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Heartbreaker
A woman's disappearance shakes up a strange northern town that is stuck in the 1980s, in a wildly imaginative novel that combines elements of
The Handmaid's Tale
,
Stranger Things
and
Twin Peaks
.
Why can't a woman be more than one person in a lifetime?
It's been months since Billie Jean Fontaine left her bedroom, trapped alone by grief. One night, out of the blue, she emerges and announces that she's going into town--but she never returns. Her husband and daughter undertake a frantic search for the beloved and beautiful Billie Jean. She was the only outsider ever to arrive in this strange town--a town founded decades ago by a charismatic cult leader, cut off from the world ever since, where the residents think the year is 1985, and listen to Whitesnake and Air Supply on their Walkmans. Now the residents wonder: has Billie Jean become the first person to leave, too?
At the core of the novel is the deeply moving relationship between Billie Jean and her daughter: who idolizes her mother, is mystified by her, is frustrated by her. Told from three unforgettable perspectives, Heartbreaker is the electrifying portrait of a woman who has risked everything for freedom and love, and the secrets she leaves in her wake.
Why can't a woman be more than one person in a lifetime?
It's been months since Billie Jean Fontaine left her bedroom, trapped alone by grief. One night, out of the blue, she emerges and announces that she's going into town--but she never returns. Her husband and daughter undertake a frantic search for the beloved and beautiful Billie Jean. She was the only outsider ever to arrive in this strange town--a town founded decades ago by a charismatic cult leader, cut off from the world ever since, where the residents think the year is 1985, and listen to Whitesnake and Air Supply on their Walkmans. Now the residents wonder: has Billie Jean become the first person to leave, too?
At the core of the novel is the deeply moving relationship between Billie Jean and her daughter: who idolizes her mother, is mystified by her, is frustrated by her. Told from three unforgettable perspectives, Heartbreaker is the electrifying portrait of a woman who has risked everything for freedom and love, and the secrets she leaves in her wake.
261 pages, Hardcover
First published August 21, 2018
148 people are currently reading
7626 people want to read
About the author
Claudia Dey
10 books265 followersClaudia Dey is a bestselling novelist, playwright and essayist.
Dey’s third novel, DAUGHTER, out now (FSG and Doubleday), is an Instant National Bestseller, named a New York Times Fall Fiction pick, an Elle Magazine Book of the Year, a Lit Hub Unmissable Fall Book, and A Globe and Mail Autumn Best read. Claudia and the novel have been featured in Interview Magazine, BOMB, Document Journal, Hazlitt, The Walrus, and more. The New York Times calls DAUGHTER, “A darkly glittering tale…beautiful and piercing.”
Heartbreaker, Dey’s second novel, was shortlisted for the Trillium Book and Northern Lit Awards, named a best book of the year by multiple publications, and is being adapted for television. Her debut, Stunt, was a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award. Her plays have been produced internationally, and nominated for the Governor General’s, Dora and Trillium Book Awards. Dey has worked as a horror film actress, a guest artist at the National Theatre School, and an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. Her fiction, interviews, and essays have appeared in The Paris Review (“Mothers As Makers of Death”), McSweeney’s, Lit Hub, Hazlitt, The Believer, and elsewhere.
Dey’s third novel, DAUGHTER, out now (FSG and Doubleday), is an Instant National Bestseller, named a New York Times Fall Fiction pick, an Elle Magazine Book of the Year, a Lit Hub Unmissable Fall Book, and A Globe and Mail Autumn Best read. Claudia and the novel have been featured in Interview Magazine, BOMB, Document Journal, Hazlitt, The Walrus, and more. The New York Times calls DAUGHTER, “A darkly glittering tale…beautiful and piercing.”
Heartbreaker, Dey’s second novel, was shortlisted for the Trillium Book and Northern Lit Awards, named a best book of the year by multiple publications, and is being adapted for television. Her debut, Stunt, was a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award. Her plays have been produced internationally, and nominated for the Governor General’s, Dora and Trillium Book Awards. Dey has worked as a horror film actress, a guest artist at the National Theatre School, and an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. Her fiction, interviews, and essays have appeared in The Paris Review (“Mothers As Makers of Death”), McSweeney’s, Lit Hub, Hazlitt, The Believer, and elsewhere.
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September 3, 2018Dnf at 20% There may be brilliance somewhere here, but if so I can't find it. Have no idea what I just read. Definitely not the book for me.
January 5, 2024
That was weird af.
Some parts were pure brilliance, some were dubious, some others I didn't get one word of, and some were intriguing.
The writing will not appeal to everybody, methinks. It can be too much but it can also be very, very powerful. The way Claudia Dey depicts what being a mother feels like is just breathtaking, in my humble opinion.
The plot, or at least, the chosen ending, was the one thing I didn't really buy. Like, hmmkay that's awkward. But does it matter? Does it take away the haunting sentences and peculiar atmosphere and all the dirty, the sad, the terrifying and the desperate hope overflowing from the pages?
Not really.
I didn't get everything. Fuck, during some paragraphs I was wondering if I had half a brain of if it was only written for some other species from another world, which would explain my headache and this feeling to miss on something.
But the good was oh so good.
Not what I expected at all, hard to rate, but it lingers. I've been thinking about Pony Darlene, The Heavy and Supernatural many times since I've finished it.
You may like it, you may hate it. But in any case, you'll think about it.
Some parts were pure brilliance, some were dubious, some others I didn't get one word of, and some were intriguing.
The writing will not appeal to everybody, methinks. It can be too much but it can also be very, very powerful. The way Claudia Dey depicts what being a mother feels like is just breathtaking, in my humble opinion.
The plot, or at least, the chosen ending, was the one thing I didn't really buy. Like, hmmkay that's awkward. But does it matter? Does it take away the haunting sentences and peculiar atmosphere and all the dirty, the sad, the terrifying and the desperate hope overflowing from the pages?
Not really.
I didn't get everything. Fuck, during some paragraphs I was wondering if I had half a brain of if it was only written for some other species from another world, which would explain my headache and this feeling to miss on something.
But the good was oh so good.
Not what I expected at all, hard to rate, but it lingers. I've been thinking about Pony Darlene, The Heavy and Supernatural many times since I've finished it.
You may like it, you may hate it. But in any case, you'll think about it.
July 28, 2024
2.5 🌟 stars
What can I say there was not much going on DNF@ 25%. You know when a book is not for you well this was it too full on.
What can I say there was not much going on DNF@ 25%. You know when a book is not for you well this was it too full on.
June 13, 2018
This book defies genre and logic in so many ways. I was under the spell of 1980's music references, the mysterious location we're never entirely sure about, and the cult-like community we enter.
Billie Jean Fontaine hasn't left her home in almost three months. She abruptly walks out without shoes or a coat on a freezing evening and takes off in the family truck. The community begins to whisper about her absence and though she arrived 17 years ago and became a part of the 'territory', she has remained the outsider.
Billie Jean's story unfolds for us through three surprising narrators. Her dramatic and often heartbreaking tale is woven into the electric atmosphere of the mysterious territory that is described with vague details that left me with so many questions! From the 1980s pop culture references to the bizarre traditions of the community, I was never sure what was truth and what was fantasy. A sci-fi drama/mystery/dystopia that I can only compare to an alternate reality version of My So-Called Life if it had taken place in a cult-like compound in the wilderness in the mid 80's and was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Heartbreaker crosses so many genres but never fits comfortably into one.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Billie Jean Fontaine hasn't left her home in almost three months. She abruptly walks out without shoes or a coat on a freezing evening and takes off in the family truck. The community begins to whisper about her absence and though she arrived 17 years ago and became a part of the 'territory', she has remained the outsider.
Billie Jean's story unfolds for us through three surprising narrators. Her dramatic and often heartbreaking tale is woven into the electric atmosphere of the mysterious territory that is described with vague details that left me with so many questions! From the 1980s pop culture references to the bizarre traditions of the community, I was never sure what was truth and what was fantasy. A sci-fi drama/mystery/dystopia that I can only compare to an alternate reality version of My So-Called Life if it had taken place in a cult-like compound in the wilderness in the mid 80's and was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Heartbreaker crosses so many genres but never fits comfortably into one.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 11, 2018
Quirky and different, Heartbreaker defies norms and logic and jumps across genres. Truthfully, even after having finished reading, I don't know what to make of it.
A strange cult, everything 1980s, weird traditions, three primary narrators being a girl, a dog and a boy - sure I was fascinated, but then it all got too weird and too confusing. I am not even sure I understood what the author was trying to convey in some parts. There's no definite timeline in the story and at times absolutely nothing made sense to me. The peculiar writing style, which I found intriguing at the beginning got so convoluted that I was genuinely struggling. I know it is supposed to be brilliant in some way, but I couldn't see it.
If it wasn't for my irritating habit of not being able to DNF a book, I would have abandoned it at the halfway mark. I can understand why some people would like this unconventionally written strange story, but it wasn't for me.
For more reviews visit my blog Booktimistic - Books, Outdoors & Optimism
** A free finished copy was provided by Random House. All opinions are my own**
A strange cult, everything 1980s, weird traditions, three primary narrators being a girl, a dog and a boy - sure I was fascinated, but then it all got too weird and too confusing. I am not even sure I understood what the author was trying to convey in some parts. There's no definite timeline in the story and at times absolutely nothing made sense to me. The peculiar writing style, which I found intriguing at the beginning got so convoluted that I was genuinely struggling. I know it is supposed to be brilliant in some way, but I couldn't see it.
If it wasn't for my irritating habit of not being able to DNF a book, I would have abandoned it at the halfway mark. I can understand why some people would like this unconventionally written strange story, but it wasn't for me.
For more reviews visit my blog Booktimistic - Books, Outdoors & Optimism
** A free finished copy was provided by Random House. All opinions are my own**
June 27, 2018
This book. THIS BOOK! I had no idea what I was in for when I started it. All I knew is that it was kind of a mystery set in the '80s...
Heartbreaker begins with teenager Pony Darlene ruminating on the disappearance and life of her mother, Billie Jean. We see life through Pony's eyes: her mysterious mother, her stoic father, the super-80s characters of the town...But the magic of this book isn't with the plot, per se, though that was as complex and expertly woven as a beautiful, colorful quilt...but with the storytelling itself. I have never read a book like this. Dey's voice is quirky, unique and, at times, confusing. I had to go back and read certain passages, peeling back the layers of what had just been said, but it was so worth the effort.
This book won't be for everyone. Doubtless, some will find it too strange, too weird, too out there. For me, though? One of my favorite books of the year. It was SO REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT. There's something seductive abut this kind of weirdness: it piques the interest, makes you feel like a voyeur into a setting so different it may as well be extraterrestrial (The Territory was a character itself), and then shows you how similar you are to these people. The love, the secrets, the thought processes...we all do this stuff. Or at least, we do and think things like them.
I know this review is rambling and vague, but it's because I don't want to give anything away. There were a few reveals...one I suspected, but I think it's because I was meant to, and it rose and crested like a wave. So good. The other was also suspected, and low-key. Heartbreaker is divided into three parts, and even that caught me off surprise. I don't want to ruin any surprises for anyone. This story's like mining for gold and finding thousands of diamonds. The end made me smile and tear up a little. I rooted hardcore for Pony, Supernatural, The Heavy and Billie Jean.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
Heartbreaker begins with teenager Pony Darlene ruminating on the disappearance and life of her mother, Billie Jean. We see life through Pony's eyes: her mysterious mother, her stoic father, the super-80s characters of the town...But the magic of this book isn't with the plot, per se, though that was as complex and expertly woven as a beautiful, colorful quilt...but with the storytelling itself. I have never read a book like this. Dey's voice is quirky, unique and, at times, confusing. I had to go back and read certain passages, peeling back the layers of what had just been said, but it was so worth the effort.
This book won't be for everyone. Doubtless, some will find it too strange, too weird, too out there. For me, though? One of my favorite books of the year. It was SO REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT. There's something seductive abut this kind of weirdness: it piques the interest, makes you feel like a voyeur into a setting so different it may as well be extraterrestrial (The Territory was a character itself), and then shows you how similar you are to these people. The love, the secrets, the thought processes...we all do this stuff. Or at least, we do and think things like them.
I know this review is rambling and vague, but it's because I don't want to give anything away. There were a few reveals...one I suspected, but I think it's because I was meant to, and it rose and crested like a wave. So good. The other was also suspected, and low-key. Heartbreaker is divided into three parts, and even that caught me off surprise. I don't want to ruin any surprises for anyone. This story's like mining for gold and finding thousands of diamonds. The end made me smile and tear up a little. I rooted hardcore for Pony, Supernatural, The Heavy and Billie Jean.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!
May 29, 2018
Between 2.5 and 3 stars
Wow, this was a difficult book to rate. If I'm completely honest there are more negatives than positives while I'm sitting here trying to collect my thoughts. But I did finish the book and at no time did I seriously contemplate giving up so it must have held my interest and desire to see how it turned out. So for that one seemingly tiny thing is the reason it's getting the 3 stars instead of lower.
What I didn't like~
* The dialogue was cheesy. I know this was supposed to be a cult trapped in the far Northwest who are stuck in the 80's but that is NOT the problem. It's the sentence structure and not being able to tell who said what a lot of times
* The book skipped around so much I had trouble keeping the timeline straight. From paragraph to paragraph within a section the timeline could change every single time. I had trouble keeping it all straight. (Maybe I didn't much care?)
* There was not enough focus on the cult like setting. I wanted to know more about the town and their customs. We did get a bit of that but it wasn't enough to conceive a clear picture.
However, I did like that interesting concept of the storyline. I thought it was fun to imagine a group of people essentially lost in the 80's. I just wish it had been more organized and more descriptive of the setting.
3* (2.5-3)/3.88
In compliance with FTC guidelines------I received this book free from a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The content of this review is not influenced by that fact. The feelings expressed are solely mine. I sincerely appreciate the chance to read and review this book.
Wow, this was a difficult book to rate. If I'm completely honest there are more negatives than positives while I'm sitting here trying to collect my thoughts. But I did finish the book and at no time did I seriously contemplate giving up so it must have held my interest and desire to see how it turned out. So for that one seemingly tiny thing is the reason it's getting the 3 stars instead of lower.
What I didn't like~
* The dialogue was cheesy. I know this was supposed to be a cult trapped in the far Northwest who are stuck in the 80's but that is NOT the problem. It's the sentence structure and not being able to tell who said what a lot of times
* The book skipped around so much I had trouble keeping the timeline straight. From paragraph to paragraph within a section the timeline could change every single time. I had trouble keeping it all straight. (Maybe I didn't much care?)
* There was not enough focus on the cult like setting. I wanted to know more about the town and their customs. We did get a bit of that but it wasn't enough to conceive a clear picture.
However, I did like that interesting concept of the storyline. I thought it was fun to imagine a group of people essentially lost in the 80's. I just wish it had been more organized and more descriptive of the setting.
3* (2.5-3)/3.88
In compliance with FTC guidelines------I received this book free from a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The content of this review is not influenced by that fact. The feelings expressed are solely mine. I sincerely appreciate the chance to read and review this book.
September 26, 2018
I've been recommending this book to anyone who will listen and prefaced each time with "but I couldn't stand the first 60-80 pages, I didn't get it."
How to explain....? This will be a frustrating read for many. For me the whole first part made me want to bail so hard but I was committed to reviewing it and I knew there had to be something I was missing— and boy was I right! The story is told 3 ways in 3 big chapters. First it follows 15yo Pony Darlene, a very strange girl making her own way in the cult of the North. Second, it switches to the POV of her mother’s dog (unnamed but incredibly loyal), which I thought would be worse than Pony’s disjointed thoughts but mostly addressed Billie Jean’s (Pony’s mother) past and I was so thankful for the insight. Third was from a young boy’s POV, Supernatural. He’s the guy all the girls crush on and the son of the one truck dealer in the territory. (Can’t say more without spoilers).
There were a few twists I was glad I stuck around for. This definitely felt like an instance of an author holding the answers close and playing a little bit of “I’m smarter than you, don’t you see?”, yet I also felt privileged to read it. I didn’t realize right away that the secluded territory in the upper reaches of Canada was a cult, but I guess by the end I’d made myself an honorary member and better understood their ways. It was a strange experience doing a full 180 from hating the book, ready to give a 1 or 2-star review, to hanging on to every word coming from a dog’s interior thoughts— but I’m impressed. Definitely interested in hearing from other readers who bailed or also made it through!
How to explain....? This will be a frustrating read for many. For me the whole first part made me want to bail so hard but I was committed to reviewing it and I knew there had to be something I was missing— and boy was I right! The story is told 3 ways in 3 big chapters. First it follows 15yo Pony Darlene, a very strange girl making her own way in the cult of the North. Second, it switches to the POV of her mother’s dog (unnamed but incredibly loyal), which I thought would be worse than Pony’s disjointed thoughts but mostly addressed Billie Jean’s (Pony’s mother) past and I was so thankful for the insight. Third was from a young boy’s POV, Supernatural. He’s the guy all the girls crush on and the son of the one truck dealer in the territory. (Can’t say more without spoilers).
There were a few twists I was glad I stuck around for. This definitely felt like an instance of an author holding the answers close and playing a little bit of “I’m smarter than you, don’t you see?”, yet I also felt privileged to read it. I didn’t realize right away that the secluded territory in the upper reaches of Canada was a cult, but I guess by the end I’d made myself an honorary member and better understood their ways. It was a strange experience doing a full 180 from hating the book, ready to give a 1 or 2-star review, to hanging on to every word coming from a dog’s interior thoughts— but I’m impressed. Definitely interested in hearing from other readers who bailed or also made it through!
November 6, 2018
This is a strange, ambitious book that partly succeeds in what it sets out to do, though not entirely.
Fifteen-year-old Pony’s mother disappears one day from the isolated, cult-like territory they call home. The book is split into three sections, each with its own narrator: Pony, the family dog, and a local teenage boy named Supernatural.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it all actually does come together and make much more sense than I anticipated, in spite of the weird setup and structure. There are secrets and mysteries at the heart of this community, and Pony’s family is at the center of them.
These secrets and mysteries unravel as the book progresses—culminating in Supernatural’s section; by far the most interesting—though there’s a lot of randomness to wade through before you get there.
Ultimately I appreciated this book as a whole much more than I enjoyed the experience of reading it.
Fifteen-year-old Pony’s mother disappears one day from the isolated, cult-like territory they call home. The book is split into three sections, each with its own narrator: Pony, the family dog, and a local teenage boy named Supernatural.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it all actually does come together and make much more sense than I anticipated, in spite of the weird setup and structure. There are secrets and mysteries at the heart of this community, and Pony’s family is at the center of them.
These secrets and mysteries unravel as the book progresses—culminating in Supernatural’s section; by far the most interesting—though there’s a lot of randomness to wade through before you get there.
Ultimately I appreciated this book as a whole much more than I enjoyed the experience of reading it.
July 22, 2018
This book was nothing like I expected to be, yet it was so much more. It is a bizarre little story, that focuses on the disappearance of Billie Jean Fontaine and is told from three perspectives: the girl, the dog, and the boy. Through these three perspectives, readers can piece together information about Billie’s life before the territory, her life in the territory, and the events leading up to her disappearance.
