What do you think?
Rate this book
The Edge of Everything
Three of Hearts
Three college friends wrestle with a complicated dynamic in a witty and romantic coming-of-age short story about first love and self-discovery by New York Times bestselling author Katie Cotugno.
Ellery, a freshman at a New England college far from her California home, feels every bit the outsider—until she meets Camp and Danny. Soon, they’re an inseparable trio. But as Ellery begins to question Camp and Danny’s relationship, she also must consider her feelings for them as they navigate friendship, first love, and what’s at risk.
Katie Cotugno’s Three of Hearts is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting.
Ellery, a freshman at a New England college far from her California home, feels every bit the outsider—until she meets Camp and Danny. Soon, they’re an inseparable trio. But as Ellery begins to question Camp and Danny’s relationship, she also must consider her feelings for them as they navigate friendship, first love, and what’s at risk.
Katie Cotugno’s Three of Hearts is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery. Each story can be read or listened to in one sitting.
43 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2026
About the author
Katie Cotugno
34 books2,412 followersKatie Cotugno is the New York Times bestselling author of seven messy, complicated feminist YA love stories, as well as the adult novel Birds of California (Harper Perennial, 2022). She is also the co-author, with Candace Bushnell, of Rules for Being a Girl. Her books have been honored by the Junior Library Guild, the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee, and the Kentucky Association of School Librarians, among others, and translated into more than fifteen languages. Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, and Argestes, as well as many other literary magazines. She studied Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College and received her MFA in Fiction at Lesley University. She lives in Boston with her family.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 1.75/5
Yeah, this wasn't my favorite. I'm sorry, but I'm super confused even after finishing a while ago.
I think this could be a good concept if it had more pages. The page length worked against the storyline in this case. More length would have allowed the story to develop a bit more in my opinion.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc!
--------
pre-read: just going to pop this on my cr since it's short. 🤭
Yeah, this wasn't my favorite. I'm sorry, but I'm super confused even after finishing a while ago.
I think this could be a good concept if it had more pages. The page length worked against the storyline in this case. More length would have allowed the story to develop a bit more in my opinion.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc!
--------
pre-read: just going to pop this on my cr since it's short. 🤭
June 13, 2026
First and foremost….may I just say, Ellery is a beautiful name. It just fit her character so well🤌🏻🫰🏻
I don’t know how to explain it, but my heart hurt throughout this book. There was just a deepness to the story that hit into the center of my heart. I’m not even sure why, cause it wasn’t even sad😭
Overall, this was a good story. With it being a novella, it surprisingly had depth to it.
I was disappointed with the ending if I’m being honest though. It threw some unnecessary stuff in the book that could have 100% been left out. The ending definitely had me bumping some stars off.
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 —> 🌶️
𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠—> yes (minimal)
(𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩…𝐭𝐡𝐞re 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞…𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫)
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ♡ ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧s 𝘾𝙤𝙥𝙮:) 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣!
June 24, 2026
3.5/5
Three of Hearts takes place over the span of an academic school year. It follows Ellery, a California native, who is attending college in the East Coast. As with any freshman away to college, she feels lonely and a bit homesick. Everything changes when Camp and Danny approach her and they form a unique, inseparable friendship. As the story progresses, we read about their friendship dynamic changes and evolves into something more.
Overall, it was a quick and entertaining read; it can be easily read in one sitting.
Thank you Amazon Original Stories for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Three of Hearts takes place over the span of an academic school year. It follows Ellery, a California native, who is attending college in the East Coast. As with any freshman away to college, she feels lonely and a bit homesick. Everything changes when Camp and Danny approach her and they form a unique, inseparable friendship. As the story progresses, we read about their friendship dynamic changes and evolves into something more.
Overall, it was a quick and entertaining read; it can be easily read in one sitting.
Thank you Amazon Original Stories for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was my first story by Katie Cotugno and I liked it! All the elements that were brought up in the beginning of this novella really intrigued me, although most of them remained a little surface level till the end so that I couldn’t *fully* get into the story and wasn’t entirely satisfied when it ended. And I do have to admit that the ending confused me a little – don’t know if that’s just me but I’m not entirely sure how the relationship between our three characters was resolved in the end. Nevertheless, I did enjoy my time reading Three of Hearts!
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!
June 10, 2026
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
This was a novella that follows Ellery and her new college friends, Camp and Danny. I was actually enjoying this towards the beginning. Things were flowing quite nicely and the little found family they had was cute, until romance entered the picture. The love triangle felt very sudden to me and I just didn’t feel any chemistry between them in that aspect. Camp was the only character that I felt had any depth since we got information about his background. The writing was pretty good, but I just wasn’t a big fan of the novella itself.
This was a novella that follows Ellery and her new college friends, Camp and Danny. I was actually enjoying this towards the beginning. Things were flowing quite nicely and the little found family they had was cute, until romance entered the picture. The love triangle felt very sudden to me and I just didn’t feel any chemistry between them in that aspect. Camp was the only character that I felt had any depth since we got information about his background. The writing was pretty good, but I just wasn’t a big fan of the novella itself.
June 27, 2026
A clever short story that shows what can happen when you open yourself to new experiences....
June 15, 2026
I love Katie Cotugno and this story is really cute. I read it and then the next day I read it again. I love the nuance of the characters and how so much is said with so little.
This story follows college freshmen Ellery, who is homesick her freshman year when she meets roommates Camp and Danny, who quickly become her best friends, or maybe more? And… what exactly IS Camp and Danny’s relationship?
This is a college story that speaks to complicated friendships and discovering identity. I really enjoyed it! Thanks Amazon for the ARC.
This story follows college freshmen Ellery, who is homesick her freshman year when she meets roommates Camp and Danny, who quickly become her best friends, or maybe more? And… what exactly IS Camp and Danny’s relationship?
This is a college story that speaks to complicated friendships and discovering identity. I really enjoyed it! Thanks Amazon for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Of the stories I've read so far from The Edge of Everything collection, this was probably the one I connected with the least.
Not because the themes didn't work, but because the story felt a bit unbalanced to me.
