book cover of Conditions of a Heart
Added by 3 members
 

Conditions of a Heart

(2024)
A novel by

 
 
For fans of Talia Hibbert and Lynn Painter comes a funny and unflinchingly honest story about a teen who must come to terms with her disability and what it means for her identity, her love life, and her future.

Brynn Kwan is desperate for her high school persona to be real.
That Brynn is head of the yearbook committee, the favorite for prom queen, and definitely not crumbling from a secret disability that’s rapidly wearing her down. If no one knows the truth about her condition, Brynn doesn’t have to worry about the pitying looks or accusations of being a faker that already destroyed her childhood friendships. She’s even willing to let go of her four-year relationship with her first love, Oliver, rather than reveal that a necessary surgery was the reason she ignored his existence for the entire summer.

But after Brynn tries to break up a fight at a pep rally and winds up barred from all her clubs
and senior prom, she has nothing left to prop up her illusion of being just like everyone else. During a week-long suspension from school, she realizes that she doesn’t quite recognize the face in the mirror—and it’s not because of her black eye from the fight. With a healthy sister who simply doesn’t understand and a confused ex-boyfriend who won’t just take a hint and go away like a normal human being, Brynn begins to wonder if it’s possible to reinvent her world by being the person she thought no one wanted: herself.


Genre: Young Adult Romance

Praise for this book

"Achingly touching, heartfelt and true, Brynn's story of reinvention and self-discovery resonates on every page. A book to savor and hold dear." - Kathleen Glasgow

"Conditions of a Heart beats with intense feelings from lost love to the classic struggle of trying to be who you are. Mangle weaves an equally heartbreaking and funny narrative in this poignant story about a disabled girl struggling to find her place in a post-Covid world." - Meredith Ireland

"This book kept me laughing with its endless wry wit and emotionally captivated with its introspection of society's attitudes toward health and disability, especially in a post COVIDian era when we have seen the accommodations that are possible. I read it in a single day." - Xiran Jay Zhao


Visitors also looked at these books


Used availability for Bethany Mangle's Conditions of a Heart


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors