Breakaway Books

Authored by Kristina Forest; Published October 2025; Romance

⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️

Heartsick feels like a missed opportunity of a novel. Instead of seizing the chance to introduce teenagers to the idea that even painful emotions can teach us important lessons and help shape us, the author chooses a significantly more superficial approach to the subject matter instead.

In Heartsick, high school senior Margot is dedicated to pursuing journalism at an elite school despite her parents’ opposition. Forced into a boring internship at a new business that claims to heal heart break in order to boost her resume, Margot has little to distract her from her recent break up with fellow senior Isaac. That is, until she accidentally hears the company leadership admitting that their pills are making people sick. She and Isaac go on the run, trying to find people willing to testify publicly to the damage that the pills are doing so Margot can write the article of her dreams.

I hoped that this novel would be an interesting treatment of the pain of heartbreak. Yes, I know, it’s a teen novel, but isn’t that the time when we should be learning about heartbreak anyway? It was immensely frustrating that Margot and Isaac never actually discuss whether it is a good or bad idea to take a pill that gets rid of your feelings for a person, which the company Margot’s working for claims to have. Of course, there are anecdotes about people whose partners change their mind after they have taken the pill, and whoops! It’s too late to reunite. These stories serve to add a note of caution to the prospect of taking the pill, but what about the value of learning from heartbreak even if there is no reconciliation? The necessity of figuring out how to mourn good things that end?

Instead of delving into those hard questions, Margot and Isaac chase the minions of an evil corporation across the country. There’s nothing wrong with this as a concept—but there still seem to be some gaping plot holes in the storyline, and the final confrontation is comically nonsensical. But Margot has some redeeming moments: Her insecurity, particularly when it comes to meeting the expectations of her parents, and her feelings of annoyance at being compared with her older sister, stand out as realistic teenage problems. What feels less realistic is the way her parents easily dismiss their extremely responsible daughter’s allegations of the company’s serious crimes. I like to think that even as a teenager, my parents wouldn’t have dismissed me out of hand like Margot’s did.

Heartsick had a lot of potential, but for me, it just fell short.