The first half was actually pretty promising. I enjoyed getting to know Ellery, seeing her struggle with being far from home for the first time, and learning about her interest in drawing. The whole "new college student trying to find her place in a completely new environment" aspect felt realistic and relatable.
Then Camp and Danny enter the picture.
I thought Camp was by far the most developed character of the three. By the end, I felt like I had a decent understanding of who he was, while Danny remained much more of a mystery. Because of that, some of the emotional dynamics didn't land quite as strongly for me as they probably could have.
The story explores friendship, self-discovery and that awkward period of trying to figure out who you are once you leave home. Those themes worked well overall, but the second half felt rushed compared to the setup, and I found myself wishing there had been a little more time to develop the relationships.
Overall, still an enjoyable coming-of-age story, but probably not my favorite from the collection.
⭐ 3–3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.
https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...
Not because the themes didn't work, but because the story felt a bit unbalanced to me.
The first half was actually pretty promising. I enjoyed getting to know Ellery, seeing her struggle with being far from home for the first time, and learning about her interest in drawing. The whole "new college student trying to find her place in a completely new environment" aspect felt realistic and relatable.
Then Camp and Danny enter the picture.
I thought Camp was by far the most developed character of the three. By the end, I felt like I had a decent understanding of who he was, while Danny remained much more of a mystery. Because of that, some of the emotional dynamics didn't land quite as strongly for me as they probably could have.
The story explores friendship, self-discovery and that awkward period of trying to figure out who you are once you leave home. Those themes worked well overall, but the second half felt rushed compared to the setup, and I found myself wishing there had been a little more time to develop the relationships.
Overall, still an enjoyable coming-of-age story, but probably not my favorite from the collection.
⭐ 3–3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.
https://turnthepagewithana.blogspot.c...
June 15, 2026
I liked the premise of this one, but the short length made it hard for the story to reach its full potential. The friendships and changing relationships had some interesting ideas behind them, but everything moved a little too quickly for me.
A longer version would have given the characters more room to grow and made the emotional moments land better.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A longer version would have given the characters more room to grow and made the emotional moments land better.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read
June 18, 2026another short story that i binged and i enjoyed how the narration was portrayed! this one was focused on various elements such as friendship and self reflection and i enjoyed it but i think that the second part needed more time because the first part was more cohesive!
a lot of thanks to netgalley and brilliance publishing for the alc of this story in exchange for my honest opinion!
a lot of thanks to netgalley and brilliance publishing for the alc of this story in exchange for my honest opinion!
June 17, 2026
And the point of this was? 😵💫
I love novellas that can introduce us to characters, give us a good little plot, some depth of the characters and have it mean something. To me, this novellas had none of it.
It’s supposed to be this coming of age story but it lacked so much depth that I didn’t care about any of the characters. One minute they’re friends, she dates one of them, there a ménage à trois (???) and that’s it? She stops speaking to them?! I…I’m just so confused what the purpose of this novella even was. Thank goodness it was short or I would be throwing my kindle for wasting my time. The writing left a lot to be desired as it felt choppy and there was no fluidity between the seasons.
I’m sure someone will enjoy this novella. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and Katie Cotugno for eARC!
I love novellas that can introduce us to characters, give us a good little plot, some depth of the characters and have it mean something. To me, this novellas had none of it.
It’s supposed to be this coming of age story but it lacked so much depth that I didn’t care about any of the characters. One minute they’re friends, she dates one of them, there a ménage à trois (???) and that’s it? She stops speaking to them?! I…I’m just so confused what the purpose of this novella even was. Thank goodness it was short or I would be throwing my kindle for wasting my time. The writing left a lot to be desired as it felt choppy and there was no fluidity between the seasons.
I’m sure someone will enjoy this novella. Unfortunately it wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and Katie Cotugno for eARC!
June 25, 2026
Love triangle...ish?
But they all like each other..kinda?
The story has great potential as a novel. I'd love to read about polyamorous relationships, or confusing relationships, whatever this book was about lol.
The ending was confusing? I dont know. Not enough has been explored and said, but it's thought provoking for sure. This is a small story about three friends who speak less with words but more with their eyes.
For some reason, I felt a lot of pain for the protagonist, Ellery. But in the ending, she makes friends, so that's...good I guess.
But they all like each other..kinda?
The story has great potential as a novel. I'd love to read about polyamorous relationships, or confusing relationships, whatever this book was about lol.
The ending was confusing? I dont know. Not enough has been explored and said, but it's thought provoking for sure. This is a small story about three friends who speak less with words but more with their eyes.
For some reason, I felt a lot of pain for the protagonist, Ellery. But in the ending, she makes friends, so that's...good I guess.
June 17, 2026
I did not connect with this story much and I was a little confused throughout, but at the end it started to make more sense. I think this story just needed to be longer to fully get the idea across. I loved the characters name and I did enjoy the concept, but I think it just fell a little flat for me.
Thank you NetGalley, Brilliance Publishing, and Katie Cotungo for letting me listen to the audio of this book!
Thank you NetGalley, Brilliance Publishing, and Katie Cotungo for letting me listen to the audio of this book!
June 8, 2026
Cute read.
Well written, the story flowed nicely. It did feel a bit unbalanced at times in terms of pacing and focus, but was an easy to read and surprisingly heartwarming story.
I received an ARC of this book (thanks!) and these are my own opinions.
Well written, the story flowed nicely. It did feel a bit unbalanced at times in terms of pacing and focus, but was an easy to read and surprisingly heartwarming story.
I received an ARC of this book (thanks!) and these are my own opinions.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Three of Hearts feels like the literary equivalent of meeting three fascinating people at a party, getting deeply invested in their drama for forty-five minutes, and then having the host turn the lights on and tell everyone to leave before anybody explains what the hell is actually going on.
Ellery arrives at college homesick, lonely, and completely untethered, which honestly felt like one of the strongest parts of the story. Katie Cotugno absolutely nails that specific freshman-year feeling where everyone else seems to have received a handbook on how to be a person and you're sitting in the dining hall wondering if transferring home is a valid life plan. Then Camp and Danny swoop in, adopt her into their little orbit, and suddenly we've got a trio. And listen, I was in. I bought a ticket. I sat down. I ordered mozzarella sticks.
