I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This is no way impacted in my view.
The Heartbreakers was definitely a cutesy YA contemporary read. Like most others, there were fun times, and also sad, angsty moments, which I think are characteristic of YA contemporary novels. In this book we meet Stella, a triplet, whose sister, Cara, has stage IV cancer. To try and deal with her own emotions through this ordeal, Stella turns to photography, which manages to change her life so much. She meets Oliver Perry, the lead singer of the band The Heartbreakers, and somehow becomes in charge of running the photo blog for the band's tour.
I really liked Stella's character. Though she was a triplet, all three of them had their own distinctive personality, and you could definitely see how much Stella cared for her siblings in the book. Her interactions with the other characters were really enjoyable too, especially with each of the 4 band members, as they all meant so,etching different to Stella. She really brought out the best in each of them, and the character developments of all were beautiful. The fact that Stella was able to overcome her guilt on leaving Cara to join the tour, and that she began looking to what she wanted for the future, was especially noteworthy, as I don't believe she could have done any of this at the beginning of the novel.
The romance was wonderful between Stella and Oliver. As I've already said, there were some angsty moments in the book, mainly to do with this romance, but all came out alright in the end. By the end of the book, Stella was like a fully fledged member of The Heartbreakers, and each band member cared for her just as much as she did for them - they were a proper family. Cara, Stella, and Drew were just what I'd imagine triplets would be like - all their own person, but would do just about anything for their sibling, as shown often in the book.
I've previously read Novak's other book, My Life with the Walter Boys, and this one was definitely my favourite of the two. I much preferred the setting and plot in The Heartbreakers, and I feel as if you can tell that this is a later book, as the writing has definitely become more developed and stronger.
Overall I enjoyed the plot of the story, though it was quite obvious what was going to happen next at times, and loved the characters. I'm quite looking forward to further books in this series.