I was absolutely fascinated and captivated by the territory – which is the name of the area that this cult-like group of people inhabit. They have their own customs and rituals, and their own understandings of the world around them and their place in it. I would love to have an entirely separate book that just explores the cult, because I find it so intriguing.
The writing style of the book may be difficult at first, as it is abstract and jumps around a lot. But I think it is well worth the initial struggle. This book won’t be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of Heartbreaker in exchange for an honest review.
I was absolutely fascinated and captivated by the territory – which is the name of the area that this cult-like group of people inhabit. They have their own customs and rituals, and their own understandings of the world around them and their place in it. I would love to have an entirely separate book that just explores the cult, because I find it so intriguing.
The writing style of the book may be difficult at first, as it is abstract and jumps around a lot. But I think it is well worth the initial struggle. This book won’t be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of Heartbreaker in exchange for an honest review.
July 20, 2019
This book and I did not get along.....I found the writing disjointed, as it should be as the author is presenting the thoughts of the characters. However, I just kept bouncing off the text, and finding other things to do instead of continuing with this book. I'm sure there's something interesting within the text, but I just can't make myself find it.
August 21, 2018
Thank you to Random House for an ARC of Heart-Breaker by Claudia Dey in return for an honest review, embargoed until the publication date: August 21st, 2018
Heartbreaker is the most character driven book I have read, possibly ever. Here’s the kicker. One of the most essential characters is the setting of the book: The Territory. Turning the setting, remnants of an cult in the 1980s, down to one original member, into an essential character of the book is no easy task but Dey does it without skipping a beat. She does it by using the Territory to fill the spaces between heartbeats with a chilling frost that doesn’t let go and keeps you guessing until the end.
Three narrators. Three completely different voices that introduce you to each other, other main players and The Territory through unique lenses all their own that sometimes compliment, sometimes contradict and sometimes, you wish, could be held through a panel discussion because it would heal so many hurts.
First is, The Girl, Pony. The daughter of one missing mother, Billy Jean and her stoic father, “The Heav”. Pony is realistic, somber, wants more, wants out, had enough, has a plan, it has been too much, this is the reality of the territory mixed with bits of daydreams gone by from her mind, heartbreaks, and hopes she can’t keep away about her mom that keep you guessing, keep you wondering, turning the page for more because there are so many gaps and guesses in what she doesn’t know.
Second is The dog of Billie Jean, The Heav and Pony. At once bewildered at being left behind the night Billie Jean disappears, unnervingly certain in her knowledge of the Territory’s origins, prosperity and current state of existence, as well as the crypt keeper of everyone, and everything’s secrets. The dog has managed to be the only thing that has not made or kept any don’t ask, don’t tell vows that bloom throughout the territory. And the dog tells all… of course as you keep reading, you again find, it is through her lens and point of view, which means there is more to come from yet another lens that will shed more light through this intricately woven tapestry. And while she might know secrets of the past and more than most, she has no doesn’t know the one thing everyone is trying to figure out- where did Billy Jean disappear to that October evening?
Third is The Boy, Supernatural. The heartthrob of the territory. The boy every girl wants to marry. Mostly he expresses a lot of regret for mistakes he makes with relationships with his family. Throughout Pony and Supernatural’s telling of events there is a protective but distant acquaintance about them. As secrets unravel the Territory’s existence when Billie Jean disappears, and he learns how many secrets were kept from him, even more than the ones he regretted keeping from others, Supernatural starts finding a path to things that were always missing from his life, and filling holes in the lives of others.
Together, along with a cast of some charismatic, some helpless and hopeless and some broken they walk you through the Territory as if you just moved in or just got lost and wondered by, introducing you to all the locals... famous or infamous hoping to make it sound more enticing than predatory, hoping to keep you around. Truly there’s no keeping down that creepy void threatening to engulf you with a quickness that is telling you to run.
Dey toes the line between clues and madness that are deftly interwoven through flashbacks and current time throughout Heart-Breaker with the precision of a surgeon. Without close attention essential Easter Eggs can be dismissed as perception, mental delusion or just dismissed as off-handed comments that later come back to haunt you and the rest of the characters. Dey proves her talent for being sharp witted, sarcastic, and with a mind for pop-culture references. While singing the likes of Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen and Air Supply, you will root for these characters, even in their ugliest moments, right up to the last page reveal.
Heartbreaker is the most character driven book I have read, possibly ever. Here’s the kicker. One of the most essential characters is the setting of the book: The Territory. Turning the setting, remnants of an cult in the 1980s, down to one original member, into an essential character of the book is no easy task but Dey does it without skipping a beat. She does it by using the Territory to fill the spaces between heartbeats with a chilling frost that doesn’t let go and keeps you guessing until the end.
Three narrators. Three completely different voices that introduce you to each other, other main players and The Territory through unique lenses all their own that sometimes compliment, sometimes contradict and sometimes, you wish, could be held through a panel discussion because it would heal so many hurts.
First is, The Girl, Pony. The daughter of one missing mother, Billy Jean and her stoic father, “The Heav”. Pony is realistic, somber, wants more, wants out, had enough, has a plan, it has been too much, this is the reality of the territory mixed with bits of daydreams gone by from her mind, heartbreaks, and hopes she can’t keep away about her mom that keep you guessing, keep you wondering, turning the page for more because there are so many gaps and guesses in what she doesn’t know.
Second is The dog of Billie Jean, The Heav and Pony. At once bewildered at being left behind the night Billie Jean disappears, unnervingly certain in her knowledge of the Territory’s origins, prosperity and current state of existence, as well as the crypt keeper of everyone, and everything’s secrets. The dog has managed to be the only thing that has not made or kept any don’t ask, don’t tell vows that bloom throughout the territory. And the dog tells all… of course as you keep reading, you again find, it is through her lens and point of view, which means there is more to come from yet another lens that will shed more light through this intricately woven tapestry. And while she might know secrets of the past and more than most, she has no doesn’t know the one thing everyone is trying to figure out- where did Billy Jean disappear to that October evening?
Third is The Boy, Supernatural. The heartthrob of the territory. The boy every girl wants to marry. Mostly he expresses a lot of regret for mistakes he makes with relationships with his family. Throughout Pony and Supernatural’s telling of events there is a protective but distant acquaintance about them. As secrets unravel the Territory’s existence when Billie Jean disappears, and he learns how many secrets were kept from him, even more than the ones he regretted keeping from others, Supernatural starts finding a path to things that were always missing from his life, and filling holes in the lives of others.