Camp ended up carrying about 78% of my emotional investment in this story. Every time he showed up with another layer of family baggage, I was like yes, tell me everything. Meanwhile Danny remained so mysterious that if you told me he was actually three raccoons in a college sweatshirt, I'd have had no evidence to argue with you.
The dynamic between the three of them is obviously supposed to be messy, complicated, and full of feelings nobody quite knows how to name yet. Which, to be fair, is very college. Eighteen-year-olds have never once encountered a situation they couldn't accidentally make weirder, and this trio approaches feelings the way people approach IKEA furniture without the instructions. Friendship chemistry? Sure. I bought that. They felt believable as three people clinging to each other while figuring out who they wanted to be. The romance felt like everyone else got the group text announcing the chemistry and somehow I was left off the chain. I kept waiting for that moment where I understood why these people couldn't stay away from each other, and instead I mostly felt like I was watching three attractive freshmen make increasingly complicated decisions between classes.
What frustrated me is that the setup is genuinely intriguing. Ellery questioning what Camp and Danny mean to each other, what they mean to her, and what happens when friendship and attraction start bleeding together is exactly the kind of messy coming-of-age material I usually eat up. The problem is that every time the story got close to digging into something interesting, it remembered it was a novella and hit the gas.
By the end, I felt like somebody hit fast-forward at exactly the moment I needed the story to sit down and explain itself. We go from "interesting emotional development" to "credits rolling" with the confidence of a Netflix show that already got renewed for another season. Things happen. Then bigger things happen. Then a thing happens that absolutely should have triggered at least one long conversation, and instead the story sort of shrugs, puts on its coat, and heads for the door.
And that's really where the book lost me. Not because I needed every question answered, but because I wanted somebody, anybody, to react to what had just happened. The story spends so much time building toward emotional complications and then seems weirdly uninterested in unpacking them. I wasn't angry when it ended. I was mostly standing there holding a clipboard full of unanswered questions.
That said, Dominique Salvacion does a lot of heavy lifting with the audiobook. She captures Ellery's uncertainty and vulnerability really well, and her performance gave the characters more warmth than I think I would've felt reading it on the page alone. There were moments where the narration had me leaning forward thinking, okay, maybe we're about to get somewhere emotionally devastating. Sometimes we did. Sometimes the story just wandered off instead.
What stuck with me most wasn't the romance. It was that ache of being young and away from home and desperately wanting connection. That feeling of finding people who make a strange place feel a little less strange. Somewhere in an alternate universe there's a 350-page version of this book and I'm obsessed with it. I'm texting people about it. I'm defending terrible decisions made by fictional college students. I'm making it everybody else's problem.
Unfortunately, this version feels like it arrived just as the good mess was getting started. I landed at about 2.5 stars. Not terrible, not memorable, just a story that kept pointing at fascinating emotional chaos and then refusing to elaborate.
Huge thanks to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for the ALC, and extra thanks to Dominique Salvacion, who did such a good job narrating that she almost convinced me there were answers hiding somewhere in the parts that left me confused.
Ellery arrives at college homesick, lonely, and completely untethered, which honestly felt like one of the strongest parts of the story. Katie Cotugno absolutely nails that specific freshman-year feeling where everyone else seems to have received a handbook on how to be a person and you're sitting in the dining hall wondering if transferring home is a valid life plan. Then Camp and Danny swoop in, adopt her into their little orbit, and suddenly we've got a trio. And listen, I was in. I bought a ticket. I sat down. I ordered mozzarella sticks.
Camp ended up carrying about 78% of my emotional investment in this story. Every time he showed up with another layer of family baggage, I was like yes, tell me everything. Meanwhile Danny remained so mysterious that if you told me he was actually three raccoons in a college sweatshirt, I'd have had no evidence to argue with you.
The dynamic between the three of them is obviously supposed to be messy, complicated, and full of feelings nobody quite knows how to name yet. Which, to be fair, is very college. Eighteen-year-olds have never once encountered a situation they couldn't accidentally make weirder, and this trio approaches feelings the way people approach IKEA furniture without the instructions. Friendship chemistry? Sure. I bought that. They felt believable as three people clinging to each other while figuring out who they wanted to be. The romance felt like everyone else got the group text announcing the chemistry and somehow I was left off the chain. I kept waiting for that moment where I understood why these people couldn't stay away from each other, and instead I mostly felt like I was watching three attractive freshmen make increasingly complicated decisions between classes.
What frustrated me is that the setup is genuinely intriguing. Ellery questioning what Camp and Danny mean to each other, what they mean to her, and what happens when friendship and attraction start bleeding together is exactly the kind of messy coming-of-age material I usually eat up. The problem is that every time the story got close to digging into something interesting, it remembered it was a novella and hit the gas.
By the end, I felt like somebody hit fast-forward at exactly the moment I needed the story to sit down and explain itself. We go from "interesting emotional development" to "credits rolling" with the confidence of a Netflix show that already got renewed for another season. Things happen. Then bigger things happen. Then a thing happens that absolutely should have triggered at least one long conversation, and instead the story sort of shrugs, puts on its coat, and heads for the door.
And that's really where the book lost me. Not because I needed every question answered, but because I wanted somebody, anybody, to react to what had just happened. The story spends so much time building toward emotional complications and then seems weirdly uninterested in unpacking them. I wasn't angry when it ended. I was mostly standing there holding a clipboard full of unanswered questions.
That said, Dominique Salvacion does a lot of heavy lifting with the audiobook. She captures Ellery's uncertainty and vulnerability really well, and her performance gave the characters more warmth than I think I would've felt reading it on the page alone. There were moments where the narration had me leaning forward thinking, okay, maybe we're about to get somewhere emotionally devastating. Sometimes we did. Sometimes the story just wandered off instead.
