, la religión y las ideas anticuadas.

La historia sigue a Devon, quien en su juventud vivió en un pueblo muy religioso y de mentalidad cerrada. Ella era bisexual, pero no podía decírselo a nadie, ya que la gente lo veía como una aberración. En las partes narradas en el pasado, podemos ver cómo fue vivir de esa manera y cómo la afectó. También exploramos sus relaciones con sus mejores amigos, su desempeño en la escuela y el tipo de relación que tenía con sus padres, entre otros aspectos.

En las partes del presente, se muestra cómo se convirtió en psicóloga, ayudando a víctimas de abuso sexual. Además, descubre que la muerte de su mejor amiga podría no haber sido un suicidio y quiere averiguar la verdad, lo que la llevará a un viaje al pasado.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this Advanced Reader Copy.

Heather Levy’s This Violent Heart takes readers into the heart of small-town America, exploring the deep scars left by suppressed identity, lost friendship, and buried trauma. Devon Mayes, a therapist-in-training, is forced to confront painful memories when she returns to her conservative hometown after a recent tragedy. The plot unfolds in two timelines—Devon’s teenage years and her present—as she pieces together the truth about her best friend Summer’s tragic death, a haunting mystery that has shaped her life.

The novel beautifully captures the tension of growing up in an environment resistant to change, where identity and self-expression are stifled by rigid expectations. Devon’s evolving feelings for Keaton, Summer’s twin brother, and her struggles with her own bisexuality add layers of depth to her journey. Levy’s portrayal of small-town life in Oklahoma, with its Bible Belt constraints, felt authentic and raw, and she masterfully uses journal entries and flashbacks to keep the mystery alive.

While some parts of the story were predictable, Levy’s storytelling still kept me engaged. The pacing lagged slightly in the middle, but the unexpected twists in the last chapters made up for it. The ending, while open to interpretation, offers a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness.

For readers who enjoy emotional, atmospheric thrillers that delve into identity, trauma, and redemption, This Violent Heart is an addictive read that resonates long after the last page. I’m already looking forward to what Heather Levy brings us next!

This is my first book by this author and it definitely won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can't wait to read more. The pace and the story kept me intrigued. Thank you so much for the ARC!

This is definitely a super well written novel with a beautiful and strong message. The storyline is good and I think it will resonate with a lot of people. Heather has a way with words and I command her for approaching such a difficult subject and putting it to light. I might have just not been the appropriate audience for it as I was expecting maybe more of a thriller and less of a romance, but I know it will appeal to a lot of people!

Honestly it wouldn’t be something I would pick up myself if I saw it at the book store however after reading reveals the fear of feeling trapped in a world of “old school charm” and the mystery of the passing of Summer. The first thing that came into mind was 13 reason why. I very much I enjoy the reading I hope to read more about this author.

In this haunting journey into the confusion and desires of growing up, a therapist reluctantly returns to her hometown, where she revisits the memories that could reveal what really killed her best friend all those years ago.
Devon Mayes thought she was done with the small conservative town she once called home. She fled when she was eighteen after her best friend Summer took her own life, leaving Summer’s twin brother, Keaton, lost in his grief. But when tragedy strikes again, Devon has nowhere to turn but back to the place that first broke her heart.
Being back in Arkana means struggling with the old guilt that shrouds her bisexuality and her feelings for Keaton.
There’s so much she’s still hiding from him-and so much of their shared past that’s now resurfacing. It’s not long before Devon has reason to believe Summer’s tragic death wasn’t suicide after all. Summer had secrets, too...and she wasn’t the only one who didn’t want them exposed. As Devon and Keaton piece together the mystery of what happened that fateful summer, they must reckon with their own truths before they can move forward. But one person will do whatever it takes to stop them.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance reading

My first NetGalley book! I really enjoyed this book. I chose it based on the cover alone so I really had no idea what to expect. Switching between the past, the journal and then present day made it so hard to put the book down. I couldn’t get enough. When I started understanding the triangle forming between Devon, Summer and Keaton, I questioned if I would enjoy reading on, but it was worth it. I feel like it was slightly anticlimactic when the truth came out between Devon and Keaton, but the choices the characters made felt like what someone would do in real life. I’m looking forward to reading other books by Heather Levy.

3.25 stars

This Violent Heart speaks deeply to the lived experience of feeling trapped within the confines of your upbringing and what wounds result from said confinement.

I applaud author Heather Levy as she explores the complexity of small town adolescence and the struggle to find identity in a place that is rigid in its morality. I thought the alternating timelines and the use of journal entries was mostly effective throughout, though I feel like the pacing was off in certain places. The ending felt too rushed, while portions of the middle stretched too long.

While I did see an integral part of the ending coming a mile away, I thought the way that the plot unraveled was still interesting. The connection between Devon and Keaton was interesting to read, but it felt underdeveloped, which made their ending feel off. But I like that the author sought to add light at the end of the tunnel of what would otherwise be a heavy book.

Overall, I had a positive reading experience and felt that the scenes from the past resonated the most.