Mad Girl's Love Song

by Romany Heartford

Mad Girl's Love Song is the story of Heli, a 16-year-old sent to a remote island Facility for "aberrant" teens.

Heli doesn't trust her Doctor, or the promise to "fix" her. She's fighting to hold on to the parts of herself she's come to love, even as the lines between truth and reality blur. And in a place where nothing is as it seems, who wants to be normal anyway?

Amid the Facility's routines, Heli finds herself drawn to Cai, another patient who seems to understand her in ways no one else can. Their connection is a spark in the darkness, a chance to feel something real. But the Facility holds secrets, and the night one of them vanishes, everything Heli thought she knew is thrown into question.

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 18, 2025

Reviews

[Bruce Buchanan]

MAD GIRL’S LOVE SONG absolutely wrecked me. Seldom have I cared about characters the way I cared for the group of misfit teens at the center of this novel.

The kids in question are residents of a rehabilitation program for emotionally troubled youth. But the doctors running the program are more interested in scientific breakthroughs and research grants than actually helping these teens. The kids are subjected to strict discipline and dangerous treatments, all in the name of “progress.”

Heli is one of these teens. A rebel by nature, she pushes back against the Draconian rules. Sira, on the other hand, tries to go along with the program, hoping to one day win her freedom. But Heli becomes even more desperate when her friends Cai and Mal are endangered. I found myself rooting for Heli—and worrying about the fate of the kids trapped in the remote island facility. I might’ve even shed a few tears along the way.

MAD GIRL’S LOVE SONG is the debut novel from British author Romany Heartford. Based on this effort, I can’t wait to see what she writes next. This novel gets my strongest recommendation. I won’t soon forget Heli and her friends.

[lexi :)]

Wow! What a book! I was hooked from the minute I opened the book. One of the amazing things about the book is the unreliable narrators which make you keep guessing what is fiction and what is real in their story. I became attached to Heli (what a gorgeous name) and only wanted a happy ending for her. I will think about this book forever.

[Carys :)]

Captivating and thrilling. Truly my favourite read of the year! A delicate story, beautifully written. A must read for all 🫶

[Mrs Lisa Miller]

What a great read. Could not tell it was aimed at teenagers at all. Lots of twists and turns a bit like the rolling of the sea that surrounds the island. Characters were clearly flawed but that just makes you like them more. Reached for my tissue a couple of times too as really invested in them and their outcomes. Hope another book is coming!

[Adele]

There’s nothing I love more than an unreliable narrator, and Heli more than fits the bill.

What a remarkable and gut-wrenching story. This was so intriguing and thought-provoking all at once. I loved the mystery involved and simultaneously felt guilty about enjoying the mystery because it centered around teens battling mental health issues and doctors who may or may not be lying to them or doing what was in their best interest.

[Kat M]

I really enjoyed the way Romany heartford wrote this book, it was everything that was promised from the description. The characters were really well written and had that feel that I was wanting.

I received a free copy of this book for review and am voluntarily leaving a review

[✨Isla✨]

It's an incredible and complex read. Mad Girl's Love Song is a raw and emotionally charged story portraying the life of teenagers living in an experimental mental health facility. The author has created a narrative that is somehow both bleak and hopeful. It is filled with moments that will destroy you (be warned) and ones that will make you tear up for all the right reasons. The complexities of mental health are not shied away from healing is not a linear journey for any of the characters, representing the true nature of mental health. All of the characters in the novel are fleshed out, and each of their individual stories create a longlasting and meaningful impact on the story. The writing itself is beautiful and often poetic, doing its title justice (taken from a Sylvia Plath poem of the same name). It is evocative and feels achingly real. The book's greatest strengths is how it handles complex topics with sensitivity and care and how the relationships between characters and with themselves flourish even in such a dystopian setting, suggesting that there is a light even in the darkest of rooms. Mad Girl's Love Song is a compelling and beautiful novel that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled with mental health and those seeking to understand more about its complexities. Romany Heartford has created a book that is heartwrenching but also a testament to hope and healing.

[Rebecca]

It was an interesting read. The main narrator seems to be unreliable at times, as do other characters. The main characteris in a sort of mental institution on a desert island, following her involvement of a fire in her grandmother's house. The doctors seem to be using questionable methods on the patients, such as electro shock therapy and a series of pills and odd chants. After rumors of one former patient’s escape abound, the main character is determined to leave. The inner workings of her mind are insightful as she works through her inner turmoil surrounding the truth of her own past. The ending was sastisfying.