Together, along with a cast of some charismatic, some helpless and hopeless and some broken they walk you through the Territory as if you just moved in or just got lost and wondered by, introducing you to all the locals... famous or infamous hoping to make it sound more enticing than predatory, hoping to keep you around. Truly there’s no keeping down that creepy void threatening to engulf you with a quickness that is telling you to run.
Dey toes the line between clues and madness that are deftly interwoven through flashbacks and current time throughout Heart-Breaker with the precision of a surgeon. Without close attention essential Easter Eggs can be dismissed as perception, mental delusion or just dismissed as off-handed comments that later come back to haunt you and the rest of the characters. Dey proves her talent for being sharp witted, sarcastic, and with a mind for pop-culture references. While singing the likes of Def Leppard, Bruce Springsteen and Air Supply, you will root for these characters, even in their ugliest moments, right up to the last page reveal.
September 22, 2018
This book was a shit-show from start to finish. The writing in “Heartbreaker” was so chaotic that I’m honestly not even sure what I just read. I thought this book was supposed to be Billie Jean Fontaine’s story about joining the cult and why she escaped but it ended up being about every boring character that surrounded her. I got the most information about Billie Jean from Part 2 of the novel (which was told from her dog’s perspective) but even then, Part 2 read like a letter written personally to Billie Jean and I’m not interested in reading a letter. Basically, this book was a letdown and not what I was expecting at all.
September 6, 2018
It's the mid-eighties. Pony Darlene lives in an isolated community, cut off from the wider world. She has only known her small patch of land, the 88 houses and their inhabitants. Hers is a community sprung from the remains of a cult, the Leader long gone. Kids and adults alike are bored; petty, addicted, caught up in their own strange dramas. The mines have closed and to survive the town has resorted to some drastic measures.... One night, Billie Jean Fontaine simply disappears, leaving her husband and daughter, Pony, behind. Told from three different perspectives -- Girl, Dog, and Boy -- Dey reveals the mystery piece by piece, slowly revealing the full, disturbing picture. It is a story about the search for one's self, the search for those in who you can find a home. The ending? Perfect. Weird, quirky, and original. This won't be everyone's favourite, but it was right up my alley.
July 17, 2018
It's hard to find a story that hasn't been done before, and this book, while borrowing themes from several other places, managed to capture me as a reader and weave something really intricate. I almost put the book down after the first few pages, admittedly, but then I re-read the synopsis and decided to keep at it... and I'm so glad I did. This story is told from three character perspectives, giving more of the central story in tiny bites as you go along, and showing you more of each narrating character as well.
This is one of those books that keeps you thinking about it when you're not reading it – even now, days after I've finished, my mind keeps going back to it! Kind of dark and depressing, but hey, personally right up my alley. :) The writing is really well done. I'd recommend it.
This is one of those books that keeps you thinking about it when you're not reading it – even now, days after I've finished, my mind keeps going back to it! Kind of dark and depressing, but hey, personally right up my alley. :) The writing is really well done. I'd recommend it.
October 12, 2018
So I’m not exactly sure what I just read but I know it didn’t completely work. Dey is brave and bold I’ll give her that, and more books should have sections narrated by a dog, but there were some structural and timeline issues I couldn’t overlook. It gets points for being like nothing else and the great 80s references.
July 12, 2019
I have a lot of feelings about this book. Largely, it seems either loved or hated, and it comes down to Dey’s style: a frantic, circular, carefully chaotic style that propels a narrative of trauma, poverty, isolation, and perseverance. Major complaints are that it’s hard to follow, it jumps around, and the dialogue is too unreal. These are all true, but they are also all exactly what I love in a book, so – at the level of storytelling, I loved Heartbreaker. For instance, this slice of wisdom from a dog:
“We are what we have lost, I countered. Here was a way of thinking we could tear apart together. Thinking that reminded us we were alive, and what an inconsistent experience that was proving to be. We are what we have lost, I offered again.”
I loved the vagueness of the Territory, of teenage blood being the Territory’s main export, of the nicknames, of everything life is forced to become in extreme isolation and at the mercy of a world that has largely forgotten them. But I also feel extremely sensitive to the fact that there are, right now, in Canada in 2019, extremely remote communities that are facing extreme poverty and isolation and, in the case of First Nations reserves and communities, have been largely forgotten by a government that forced them there in the first place. Still, one reviewer writes: “Readers are perhaps used to encountering an intentional community as outlandish as the one Dey describes, but in the form of a cult.” Is it so outlandish to imagine a community where milk costs $10 per carton, though? Have you visited Nunavut?
Dey’s bio states that she’s worked as a cook in lumber camps across Northern Ontario, and it feels to me that the conditions of Heartbreaker’s Territory are possibly drawn from–and likely exaggerated–her experience in those camps. Heartbreaker portrays a community that is only a moderately exaggerated version of life for many people in Canada (mostly Indigenous communities), but I don’t feel that’s acknowledged, either within the story or in the media surrounding it, and instead it’s further portrayed as outlandish with the Territory’s backstory: a cult drives as far North as they can to start a civilization. A choice, a lifestyle. A consequence of their own actions.
I was especially sensitive to the narratives of suicide in the book. Isolation and poverty lead to suicide, there’s no question about that. But it’s worked into the story as something shameful, something the community doesn’t talk about, something that just happens sometimes. I couldn’t help but think of Wapekeka First Nation, which just a few years ago had to declare a state of emergency over a wave of youth suicides in their community. Including a sub-plot that revolves around a small group of suicides in an isolated Northern community is not outlandish, is not unrealistic, is not dystopic; portraying suicide as just something that happens here is, in my mind, horrific, and perpetuates the notion that life is sometimes just unlivable, and there’s nothing we can really do about it.
I felt like this book had the potential to be a striking and powerful force of literature. I think maybe it is a striking and powerful force of literature. It is so heavy, it is so dark in the pit of your stomach, it is cutting out a beating heart and asking you to hold it, feel it beat, feel that way life can crush you in its small and large unkindnesses. I fell in love with Dey’s writing. I am a sucker for writing that feels like the inside of my body. But I’m worried about the reception: I’m worried about how people are reading this book and thinking, Wow this is so implausible! Can you imagine this! Wow, those wacky cult leaders! Because it is not implausible, it is damn near happening right now, and they have largely not chosen that life. There is more truth in this novel than people seem to think. It is true that you can’t bury bodies when the ground is frozen. It is true that milk costs $10 a carton.
I want this book to ask us to tear apart together, but I worry that it just invites us to watch something else tear apart, something we believe to be a fiction, only fiction.
