I believe I may have finally learnt my lesson when it comes to reading books by Erin Zak. Romance isn’t my preferred genre, neither is first person perspectives, so I’ll admit I had doubts within the very first chapter of The Tapestry of a Heart; I wasn’t sure it was for me.
How wrong I was! Never again will I doubt the words that come out of Erin Zak’s brain box and poof onto the page. Somehow, this book works, like sooooo works. The main character Finnley O’Connell is a mess, an unknowingly, unhappy mess, and so the story follows Finnley’s journey to finding happiness, both with herself and within her relationships.
The Tapestry of a Heart is a deep story of self-discovery, of riding the waves; the highs and lows of life, and ultimately realising that it’s okay to be a mess – to not really know what your life path is. So long as it’s a mess filled with happiness, joy, and love. This is a love story through and through, from those first baby steps in learning to love yourself, to loving the life you live, and hopefully finding that special soulmate kinda love.
I realize sometimes being in love and loving someone are two completely different emotions…It’s shocking really, that love can have so many forms, yet the end of love always hurts just the same.
The Tapestry of a Heart, Erin Zak
As with all of Zak’s work, you will really have to read this book for yourself, to completely feel what the author intended you to. No amount of reviews will do justice to Finnley’s personal and romantic journeys portrayed throughout this story; so I’m not even going to try to!
The most important thing to take away from this review, is that this book is the epitome of feels. It’s an age gap romance with a really fabulous love interest for Finnley in the form of the mysterious Emerson. And my absolute favourite secondary character is Finnley’s gay uncle, Uncle Mark. Who is just everything I imagine a gay uncle ever to be; both the angel and the devil on your shoulder in all the right ways.
At the heart of this story is a tapestry of chosen family, of learning to choose and love yourself first, and allowing others to do the same. Each of those threads allows Finnley to find happiness, to truly discover and love herself and to learn in the process how to really, truly, be in love with someone else.
Now I need to figure myself out. How do I do that, though? I don’t even know the questions to ask myself. Thirty-two years old, a shit ton of student loan debt, and not one fucking clue. Awesome.
The Tapestry of a Heart, Erin Zak
The Tapestry of a Heart is such a humanly raw story and it holds a beautiful message for its readers; you don’t need to have it all figured out, it’s okay to be a hot mess of happiness than perfect.
I received an arc of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
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