Review: Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw

Title: Anxious Hearts

By: Tucker Shaw

Publisher: Abrams Books (Release May 1st, 2010)

My Copy: Uncorrected Proof from Abrams Books

BookWhisperer Rating:

Book Description:

“Evangeline,” he repeated, calling at a whisper. “Evangeline.” He was not calling that she may hear, he was calling that somehow her soul might know that he was devoted entirely to her, only to her. “Evangeline, I will find you.”
Eva and Gabe explore the golden forest of their seaside Maine town, unknowingly tracing the footsteps of two teens, Evangeline and Gabriel, who once lived in the idyllic wooded village of Acadia more than one hundred years ago. On the day that Evangeline and Gabriel were be wed, their village was attacked and the two were separated. And now in the present, Gabe has mysteriously disappeared from Eva.
A dreamlike, loose retelling of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous love poem “Evangeline,” Anxious Hearts tells an epic tale of unrequited love and the hope that true love can be reunited.

Anxious Hearts is a heartbreaking tale of two couples more than a hundred years apart living the same love and loss. This is an intriguing story line that leaves you questioning if these are supposed to be fated lovers living their love over and over. After having finished this novel I don’t know that this was intended.

This was a very quick and enjoyable story. Although, throughout this story I was haunted by a feeling that something was missing. The characters while enjoyable where not complete. I don’t feel that we totally knew the characters; which leaves the reader with a very noticeable feeling of being the outsider. This is just one of several things that stand out in my mind, and drew my attention away from this story. The setting was a disturbing aspect of this novel. Evangeline and Gabriel are supposed to be a couple from long ago; while Eva and Gabe were supposed to be, I believe, present day. While reading this story, I would find myself confused about the time line because it would seem something's were inappropriate for the suggested era. Without exact placement of time in a story, it is very easy to lose a reader with the writing. Lastly, Anxious Hearts does not seem to have a very noticeable climax point. I was suffering from a feeling of wandering through the pages. You come away with a feeling of running around the pool twenty times, but never having jumped right in the middle to know what the water is like. Really I have to reign in back in here  and tell you that I did enjoy this story. I just can not offer it the best rating because I have particular problems with the story. It is easier to enjoy this story when you don’t put a whole lot of thought in it. Read it primarily for enjoyment, and you will do fine. It is when you try to analyze this book that you will find yourself with a world of questions.

As we all know BookWhisperer is a Cover Freak. So, I have to say that I love this cover. The attention grabber for me with this book was the cover alone. This is one that does not take much thought for the meaning behind the cover, but it is still BEAUTIFUL.