“We are what we have lost, I countered. Here was a way of thinking we could tear apart together. Thinking that reminded us we were alive, and what an inconsistent experience that was proving to be. We are what we have lost, I offered again.”
I loved the vagueness of the Territory, of teenage blood being the Territory’s main export, of the nicknames, of everything life is forced to become in extreme isolation and at the mercy of a world that has largely forgotten them. But I also feel extremely sensitive to the fact that there are, right now, in Canada in 2019, extremely remote communities that are facing extreme poverty and isolation and, in the case of First Nations reserves and communities, have been largely forgotten by a government that forced them there in the first place. Still, one reviewer writes: “Readers are perhaps used to encountering an intentional community as outlandish as the one Dey describes, but in the form of a cult.” Is it so outlandish to imagine a community where milk costs $10 per carton, though? Have you visited Nunavut?
Dey’s bio states that she’s worked as a cook in lumber camps across Northern Ontario, and it feels to me that the conditions of Heartbreaker’s Territory are possibly drawn from–and likely exaggerated–her experience in those camps. Heartbreaker portrays a community that is only a moderately exaggerated version of life for many people in Canada (mostly Indigenous communities), but I don’t feel that’s acknowledged, either within the story or in the media surrounding it, and instead it’s further portrayed as outlandish with the Territory’s backstory: a cult drives as far North as they can to start a civilization. A choice, a lifestyle. A consequence of their own actions.
I was especially sensitive to the narratives of suicide in the book. Isolation and poverty lead to suicide, there’s no question about that. But it’s worked into the story as something shameful, something the community doesn’t talk about, something that just happens sometimes. I couldn’t help but think of Wapekeka First Nation, which just a few years ago had to declare a state of emergency over a wave of youth suicides in their community. Including a sub-plot that revolves around a small group of suicides in an isolated Northern community is not outlandish, is not unrealistic, is not dystopic; portraying suicide as just something that happens here is, in my mind, horrific, and perpetuates the notion that life is sometimes just unlivable, and there’s nothing we can really do about it.
I felt like this book had the potential to be a striking and powerful force of literature. I think maybe it is a striking and powerful force of literature. It is so heavy, it is so dark in the pit of your stomach, it is cutting out a beating heart and asking you to hold it, feel it beat, feel that way life can crush you in its small and large unkindnesses. I fell in love with Dey’s writing. I am a sucker for writing that feels like the inside of my body. But I’m worried about the reception: I’m worried about how people are reading this book and thinking, Wow this is so implausible! Can you imagine this! Wow, those wacky cult leaders! Because it is not implausible, it is damn near happening right now, and they have largely not chosen that life. There is more truth in this novel than people seem to think. It is true that you can’t bury bodies when the ground is frozen. It is true that milk costs $10 a carton.
I want this book to ask us to tear apart together, but I worry that it just invites us to watch something else tear apart, something we believe to be a fiction, only fiction.
September 5, 2018
4.5 stars
I’m not quite sure what to say about this book. During the first third, I was questioning whether I was going to make it through or not. However, it was an ARC sent to me by Random House after winning a giveaway on Goodreads and I always try to finish, rate and review any books sent to me.
Eventually, I found myself sucked into the “territory”, where this book takes place and even though all of the characters have their faults and are unreliable, I could not put this book down. This book was odd. It was different. It had a story to tell. I’m glad I stuck with it and look forward to checking out backlist and future books by Claudia Dey.
I’m not quite sure what to say about this book. During the first third, I was questioning whether I was going to make it through or not. However, it was an ARC sent to me by Random House after winning a giveaway on Goodreads and I always try to finish, rate and review any books sent to me.
Eventually, I found myself sucked into the “territory”, where this book takes place and even though all of the characters have their faults and are unreliable, I could not put this book down. This book was odd. It was different. It had a story to tell. I’m glad I stuck with it and look forward to checking out backlist and future books by Claudia Dey.
April 26, 2018
Weird and wild. I think I figured out what I liked about it when the dog narrated a section that was smart and funny without sacrificing the sometimes necessary brutality of the animal world. This whole novel is like that—brilliant and brutal.
February 5, 2021
HOLY OOF. Just read it
September 28, 2018
Much different than I expected. Don't go into this thinking it's about people in a weird cult in 1985. That is what it's about but this is kind of like a fever dream or drug induced hallucination of sorts. The story is told in 3 distincts parts by 3 different narrators. It all has a very unique style that is going to be very off putting to many, I think. It is interesting and I think it gets better as you go along. It is weird though. Very weird.
October 3, 2021
I'm kind of at a loss about what to say for Heartbreaker. What I will say is that author Claudia Dey has my full support in three months when this book comes out for the rest of the world.
At first, I imagined giving this book a one-star review. Pony's perspective was very flat, and the dog's voice made me cringe and ask what I was reading. Then we got to Supernatural's part, and at first some things still really bothered me, but I started noticing how Claudia Dey was really playing with the words, and even more so, the structure, to make this story stand out from the rest.
Even though I have negative thoughts about both Pony and the dog's perspectives, I believe they are absolutely necessary, and necessary in the order that they are. At first, I was wondering why Dey couldn't just mix them, like so many other books do when there are multiple perspectives. However, especially when I got to Supernatural's part, I realized that they really couldn't have. If certain plot points were revealed earlier, the novel would not evoke the feelings that it did. There is no other way for the story to make as much sense and leave the reader with as much conflict at the end than by creating the setting and point of view exactly the way Dey did: Girl, Dog, Boy.
This book is full of twists and turns, not all of which are exactly comfortable for the reader. I would definitely say that in terms of young adult novels, Heartbreaker is far more on the "adult" side of that label. I'm not just talking about sexual activity, either. There are a lot of themes that are really heavy and might be upsetting to some. So I guess I am putting a trigger warning on this book for pedophilia, as well as other complications that I cannot quite describe.
Overall, though, I am thankful that I received this book for free from Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you, Claudia Dey, for listing this book as a free giveaway. I hope this feedback is helpful to you and your publisher in the next three months before publication, as well as to any potential readers.
Disclaimer:
At first, I imagined giving this book a one-star review. Pony's perspective was very flat, and the dog's voice made me cringe and ask what I was reading. Then we got to Supernatural's part, and at first some things still really bothered me, but I started noticing how Claudia Dey was really playing with the words, and even more so, the structure, to make this story stand out from the rest.
Even though I have negative thoughts about both Pony and the dog's perspectives, I believe they are absolutely necessary, and necessary in the order that they are. At first, I was wondering why Dey couldn't just mix them, like so many other books do when there are multiple perspectives. However, especially when I got to Supernatural's part, I realized that they really couldn't have. If certain plot points were revealed earlier, the novel would not evoke the feelings that it did. There is no other way for the story to make as much sense and leave the reader with as much conflict at the end than by creating the setting and point of view exactly the way Dey did: Girl, Dog, Boy.
This book is full of twists and turns, not all of which are exactly comfortable for the reader. I would definitely say that in terms of young adult novels, Heartbreaker is far more on the "adult" side of that label. I'm not just talking about sexual activity, either. There are a lot of themes that are really heavy and might be upsetting to some. So I guess I am putting a trigger warning on this book for pedophilia, as well as other complications that I cannot quite describe.
Overall, though, I am thankful that I received this book for free from Goodreads Giveaways. Thank you, Claudia Dey, for listing this book as a free giveaway. I hope this feedback is helpful to you and your publisher in the next three months before publication, as well as to any potential readers.
Disclaimer:
September 25, 2018
It has an interesting storytelling style (cadence, wording) & uses three consecutive narrators -- Pony Darlene (Billie Jean's teen daughter), the dog (Billie Jean's dog; probably the most reliable narrator), & Supernatural (a teen boy in the town) -- to relate the slowly revealed tale of Billie Jean (Pony's mother), who walks out one night into the cold weather & disappears. I have no real idea of the category of this book other than to say it is an offbeat, cult-ish book stuck in 1985. Maybe semi-dystopian...? At heart, it's a family saga, albeit an odd one in a strange setting. Comparisons to M. Night Shyamalan seem apt. Worthwhile
September 15, 2018
Well. That was stupid.
January 22, 2019
Listened to 4 out of the 9 hours of audiobook. Have no clue what the book is about. It didn't keep my interest and I slept through book club 🤷♀️
September 15, 2018
This is one of those otherworldly sort of books that constantly slips through your fingers as you read it. But keep grabbing at it because what a remarkable book.
Separated into three parts, each narrated by a different character, the story revolves around a small, remote place called the territory. It's one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else's business, but things are a bit weirder here, as is slowly revealed throughout the first part.
The central figure is one Billie Jean Fontaine, but she's gone missing. The first part is narrated by her daughter, Pony, the second by her loyal dog, and the third by a boy nicknamed Supernatural, a boy all the girls in the territory have their sights set on.
The book is a tangle of the past and present, everyone's memories colliding with what is currently happening to bring about a picture of Billie Jean that's fuzzy around the edges—the only person we don't hear from is her. From her mythic entrance to the territory, to how she never fully fit in, to the secrets of her long past and not so long past, the blank edges of a woman are filled in through the thoughts, memories, and opinions of those who were close to her.
It goes back to what I said about the book slipping through your fingers. Billie Jean's ephemerality makes her difficult to grab hold of, but that's the point. And underlying all the character-driven narration, there is the place, the territory. Where is it? How did it come to be and why do they all seem to take it for granted that the way they are living is life as it should be?
It is definitely worth mentioning that the narration by the dog is some beautiful, weird, and deeply original writing. Dogs know our deepest secrets, see everything inside us and yet are silent. What if they could speak, eloquently, release their thoughts, their deep observations about us, the world, the history and the connections of how things came to be? What a brilliant concept and so wonderfully executed in this book.
The writing style reminded me a lot of Stephen Graham Jones, a literary horror author I adore, so if you enjoyed this, I recommend checking out some of his work, like Mongrels or the novella Mapping the Interior.
My thanks to Random House for sending me a copy of this one to read and review.
Separated into three parts, each narrated by a different character, the story revolves around a small, remote place called the territory. It's one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else's business, but things are a bit weirder here, as is slowly revealed throughout the first part.
The central figure is one Billie Jean Fontaine, but she's gone missing. The first part is narrated by her daughter, Pony, the second by her loyal dog, and the third by a boy nicknamed Supernatural, a boy all the girls in the territory have their sights set on.
The book is a tangle of the past and present, everyone's memories colliding with what is currently happening to bring about a picture of Billie Jean that's fuzzy around the edges—the only person we don't hear from is her. From her mythic entrance to the territory, to how she never fully fit in, to the secrets of her long past and not so long past, the blank edges of a woman are filled in through the thoughts, memories, and opinions of those who were close to her.
It goes back to what I said about the book slipping through your fingers. Billie Jean's ephemerality makes her difficult to grab hold of, but that's the point. And underlying all the character-driven narration, there is the place, the territory. Where is it? How did it come to be and why do they all seem to take it for granted that the way they are living is life as it should be?
It is definitely worth mentioning that the narration by the dog is some beautiful, weird, and deeply original writing. Dogs know our deepest secrets, see everything inside us and yet are silent. What if they could speak, eloquently, release their thoughts, their deep observations about us, the world, the history and the connections of how things came to be? What a brilliant concept and so wonderfully executed in this book.
The writing style reminded me a lot of Stephen Graham Jones, a literary horror author I adore, so if you enjoyed this, I recommend checking out some of his work, like Mongrels or the novella Mapping the Interior.
My thanks to Random House for sending me a copy of this one to read and review.
August 20, 2018
Great for fans of kooky science fiction, Heartbreaker is definitely not for most readers. However, if you are looking for something different, you will love this book as much as I do.
Pony Darlene was born and raised in a cult. Her mother has run off and her dad’s nickname is the Heavy. What does a fifteen-year-old need to do to score a boyfriend and eventual husband in this cult? And why does the territory draw blood regularly from all the females?
Wow, the world building here is awesome incorporating Warren Jeff’s FLDS with the weird physics of Stranger Things. I hate to say more because it is a much better read if you don’t know even the basic plot. However, if you are ready for something different, this is it.
I’m happy that a major publisher, Random House, took on such a difficult book to categorize. I can’t even say whether this is science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, horror or literary fiction. Judging by the early reviews, you will either hate or love Heartbreaker. Personally, I loved it. 5 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
Pony Darlene was born and raised in a cult. Her mother has run off and her dad’s nickname is the Heavy. What does a fifteen-year-old need to do to score a boyfriend and eventual husband in this cult? And why does the territory draw blood regularly from all the females?
Wow, the world building here is awesome incorporating Warren Jeff’s FLDS with the weird physics of Stranger Things. I hate to say more because it is a much better read if you don’t know even the basic plot. However, if you are ready for something different, this is it.