What stuck with me most wasn't the romance. It was that ache of being young and away from home and desperately wanting connection. That feeling of finding people who make a strange place feel a little less strange. Somewhere in an alternate universe there's a 350-page version of this book and I'm obsessed with it. I'm texting people about it. I'm defending terrible decisions made by fictional college students. I'm making it everybody else's problem.
Unfortunately, this version feels like it arrived just as the good mess was getting started. I landed at about 2.5 stars. Not terrible, not memorable, just a story that kept pointing at fascinating emotional chaos and then refusing to elaborate.
Huge thanks to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for the ALC, and extra thanks to Dominique Salvacion, who did such a good job narrating that she almost convinced me there were answers hiding somewhere in the parts that left me confused.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
It was mostly the cover and the title that caught my eye at first, then I read the blurb and decided that it sounds like a good summer read.
That saying... unfortunately I did not like it, at all. I couldn't really connect with the characters and I feel like everything was so rushed in an already short novel, that it just ended up bland, without any real depth. Maybe it would have been a lot better, if it was a full-length book and we had time for any build-up between the three.
I'm not sure what went wrong, since at first I was enjoying the story, but around the middle (maybe a bit earlier, when the romance first came into the picture?) I got a bit confused, lost the plot completely and just never got back on the track. What happened in the novella itself at a certain point didn't help with that either (about that in a second).
Now, I feel like I need to adress the part that icked me the most and is probably the very reason I decided to go with one star instead of two:
It was mostly the cover and the title that caught my eye at first, then I read the blurb and decided that it sounds like a good summer read.
That saying... unfortunately I did not like it, at all. I couldn't really connect with the characters and I feel like everything was so rushed in an already short novel, that it just ended up bland, without any real depth. Maybe it would have been a lot better, if it was a full-length book and we had time for any build-up between the three.
I'm not sure what went wrong, since at first I was enjoying the story, but around the middle (maybe a bit earlier, when the romance first came into the picture?) I got a bit confused, lost the plot completely and just never got back on the track. What happened in the novella itself at a certain point didn't help with that either (about that in a second).
Now, I feel like I need to adress the part that icked me the most and is probably the very reason I decided to go with one star instead of two:
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is an easy, immersive, relatable coming of age story that I think will be appealing to some, but I felt very middling about it.
The story itself follows a highly relatable college freshman girl (Ellery) whose feeling out of place and homesick. I felt that aspect of her journey was impeccable and highly relatable. Things start to change as she meets two roommate boys, Danny and Camp. The overall idea is a bit of friendship and a bit of a love triangle.
The love triangle itself felt out of place. Ellery calls out her assumptions about the boys early yet I don't really get those vibes. I guess they seem a little close, but having been the girl who hung out with mostly boys at that age I didn't really feel their behavior was all that our of place. There are a few clear, obvious moments of longing but they didn't feel as obvious as the characters seemed to feel all the time. Her difficult relationship with her roommate was also a bit odd and felt like a caricature of a girl who can't have girl friends.
Camp's story was the most engaging and heartbreaking part of this whole thing, which was beautifully written. Danny I felt didn't feel as well rounded as the other two.
Which might all contribute to the fact that made me feel much sadder than I think the intention was. Some of the catharsis or growth moments felt...less satisfying because it felt a little forceful and ultimately I think there were aspects to explore in greater depth that were more glossed over or sacrificed all together.
I was really vibing with it at the start but, perhaps due in part to the length, it unraveled pretty quickly for me.
I do think some readers will enjoy this and get something out of Ellery's journey, but it was such a miss for me that it's hard to be more specific. That being said, overall it is well written and I do think perhaps it just wasn't meant for me as a reader.
I did read this as an ARC from NetGalley and appreciate the opportunity and I am interested in the other works from Cotugno so that's saying something!
The story itself follows a highly relatable college freshman girl (Ellery) whose feeling out of place and homesick. I felt that aspect of her journey was impeccable and highly relatable. Things start to change as she meets two roommate boys, Danny and Camp. The overall idea is a bit of friendship and a bit of a love triangle.
The love triangle itself felt out of place. Ellery calls out her assumptions about the boys early yet I don't really get those vibes. I guess they seem a little close, but having been the girl who hung out with mostly boys at that age I didn't really feel their behavior was all that our of place. There are a few clear, obvious moments of longing but they didn't feel as obvious as the characters seemed to feel all the time. Her difficult relationship with her roommate was also a bit odd and felt like a caricature of a girl who can't have girl friends.
Camp's story was the most engaging and heartbreaking part of this whole thing, which was beautifully written. Danny I felt didn't feel as well rounded as the other two.
Which might all contribute to the fact that made me feel much sadder than I think the intention was. Some of the catharsis or growth moments felt...less satisfying because it felt a little forceful and ultimately I think there were aspects to explore in greater depth that were more glossed over or sacrificed all together.
I was really vibing with it at the start but, perhaps due in part to the length, it unraveled pretty quickly for me.
I do think some readers will enjoy this and get something out of Ellery's journey, but it was such a miss for me that it's hard to be more specific. That being said, overall it is well written and I do think perhaps it just wasn't meant for me as a reader.
I did read this as an ARC from NetGalley and appreciate the opportunity and I am interested in the other works from Cotugno so that's saying something!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
1.75 ⭐️
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ TL;DR: Uhh…I wasn’t expecting that…But then again, I kinda did. 😅
〖 ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: Circles by Post Malone 〗
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:04 ───ㅇ───── 3:35
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ “Three college friends wrestle with a complicated dynamic in a witty and romantic coming-of-age short story about first love and self-discovery…”
Well, I wouldn’t exactly call this witty or romantic, but it was definitely something else, hehe. That’s for sure.
As the above sentence states, we have three college friends: Ellery, Camp, and Danny. Ellery was a loner at first until Camp and Danny magically appeared at her table and welcomed her into their circle. They quickly become close friends, and they spend the rest of the year navigating feelings, family, and their relationship.
I really wish they had navigated it some more because the only feeling I was experiencing when I finished this short story was, uh, confusion. Lots and lots of confusion because wtf. Where does this leave them? You can’t just do something like that, not explore it, and then end the story like nothing ever freaking happened because A LOT happened! Danny was a complete mystery, Ellery was…well, Ellery, and I wanted to know more about Camp and his daddy issues because that kept me intrigued for a good minute.
