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Our Crooked Hearts Chapter Sampler
Get a sneak peek of the first two chapters of Our Crooked Hearts by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Albert. Our Crooked Hearts is a darkly gripping young adult fantasy about a daughter and her mother, their powers as witches, and the super-bad choices that come back to haunt them. Our Crooked Hearts goes on sale June 28.
22 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 21, 2022
1 person is currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Melissa Albert
10 books4,980 followersMelissa Albert is the New York Times and indie bestselling author of the Hazel Wood series and Our Crooked Hearts, and a former bookseller and founder of the Barnes & Noble Teen Blog. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and included in the New York Times’ list of Notable Children’s Books. She enjoys swimming pool tourism, genre mashups, and living in Brooklyn with her hilarious husband and magnificently goofy son.
Okay, now I will stop talking about myself in the third person. I try to reply to all messages and questions, so please reach out, or come find me on Twitter (@mimi_albert) or Instagram (@melissaalbertauthor)! (But please note: I don't accept GR friend requests anymore because of Amazon's related review policy.)
Okay, now I will stop talking about myself in the third person. I try to reply to all messages and questions, so please reach out, or come find me on Twitter (@mimi_albert) or Instagram (@melissaalbertauthor)! (But please note: I don't accept GR friend requests anymore because of Amazon's related review policy.)
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 16, 2024
warning: slight spoiler
The book Our crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert tells this story from a dual view point. Our two main characters are mother and daughter and the story shifts from the present with Ivy and how she's trying to uncover the secrets her mother has mysteriously kept from her and all the weird instances that she so obliviously ignored, and then switches to the past with Ivy’s mom, Dana, and how all of the mystery originally started. For Dana, her story starts the summer she turns sixteen and when the arrival of a mysterious older girl, along with the help of her best friend, turns her gift into something more supernatural. Dana was always perceptive; she knew when to and not to do something but as the trio ventures into something more than just teenage fun, her supernatural gift takes a dark turn and the girls play with powers that should've never been played with. As for Ivy, her story starts the summer she turns seventeen. She always knew her mother was different, yet she never thought much of it.
Through the years she learned to ignore it, but after an accident; she can’t ignore it any longer. With the appearance of a mysterious figure, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the road; the truths and lies begin to disravel themselves. As the story continues, Ivy battles with missing memories, cold stone mysteries and a bit of possible romance with an old childhood friend. All this to say that Ivy’s investigating goes to prove something that she's always known deep down; there’s secrets to her mother that she herself has tried to ignore since the very beginning. Together, mother and daughter, their stories collide. They face the dark powers that they never should’ve messed with in the first place.
All in all the book was a solid 3.5/5. The book was incredibly thrilling and extremely exciting to read but I didn’t like how it switched between the two viewpoints. It felt like the book would get you hooked on one plot line and then it’d switch to the next one and you’d be confused for a while on what was going on. Both the plots were really enticing and worked well together near the end but I feel like it would’ve been better if the book was made into a trilogy. One book would be Dana’s story, the next Ivy’s and in the third the two stories would come together and finish completely. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the suspense that you got from reading both the view points at once along with connecting the dots with each character and seeing how everything started and continued.
One of the reasons I liked the dual point of view was that you understood Dana’s part of the story, so you couldn’t fully blame her for everything. It was like you had this frustration with both the characters but you couldn’t fully be upset because you understood where they were coming from to some degree. The reader feels omniscient in this sense and I really liked that. Yet on the other hand, if the story had been made into a trilogy I feel as though the reader would’ve been able to connect more with the characters than just having it all in one book. It’s not that the book felt rushed but it definitely could’ve been written better. The book wasn’t without plot though.
It took a while for the book to fully get my attention but once I actually got into it, it was one of the most thrilling books I’ve read in a while. All the climax’s were happening at once and you really felt on the edge of your seat just waiting to see what happened next and then when you’d least expect it, it would switch to the other point of view and it just felt like there was so much going on but you knew what was going to happen and at the same time you had no idea what was happening. The writing style was very well done in the sense that it made you feel so many different emotions at once and then when it switched you’d feel a completely new set of emotions. It’s hard to put into words how this book makes you feel as there are so many different things going on. I can say that the most suspense I felt was when Ivy realized that some of her memories were gone and that she connected the dots to her mom doing it. At this point in the book you felt really frustrated and even mad with Dana but then you’d read her version of the story and you really wanted to justify her actions but couldn’t because you had to think of Ivy but then you’d also have to think of Dana and it was just all so compelling.
You wanted to feel one thing but you couldn’t because of the other side of the story. This book definitely opened my eyes to something and that is that there’s always different sides to one story. This also connects to something I’ve been learning in my history class and that’s “the danger of a single story”. With this book you realize that both the character’s emotions are valid and they’re allowed to feel that way but they should also think of the other's viewpoint and how it seems to them since the other doesn’t know the other person’s side. While the rollercoaster ride of emotions was one of the most exhilarating things of the book, it was also one of its downfalls.
When reading the book you’d often get frustrated with it because you’d just be so invested in the one story you’re reading and then it’d switch, hence why i mentioned this earlier. The book also took a while to get to the main plot. It starts off good in the beginning with describing the accident in the first few pages but then for 100 pages or so, it feels like the main plot is out on hold for all the descriptive wording and scenario build up. Those were hard chapters to get through but then once you got past them, you could really enjoy the full plot and exhilarating feeling that the book brought you.