I’m happy that a major publisher, Random House, took on such a difficult book to categorize. I can’t even say whether this is science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, horror or literary fiction. Judging by the early reviews, you will either hate or love Heartbreaker. Personally, I loved it. 5 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
February 4, 2020
This book made me think I’d lost the ability to understand words and sentences and paragraphs. What the fuck did I just read? Did not finish.
August 15, 2018
A story told in three parts by three different characters, Pony, the dog and Supernatural, this one is definitely in the realm of weird fiction. From the bizarre cult suspended in the 80’s to the hyper-intelligent dog this story in an exercise in mind-bending and suspension of disbelief. It is not a linear, straightforward story as much as a collection of thoughts and feelings. Can someone can please tell me how to rig up my antennae so I only receive broadcasts from 1985? I would be immensely appreciative. If I could just skip the next few years and retreat into The Golden Girls and Wham! that would be ideal.
Pony’s section was the most confusing and frustrating. The story didn’t make much sense to me and I really wanted more in depth and concrete information about the cult and their town. I guess as someone who was born and raised in the cult she likely didn’t know anything different and as such likely didn’t put too much thought into things that she found commonplace. The story doesn’t coalesce into an understandable story-line until the dog takes over as narrator. Yes, you read that correctly. The dog is remarkably coherent and forthcoming about the town and its people and it is in her section that I felt things started to make sense. The last section is from the viewpoint of Supernatural and his knowledge fills in the gaps to make things more comprehensible.
I have to admit that while I was reading this book I didn’t enjoy it very much at all but as I let it percolate in my head for a few days I actually like it a lot more. It has grown on me! I still wouldn’t say that I loved it but I have respect for the inventiveness of the author.
Thank you to Random House for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.
Pony’s section was the most confusing and frustrating. The story didn’t make much sense to me and I really wanted more in depth and concrete information about the cult and their town. I guess as someone who was born and raised in the cult she likely didn’t know anything different and as such likely didn’t put too much thought into things that she found commonplace. The story doesn’t coalesce into an understandable story-line until the dog takes over as narrator. Yes, you read that correctly. The dog is remarkably coherent and forthcoming about the town and its people and it is in her section that I felt things started to make sense. The last section is from the viewpoint of Supernatural and his knowledge fills in the gaps to make things more comprehensible.
I have to admit that while I was reading this book I didn’t enjoy it very much at all but as I let it percolate in my head for a few days I actually like it a lot more. It has grown on me! I still wouldn’t say that I loved it but I have respect for the inventiveness of the author.
Thank you to Random House for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.
May 11, 2020
Let me give you the lay of the land.
Claudia Dey takes us to uncharted territories in her hypnotic, outlandish and darkly bewitching novel, Heartbreaker. It straddles multiple genres without comfortably fitting into anything. It reads like a mystery, a cult novel, a dystopian and a coming of age story in equal parts. The novel is incredibly opaque, to begin with. Nothing is explained initially and the first 50-60 pages were so weird and bizarre that when I had first picked this book up about two months ago, I gave up. I decided to try again and persevered through this time. One of the most brilliant aspects of this novel is just how gradually things become much more apparent as you read on.
The narrative is split into 3 sections. The first is from the perspective of a young teenage girl, Pony Darlene Fontaine, whose mother has suddenly disappeared from an enclosed communal area called The Territory. This remote area is flanked by dense forests on two sides and a large reservoir at one end with only one highway leading in. The people in this cult-like community follow strange practices, including something called bloodwork, where teens under the age of 20 provide large quantities of blood. Every member has a nickname and is known and referred by that given name and isn't allowed to leave this community. Pony's section is the most puzzling one to begin with and raises more questions than answers. However, the second and third sections, narrated from the perspective of a dog and a boy, respectively, provide much more clarity.
It's stunningly written. Dey has a very simple, sharp and evocative style of writing that compels you to keep turning the page. What begins as a very cryptic novel gradually falls into place and it's incredibly clever in its slow reveals. You get to understand Pony's mother's story, how she came to be in this Territory, a past she's trying to escape from. Pony's father, Heavy, who harbours his own dark secret. The practices of this community and it's people, all gradually unfold like pieces of a puzzle.
Though it is very hard to compare this with anything else as it felt so unique, I think the closest that it comes to is Sophie Mackintosh's The Water Cure, which I also liked. I will say, I think preferred this. It's more complex, entirely unusual, dark, unsettling and builds to a really powerful ending. Despite all the praise, I hesitate to recommend this as it's certainly one that makes you work initially before you're swept up by its sizzling energy. But if you're up for some experimental fiction, this certainly delivers in spades.
Claudia Dey takes us to uncharted territories in her hypnotic, outlandish and darkly bewitching novel, Heartbreaker. It straddles multiple genres without comfortably fitting into anything. It reads like a mystery, a cult novel, a dystopian and a coming of age story in equal parts. The novel is incredibly opaque, to begin with. Nothing is explained initially and the first 50-60 pages were so weird and bizarre that when I had first picked this book up about two months ago, I gave up. I decided to try again and persevered through this time. One of the most brilliant aspects of this novel is just how gradually things become much more apparent as you read on.
The narrative is split into 3 sections. The first is from the perspective of a young teenage girl, Pony Darlene Fontaine, whose mother has suddenly disappeared from an enclosed communal area called The Territory. This remote area is flanked by dense forests on two sides and a large reservoir at one end with only one highway leading in. The people in this cult-like community follow strange practices, including something called bloodwork, where teens under the age of 20 provide large quantities of blood. Every member has a nickname and is known and referred by that given name and isn't allowed to leave this community. Pony's section is the most puzzling one to begin with and raises more questions than answers. However, the second and third sections, narrated from the perspective of a dog and a boy, respectively, provide much more clarity.
It's stunningly written. Dey has a very simple, sharp and evocative style of writing that compels you to keep turning the page. What begins as a very cryptic novel gradually falls into place and it's incredibly clever in its slow reveals. You get to understand Pony's mother's story, how she came to be in this Territory, a past she's trying to escape from. Pony's father, Heavy, who harbours his own dark secret. The practices of this community and it's people, all gradually unfold like pieces of a puzzle.
Though it is very hard to compare this with anything else as it felt so unique, I think the closest that it comes to is Sophie Mackintosh's The Water Cure, which I also liked. I will say, I think preferred this. It's more complex, entirely unusual, dark, unsettling and builds to a really powerful ending. Despite all the praise, I hesitate to recommend this as it's certainly one that makes you work initially before you're swept up by its sizzling energy. But if you're up for some experimental fiction, this certainly delivers in spades.
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