But no. It just…ended. I think this would have been better if it were a full-length novel. There were just too many things going on that needed to be discussed, explored, and resolved in order to satisfy my curiosity.
I did enjoy some of the writing and the story, but the only character I actually kinda liked was Camp, and that’s because he was the only one we really got to know. Everyone else was a mystery to me, and I didn’t really care for them or what they did because I knew little to nothing about them.
Overall, this is my least favorite of the series, but I didn’t hate it. ❤
♡ Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own. ♡
❗Content Warnings❗
Swearing: A little
Spice: Kissing, talk of sex, & possible closed-door scene (🌶🌶/5)
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ TL;DR: Uhh…I wasn’t expecting that…But then again, I kinda did. 😅
〖 ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: Circles by Post Malone 〗
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:04 ───ㅇ───── 3:35
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ “Three college friends wrestle with a complicated dynamic in a witty and romantic coming-of-age short story about first love and self-discovery…”
Well, I wouldn’t exactly call this witty or romantic, but it was definitely something else, hehe. That’s for sure.
As the above sentence states, we have three college friends: Ellery, Camp, and Danny. Ellery was a loner at first until Camp and Danny magically appeared at her table and welcomed her into their circle. They quickly become close friends, and they spend the rest of the year navigating feelings, family, and their relationship.
I really wish they had navigated it some more because the only feeling I was experiencing when I finished this short story was, uh, confusion. Lots and lots of confusion because wtf. Where does this leave them? You can’t just do something like that, not explore it, and then end the story like nothing ever freaking happened because A LOT happened! Danny was a complete mystery, Ellery was…well, Ellery, and I wanted to know more about Camp and his daddy issues because that kept me intrigued for a good minute.
But no. It just…ended. I think this would have been better if it were a full-length novel. There were just too many things going on that needed to be discussed, explored, and resolved in order to satisfy my curiosity.
I did enjoy some of the writing and the story, but the only character I actually kinda liked was Camp, and that’s because he was the only one we really got to know. Everyone else was a mystery to me, and I didn’t really care for them or what they did because I knew little to nothing about them.
Overall, this is my least favorite of the series, but I didn’t hate it. ❤
♡ Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own. ♡
❗Content Warnings❗
Swearing: A little
Spice: Kissing, talk of sex, & possible closed-door scene (🌶🌶/5)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
🚨 SPOILER ALERT: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I am giving Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno an absolute 5-star review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is another cute short story/novella in the Amazon Original Stories series, The Edge of Everything. It is an incredibly refreshing, emotionally mature, and perfectly packaged contemporary story that is a total must-add for your Kindle library.
ARC Disclosure: Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an early digital review copy (eARC). All thoughts and reflections shared here are entirely my own.
The Review
Three of Hearts delivers a beautifully nuanced contemporary narrative that explores the intricate boundaries of friendship, love, and the unexpected ways people change each other's lives. Set within the broader framework of The Edge of Everything collection, the story dives into a unique dynamic where the arrival of a new person fundamentally shifts a pre-existing balance. Katie Cotugno navigates this delicate setup with incredible emotional intelligence, avoiding typical dramatic tropes and instead focusing on real communication, personal growth, and the courage it takes to lay everything out in the open.
The Good
I absolutely loved Camp and Danny, and how they needed Ellery in their lives and how she changed things for the better! The way their connection unfolds feels entirely necessary and beautifully constructive. I loved how mature they all were through the whole thing—realising, coming to terms... all of it. Seeing young characters handle complex emotional situations with such genuine maturity is deeply satisfying.
And massive SPOILER ALERT here: the ending seems to point at them getting together and having a true friendship/relationship now that everything is out in the open. I liked that it wouldn't have felt right to have them end up separated. It brings a perfect, beautifully earned sense of closure to their journey.
The Not So Good
Absolutely nothing! For such a short novella format, the emotional arc is incredibly complete, leaving you fully satisfied with how the relationships settle
I am giving Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno an absolute 5-star review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is another cute short story/novella in the Amazon Original Stories series, The Edge of Everything. It is an incredibly refreshing, emotionally mature, and perfectly packaged contemporary story that is a total must-add for your Kindle library.
ARC Disclosure: Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing an early digital review copy (eARC). All thoughts and reflections shared here are entirely my own.
The Review
Three of Hearts delivers a beautifully nuanced contemporary narrative that explores the intricate boundaries of friendship, love, and the unexpected ways people change each other's lives. Set within the broader framework of The Edge of Everything collection, the story dives into a unique dynamic where the arrival of a new person fundamentally shifts a pre-existing balance. Katie Cotugno navigates this delicate setup with incredible emotional intelligence, avoiding typical dramatic tropes and instead focusing on real communication, personal growth, and the courage it takes to lay everything out in the open.
The Good
I absolutely loved Camp and Danny, and how they needed Ellery in their lives and how she changed things for the better! The way their connection unfolds feels entirely necessary and beautifully constructive. I loved how mature they all were through the whole thing—realising, coming to terms... all of it. Seeing young characters handle complex emotional situations with such genuine maturity is deeply satisfying.
And massive SPOILER ALERT here: the ending seems to point at them getting together and having a true friendship/relationship now that everything is out in the open. I liked that it wouldn't have felt right to have them end up separated. It brings a perfect, beautifully earned sense of closure to their journey.
The Not So Good
Absolutely nothing! For such a short novella format, the emotional arc is incredibly complete, leaving you fully satisfied with how the relationships settle
June 28, 2026
*Three of Hearts* was an emotional and engaging contemporary read that explored friendship, first love, and the complicated feelings that come with growing up. What I appreciated most was that the story didn't try to make every character perfect. Everyone made mistakes, acted impulsively at times, and had to deal with the consequences of their choices, which made them feel realistic.
Tess was an easy protagonist to connect with. I understood her confusion and the way she struggled to balance loyalty, love, and figuring out what she truly wanted. The love triangle was definitely messy, but it never felt like drama for the sake of drama. Instead, it highlighted how complicated relationships can become, especially when emotions are involved and no choice feels completely right.
Katie Cotugno's writing was one of my favorite parts of the book. It felt effortless and emotional without becoming overly dramatic, and I liked how the characters' thoughts and conversations flowed naturally. The story focused just as much on friendship and self-discovery as it did on romance, which gave it more depth than I expected.
The pacing was steady, and I found myself wanting to keep reading to see how everything would unfold. While there were moments where I wished the characters had communicated more openly, their decisions felt believable for teenagers trying to navigate difficult situations. The ending also felt fitting for the story, even if it wasn't perfectly wrapped up.
Overall, *Three of Hearts* is a heartfelt coming-of-age novel that captures both the excitement and the uncertainty of first love. It's a thoughtful read about relationships, growing up, and learning that people—and life—are often much more complicated than they seem. I'd definitely read more of Katie Cotugno's work after this one.
Tess was an easy protagonist to connect with. I understood her confusion and the way she struggled to balance loyalty, love, and figuring out what she truly wanted. The love triangle was definitely messy, but it never felt like drama for the sake of drama. Instead, it highlighted how complicated relationships can become, especially when emotions are involved and no choice feels completely right.
Katie Cotugno's writing was one of my favorite parts of the book. It felt effortless and emotional without becoming overly dramatic, and I liked how the characters' thoughts and conversations flowed naturally. The story focused just as much on friendship and self-discovery as it did on romance, which gave it more depth than I expected.
The pacing was steady, and I found myself wanting to keep reading to see how everything would unfold. While there were moments where I wished the characters had communicated more openly, their decisions felt believable for teenagers trying to navigate difficult situations. The ending also felt fitting for the story, even if it wasn't perfectly wrapped up.
Overall, *Three of Hearts* is a heartfelt coming-of-age novel that captures both the excitement and the uncertainty of first love. It's a thoughtful read about relationships, growing up, and learning that people—and life—are often much more complicated than they seem. I'd definitely read more of Katie Cotugno's work after this one.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Ellery is a homesick freshman at a picturesque college in New England when she meets the outgoing Camp and his roommate/BFF Danny. Ellery gets swept up into their friendship and suddenly she goes from being lonely and contemplating a transfer to spending 24/7 with the pair. Ellery winds up dating one of the boys, but her feelings for the other one are complicated. And Ellery can’t help but wonder if the two boys could be in love with each other too, which makes everything even MORE complicated between the trio.
TW for some kissing and a closed door scene of a more intimate nature. One of the characters has been sexually actively in the past and tries to take things further, but it’s not explicit and should be safe for any teenager that watches TV. There’s hints at a threesome. Also TW for an off screen slap that implies that one of the characters might suffer from physical abuse at the hands of a parent.
I did initially like this story and the way that the boys gave Ellery a found family when she desperately needed one. Their friendship was really sweet at first. I really liked the New England college setting too. I was rooting for this to be a polycule, but the ending kind of implies that Ellery has bigger and better things ahead of her and that the love story wasn’t her own, but the confidence boost their friendship gave her. I think if this had been longer the author could’ve cleared up some of the ambiguity. It kind of leaves you unsure how to feel about the whole plot and the characters, but it was well-written, and I did like that Ellery’s opening up even more at the end and still finding herself.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
TW for some kissing and a closed door scene of a more intimate nature. One of the characters has been sexually actively in the past and tries to take things further, but it’s not explicit and should be safe for any teenager that watches TV. There’s hints at a threesome. Also TW for an off screen slap that implies that one of the characters might suffer from physical abuse at the hands of a parent.
I did initially like this story and the way that the boys gave Ellery a found family when she desperately needed one. Their friendship was really sweet at first. I really liked the New England college setting too. I was rooting for this to be a polycule, but the ending kind of implies that Ellery has bigger and better things ahead of her and that the love story wasn’t her own, but the confidence boost their friendship gave her. I think if this had been longer the author could’ve cleared up some of the ambiguity. It kind of leaves you unsure how to feel about the whole plot and the characters, but it was well-written, and I did like that Ellery’s opening up even more at the end and still finding herself.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
College days. Young lives, making friends, learning new things and exploring relationships.
The key to this short story is the balance of these interactions, the warmth of the characters, unfinished and incomplete. As they find themselves the reader finds the story and its simple message of hope and connections.
Short stories are a great opportunity to find new authors and dip your toe into different genres.
“Katie Cotugno’s Three of Hearts is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery.”
This part of the book’s description might have put me off but for the desire to try something new.
I enjoyed my time on campus. The simplicity of the cast of characters against the backdrop of expectancy and academic success. The sense of loneliness and the drifting towards certain individuals, with an almost the blindness of everything else that the environment provided.
The writing captures this sense of isolation and inability to embrace your surroundings. The desire to run away and a general inability to work within a collective without the security or closeness of ‘friends’.
This is an Amazon Original Story that promotes a celebrated author and brings her work into the reach of readers like you and me.
In a bookshop you might not explore these shelves and the finger might not linger of the name among the Cs.
For me this is one of the advantages of the ebook reality of owning a kindle and having access to so much more.
I do still enjoy browsing a bookstore though.
The key to this short story is the balance of these interactions, the warmth of the characters, unfinished and incomplete. As they find themselves the reader finds the story and its simple message of hope and connections.
Short stories are a great opportunity to find new authors and dip your toe into different genres.
“Katie Cotugno’s Three of Hearts is part of The Edge of Everything, a collection of short coming-of-age stories of first love, messy choices, and self-discovery.”
This part of the book’s description might have put me off but for the desire to try something new.
I enjoyed my time on campus. The simplicity of the cast of characters against the backdrop of expectancy and academic success. The sense of loneliness and the drifting towards certain individuals, with an almost the blindness of everything else that the environment provided.
The writing captures this sense of isolation and inability to embrace your surroundings. The desire to run away and a general inability to work within a collective without the security or closeness of ‘friends’.
This is an Amazon Original Story that promotes a celebrated author and brings her work into the reach of readers like you and me.
In a bookshop you might not explore these shelves and the finger might not linger of the name among the Cs.
For me this is one of the advantages of the ebook reality of owning a kindle and having access to so much more.
I do still enjoy browsing a bookstore though.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc!!
uhhh.... this might have flew over my head a little bit. i see a lot of reviews talking about that awkward phase of finding out who you are, and i agree. this is very much that phase that ellery, danny and camp go through.
when the book first started i thought this was going to be a 'random girl meets rich/popular/tight knit friend group and gets absorbed into toxic friendship' but i was wrong. to me i felt like the story was more than just self discovery but also codependency. ellery putting her art aside, not making any friends other than camp and danny solidified that for me. i love that she found herself in the end either ways and did that card deck (love the cover!!) and won the harpswell award.
the relationship drama was a little more complicated. honestly in the end i'm still not 100% sure where the three stand in the end. at least for danny and camp. are they together now like ellery first thought? or did they all get it out of their system?? normally i am not very up for a surprise throuple, especially when two of them (camp and ellery) are already an established couple, but to me this made sense. there is a bond tying the three of them together.
i guess my main problem is that this book should have been way longer. maybe 500 pages if we really fleshed everyone out. i feel like in these 40 ish pages we only saw some of ellery, the family drama with camp and pretty much nothing at all for danny.
still i am intrigued, might read the author's other works.
uhhh.... this might have flew over my head a little bit. i see a lot of reviews talking about that awkward phase of finding out who you are, and i agree. this is very much that phase that ellery, danny and camp go through.
when the book first started i thought this was going to be a 'random girl meets rich/popular/tight knit friend group and gets absorbed into toxic friendship' but i was wrong. to me i felt like the story was more than just self discovery but also codependency. ellery putting her art aside, not making any friends other than camp and danny solidified that for me. i love that she found herself in the end either ways and did that card deck (love the cover!!) and won the harpswell award.
the relationship drama was a little more complicated. honestly in the end i'm still not 100% sure where the three stand in the end. at least for danny and camp. are they together now like ellery first thought? or did they all get it out of their system?? normally i am not very up for a surprise throuple, especially when two of them (camp and ellery) are already an established couple, but to me this made sense. there is a bond tying the three of them together.
i guess my main problem is that this book should have been way longer. maybe 500 pages if we really fleshed everyone out. i feel like in these 40 ish pages we only saw some of ellery, the family drama with camp and pretty much nothing at all for danny.
still i am intrigued, might read the author's other works.
June 27, 2026
This short story follows three college friends as they navigate a complicated dynamic in a witty, heartfelt coming-of-age story. Ellery, a freshman at a New England College, never imagined she would make friends after leaving her home in California. Homesick and ready to give up, she plans to return home until she meets Camp and Danny. Before long, the three of them become inseparable. But as Ellery begins questioning the relationship between Camp and Danny, she also finds herself confronting her own feelings while they all navigate friendship, first love, and everything they stand to lose.
I loved how naturally the three of them fit together. Their friendship felt messy, complicated, and incredibly genuine. Watching each of them grow was my favourite part of the story—Ellery realizing she was capable of finding her people, Camp discovering his own worth, and Danny finally facing the truth he had been avoiding. I especially loved how Ellery encouraged them to confront what she had quietly known all along, and how her love for drawing and painting became such an important part of the story.
The only thing that didn't work for me was the length. This story had all the potential to be a full-length novel, and I honestly think it would have been even more impactful with the extra space to let the characters and their relationships breathe.
Overall, it's a heartfelt read that I'd definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys coming-of-age stories filled with first love, complicated friendships, messy choices, and self-discovery.
I loved how naturally the three of them fit together. Their friendship felt messy, complicated, and incredibly genuine. Watching each of them grow was my favourite part of the story—Ellery realizing she was capable of finding her people, Camp discovering his own worth, and Danny finally facing the truth he had been avoiding. I especially loved how Ellery encouraged them to confront what she had quietly known all along, and how her love for drawing and painting became such an important part of the story.
The only thing that didn't work for me was the length. This story had all the potential to be a full-length novel, and I honestly think it would have been even more impactful with the extra space to let the characters and their relationships breathe.
Overall, it's a heartfelt read that I'd definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys coming-of-age stories filled with first love, complicated friendships, messy choices, and self-discovery.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is my first Katie Cotugno and I've heard of her YA contemporary novels before, but haven't yet had a chance to pick one of them up. And I think Three of Hearts is a good introduction. As the title implies, there are three characters whose life (and love) are intertwined with each other, and they must untangle the mess they created before it escalates. The story flows nicely; I could follow it with no hassle at all and put myself in Ellery's shoes (I, too, am bad with cold weather). At first I couldn't really picture how Camp and Danny look like, so I just went with their vibes, and it somehow worked.
While the story is engaging, I was confused with the conclusion. I don't mind an open ending, but I'd prefer it coming from characters I care about, and here Camp is the only one with a solid backstory. Ellery, being the main character, lore-drops here and there but it does little significance to her relationship with the boys, and Danny is just there, playing cards. A little more chemistry would make me more invested. The best thing here is Ellery's friendship with her roommate, Susie, and her character development regarding to that.
I might pick up her other works in the future for a daily dose of YA drama. Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC of this book.
While the story is engaging, I was confused with the conclusion. I don't mind an open ending, but I'd prefer it coming from characters I care about, and here Camp is the only one with a solid backstory. Ellery, being the main character, lore-drops here and there but it does little significance to her relationship with the boys, and Danny is just there, playing cards. A little more chemistry would make me more invested. The best thing here is Ellery's friendship with her roommate, Susie, and her character development regarding to that.
I might pick up her other works in the future for a daily dose of YA drama. Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC of this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"When they kissed, it was like they’d been doing it for lifetimes."
Unfortunately, Three of Hearts just didn't quite land for me. I understand that this is a story that can be deep and moving for some, and while I usually enjoy those types of reads, this felt as though it was trying and failing. Ellery herself is unlikeable and I felt her character had no direction? I'm not sure if I missed something big.