One thing I can say for sure is that the plot, writing style, and characters all fit really nicely together. Even with the book's ups and downs, you just can’t be disappointed with the writing style of the characters. The characters themselves were so layered and their backgrounds were so complex that you couldn’t put the book down, no matter how hard you tried. They felt emotions that you could relate to on some level and the writing style just made their emotions feel more real. In conclusion, I fully recommend this book for anyone looking to either: get in the halloween spirit or always be on the edge of your seat with a million emotions going through your head along with a hint of frustration.
The book Our crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert tells this story from a dual view point. Our two main characters are mother and daughter and the story shifts from the present with Ivy and how she's trying to uncover the secrets her mother has mysteriously kept from her and all the weird instances that she so obliviously ignored, and then switches to the past with Ivy’s mom, Dana, and how all of the mystery originally started. For Dana, her story starts the summer she turns sixteen and when the arrival of a mysterious older girl, along with the help of her best friend, turns her gift into something more supernatural. Dana was always perceptive; she knew when to and not to do something but as the trio ventures into something more than just teenage fun, her supernatural gift takes a dark turn and the girls play with powers that should've never been played with. As for Ivy, her story starts the summer she turns seventeen. She always knew her mother was different, yet she never thought much of it.
Through the years she learned to ignore it, but after an accident; she can’t ignore it any longer. With the appearance of a mysterious figure, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the road; the truths and lies begin to disravel themselves. As the story continues, Ivy battles with missing memories, cold stone mysteries and a bit of possible romance with an old childhood friend. All this to say that Ivy’s investigating goes to prove something that she's always known deep down; there’s secrets to her mother that she herself has tried to ignore since the very beginning. Together, mother and daughter, their stories collide. They face the dark powers that they never should’ve messed with in the first place.
All in all the book was a solid 3.5/5. The book was incredibly thrilling and extremely exciting to read but I didn’t like how it switched between the two viewpoints. It felt like the book would get you hooked on one plot line and then it’d switch to the next one and you’d be confused for a while on what was going on. Both the plots were really enticing and worked well together near the end but I feel like it would’ve been better if the book was made into a trilogy. One book would be Dana’s story, the next Ivy’s and in the third the two stories would come together and finish completely. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the suspense that you got from reading both the view points at once along with connecting the dots with each character and seeing how everything started and continued.
One of the reasons I liked the dual point of view was that you understood Dana’s part of the story, so you couldn’t fully blame her for everything. It was like you had this frustration with both the characters but you couldn’t fully be upset because you understood where they were coming from to some degree. The reader feels omniscient in this sense and I really liked that. Yet on the other hand, if the story had been made into a trilogy I feel as though the reader would’ve been able to connect more with the characters than just having it all in one book. It’s not that the book felt rushed but it definitely could’ve been written better. The book wasn’t without plot though.
It took a while for the book to fully get my attention but once I actually got into it, it was one of the most thrilling books I’ve read in a while. All the climax’s were happening at once and you really felt on the edge of your seat just waiting to see what happened next and then when you’d least expect it, it would switch to the other point of view and it just felt like there was so much going on but you knew what was going to happen and at the same time you had no idea what was happening. The writing style was very well done in the sense that it made you feel so many different emotions at once and then when it switched you’d feel a completely new set of emotions. It’s hard to put into words how this book makes you feel as there are so many different things going on. I can say that the most suspense I felt was when Ivy realized that some of her memories were gone and that she connected the dots to her mom doing it. At this point in the book you felt really frustrated and even mad with Dana but then you’d read her version of the story and you really wanted to justify her actions but couldn’t because you had to think of Ivy but then you’d also have to think of Dana and it was just all so compelling.
You wanted to feel one thing but you couldn’t because of the other side of the story. This book definitely opened my eyes to something and that is that there’s always different sides to one story. This also connects to something I’ve been learning in my history class and that’s “the danger of a single story”. With this book you realize that both the character’s emotions are valid and they’re allowed to feel that way but they should also think of the other's viewpoint and how it seems to them since the other doesn’t know the other person’s side. While the rollercoaster ride of emotions was one of the most exhilarating things of the book, it was also one of its downfalls.
When reading the book you’d often get frustrated with it because you’d just be so invested in the one story you’re reading and then it’d switch, hence why i mentioned this earlier. The book also took a while to get to the main plot. It starts off good in the beginning with describing the accident in the first few pages but then for 100 pages or so, it feels like the main plot is out on hold for all the descriptive wording and scenario build up. Those were hard chapters to get through but then once you got past them, you could really enjoy the full plot and exhilarating feeling that the book brought you.
One thing I can say for sure is that the plot, writing style, and characters all fit really nicely together. Even with the book's ups and downs, you just can’t be disappointed with the writing style of the characters. The characters themselves were so layered and their backgrounds were so complex that you couldn’t put the book down, no matter how hard you tried. They felt emotions that you could relate to on some level and the writing style just made their emotions feel more real. In conclusion, I fully recommend this book for anyone looking to either: get in the halloween spirit or always be on the edge of your seat with a million emotions going through your head along with a hint of frustration.
December 1, 2025
It was an ok read, kind of felt a little all over the place but I guess hopping between timelines and perspectives tends to give you that feeling. I will say that I am not a fan of timeline hopping in stories but this wasn’t bad.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews