Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert
Out Now from Flatiron Books; 341 pages
Content Warnings: explicit language, underage drinking, drunk driving, home invasion,
violence, death of an animal, violence against animals, blood, self-harm.
About the Author: “Melissa 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.”
(Bio taken from Goodreads).
Find Melissa Albert on the following platforms:
Ivy’s summer break is off to a bizarre start. Between witnessing a mysterious girl run across the
road in the dead of night and finding a dead rabbit in front of her house, it’s one strange
occurrence after another. As Ivy becomes increasingly creeped out, she starts to suspect that her
eccentric and aloof mother, Dana, might know more about what’s happening than she’s letting
on. Flashback to years earlier, when Dana was still a teen herself, and she along with her two
best friends began to flirt with black magic. The three girls quickly found themselves in over
their heads, and now after all this time, the consequences are coming for Dana and Ivy. Told in
dueling narratives between a mother and daughter, Our Crooked Hearts is a story about magic,
power, and the price that comes along with them.
Melissa Albert’s newest release, an equal parts magical and horrifying thriller, does not
disappoint! It’s difficult to describe this book without spoilers, in part because it’s so complex
and unique. Despite its many moving parts, Our Crooked Hearts is utterly addictive and
unputdownable. There were several points where I thought for sure I knew where this story was
going, but each time I was proven delightfully wrong. I can’t count the number of moments that
left my jaw on the floor. As always, Albert’s writing is both hauntingly beautiful and sharp as
knives. The amount of detail and rich imagery she manages to infuse into each page is
unmatched. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this story was the dueling narrations between Ivy and
Dana. Having a mother-daughter duo as the two protagonists gave this book a level of emotional
depth and maturity that I think will appeal to teen and adult readers alike. Let this story put you
under its spell and get your hands on a copy of Our Crooked Hearts today!
PRR Writer, Emily Pimental