"In fact, she felt calmer and more sure than she’d been all year, like everything that had happened since she got here had been leading to this moment. Like they were never going to wind up anywhere but in this place."
I think most reading this knows where is is heading, however, after the events of *that night*, Ellery just goes her separate ways.. but weren't they best friends, a trio, a force to be reckoned with? But she herself says: "It was strangely easy not to see them anymore, Camp and Danny: She changed her routine by just a few minutes, and it was like they lifted out of her life entirely." I'm sorry, what? Needless to say.. it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
The audio was enjoyable and the narrator themselves did a good job, but maybe a duet narration would have worked better.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early eARC and ALC.
Unfortunately, Three of Hearts just didn't quite land for me. I understand that this is a story that can be deep and moving for some, and while I usually enjoy those types of reads, this felt as though it was trying and failing. Ellery herself is unlikeable and I felt her character had no direction? I'm not sure if I missed something big.
"In fact, she felt calmer and more sure than she’d been all year, like everything that had happened since she got here had been leading to this moment. Like they were never going to wind up anywhere but in this place."
I think most reading this knows where is is heading, however, after the events of *that night*, Ellery just goes her separate ways.. but weren't they best friends, a trio, a force to be reckoned with? But she herself says: "It was strangely easy not to see them anymore, Camp and Danny: She changed her routine by just a few minutes, and it was like they lifted out of her life entirely." I'm sorry, what? Needless to say.. it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.
The audio was enjoyable and the narrator themselves did a good job, but maybe a duet narration would have worked better.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early eARC and ALC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Three of Hearts by Katie Cotugno is a short story that is part of the Edge of Everything series from Amazon Originals. I read and loved Rainbow Rowell's contribution to the series, Julia at the Drive-In, so when I saw this was available, I scooped it up right away. There are currently four titles in the series, and they all have similar beautiful covers. These are young adult stories that are certain to entertain fans of the genre.
Ellery, Camp, and Danny are freshman honor students at a small New England college. Ellery is homesick for California, and Camp and Danny befriend her early in the first semester and mount a campaign to keep her at the college. Soon the trio are spending all their free time together, playing cards and hanging out. The friendship develops further, and enters a complicated romantic phase that involves all three of them. It's all very sweet and endearing. Another nice slice of life is the development of the relationship between Ellery and her roommate Susie, which added to my desire to read a full novel featuring these characters. I really enjoyed this lovely short story!
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Ellery, Camp, and Danny are freshman honor students at a small New England college. Ellery is homesick for California, and Camp and Danny befriend her early in the first semester and mount a campaign to keep her at the college. Soon the trio are spending all their free time together, playing cards and hanging out. The friendship develops further, and enters a complicated romantic phase that involves all three of them. It's all very sweet and endearing. Another nice slice of life is the development of the relationship between Ellery and her roommate Susie, which added to my desire to read a full novel featuring these characters. I really enjoyed this lovely short story!
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the e-ARC of this title to read and review. I'm always excited for these Amazon short story collections, because they usually spotlight amazing authors (a combo of new-to-me and big-name favorites.) I've read a lot of Katie Cotugno's works before and I particularly enjoy the author's YA voice, but this short piece was really different for her - and a bit confusing for me. I'm left wondering not only WHAT I just read, but also what the intended goal of the story was.
I think I may have liked this story better when I was in high school and college, when stories being a bit disjointed, "deep," and ambiguous more often invited me into the challenge. At my current stage of life, I don't find these traits moving or mysterious, I feel like they are almost continuity/editing issues. Here, we have a college story where all the freshmen are making new friends and finding out who they are - which is inherently interesting and perfect for coming-of-age stories. I don't know if any of these characters grew or changed in any way, because there were cuts between periods of time that didn't show any growth, just awkward couples and awkward friends sometimes ignoring each other.
I think I may have liked this story better when I was in high school and college, when stories being a bit disjointed, "deep," and ambiguous more often invited me into the challenge. At my current stage of life, I don't find these traits moving or mysterious, I feel like they are almost continuity/editing issues. Here, we have a college story where all the freshmen are making new friends and finding out who they are - which is inherently interesting and perfect for coming-of-age stories. I don't know if any of these characters grew or changed in any way, because there were cuts between periods of time that didn't show any growth, just awkward couples and awkward friends sometimes ignoring each other.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to Katie Cotugno, NetGalley and Amazon for the digital ARC of Three of Hearts, a short story from Amazon Original Stories' upcoming collection The Edge of Everything. Three of Hearts is about Ellery, a college freshman, who always has felt like she never fit in anywhere. Then she meets Camp and Danny, and they become fast friends, then more. This story was really interesting to me, as it was more introspective than I expected from an Amazon collection. I usually read all of the romance short story collections Amazon has put out, and I've been introduced to several new authors that I didn't know before reading their work featured in the collections. It surprised me how much feeling Katie Cotugno was able to pack into such a short story. It is about friendships, first relationships, and how uncomfortable it can be to be brave enough to throw yourself into big life changes. I really liked the story, and would love to read more from Katie Cotugno. Honestly, it would be really fun to read a sequel that is set a few years down the road that checks in on Ellery, Camp and Danny. Four stars!
June 11, 2026
Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy this one. Despite it only being 43 pages, I struggled just to get through it. I was honestly so bored. I usually don’t mind predictable, if it’s a good story with strong characters and development, but I knew exactly where it was going early on, and it was just flat and awkward the whole way. There was a lot of potential with these characters, but it never really seemed to get where it was going. Until of course it did, but we don’t even get to see how, they were just there. Perhaps it would’ve done better as a longer story? If we had more background, more time spent with the characters, specifically Camp (I actually wanted to know more about him!), when they were apart instead of just together? Because Ellery was beyond clueless, so you are forced to make a lot of assumptions as a reader. And even with some obvious hints, it’s tough to believe it when she doesn’t… I love a happy ending, but there was just a lot missing in regards to getting there… I may just not be the intended audience, and I’m truly hopeful it finds the readers it’s looking for, but it was not for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Katie Cotungo, for the eARC of Three of Hearts.
Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Katie Cotungo, for the eARC of Three of Hearts.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews