Meet Me When my Heart Stops by Becky Hunter

 

The first time Emery's heart stops, she is only five years old...

Emery is born with a heart condition that means her heart could quite literally stop at any moment. The people around her know what to do - if they act quickly enough there will be no lasting damage, and Emery's heart can be restarted. But when this happens, she is briefly technically dead.

Each time Emery's heart stops, she meets Nick. His purpose is to help people adjust to the fact that they are dead, to help them say goodbye, before they move on entirely. He does not usually meet people more than once - but with Emery, he is able to make a connection, and he finds himself drawn to her.

As Emery's life progresses, and she goes through ups and downs, she finds that a part of her is longing for those moments when her heart will stop - so that she can see Nick again.

This is the story of two fated lovers who long for each other, but are destined never to share more than a few fleeting moments - because if they were to be together, it would mean the end of Emery's life.

Meet Me When My Heart Stops by Becky Hunter is quite unlike anything I have read before, she has such a wonderful imagination and she pours this into this endearing storyline.

The storyline is centred around the life of Emery who we first meet when she is only five years old, we quickly learn that she has a heart condition that causes her heart to stop meaning that for a short time she dies. But each time she dies she meets Nick who is there to help her come to terms with her passing however this is a first for him too as he has not had anyone return before.

As we follow Emery through her life and the continuous deaths we see how she lives a somewhat double life not allowing herself to fully embrace life but also having this pull to see Nick again.

This is an unrealistic storyline and yet it was such a beautiful one that actually really touched my heart and Emery pulled me into this storyline and didn’t let me go until she had really pulled at my heart strings. There were some really tender moments especially at the end of this book and I was choked.

The unlikely romance is at the core of the storyline but we also explore friendships and life challenges too, it was poignant and very honest to see the effect of Emery’s illness on her family dynamics as well as seeing how it altered decisions that Emery made along the way never quite letting herself live a fulfilling life when really she was protecting those around her.

It shows you that you never know how long you have in life, you could be the healthiest person and suddenly lose your life young or you could be living with ill health and live a long life so the only thing to do is live life to the fullest and make each day count like it is your last.

This was a unique and emotive read that I highly recommend, I quite honestly couldn’t put the book down.

Available to buy here.