I have just finished this lovely book and I really enjoyed it. A powerful and different take on family, friendship, belonging and self-discovery.
We met Kit and Sabrina in their final year of High School in Philadelphia, they are friends united by being Asian in a largely white high school in a prosperous part of town. Both girls have different challenges in their life, one is adopted and living with her prosperous white family, but has no information about her birth family. The other lives with her hard-working Chinese mother, and they barely have enough money to get by day to day. Both young women have big decisions to make about their future, which leads them to explore their past.
Then we have Mimi, who 'lost' her child 17 years before, and has never given up on her hope of being reunited with her. - despite now living in her home country of Vietnam.
This would be such a good book for a book club discussion. Well written, with a number of different standpoints, it will keep you guessing until the end. I highly recommend it.

This well-crafted novel drew me in from the first page.
Mimi’s baby goes missing at Philadelphia Airport as she waits for her flight home to Vietnam. In the confusion that follows, she is sedated and taken on board, leaving baby Ngan behind.

Seventeen years later, we meet Sabrina and Kathryn. Both Asian, one has been adopted by a middle-class white couple, the other lives with a single Chinese mother who works in multiple jobs to make ends meet. Their lifestyles couldn’t be more different. Kathryn (Kit) is spoilt, indulged and sometimes difficult, while Sabrina is respectful to her mother, who lives on the principle that hard work and commitment will ultimately lead to success.
The characters are well written. Sabrina’s mother is very much in charge, whereas Kit’s mother appears at times nervous and unable to work out how to handle her daughter. Haunted by the past, Mimi has never forgotten Ngan and although she realises it’s a lost cause is determined to return to America to try and find her. I found I wasn’t a great fan of Kit, the spoilt daughter who seemed to think the world should turn the way she wanted it to. Sabrina, however, was completely different. I shared her disappointments, frustrations and hated the discrimination she suffered at times.
There’s a richness in the writing as we travel from the US to Tokyo to Vietnam following the story of all three characters. Each location is well described with confident familiarity, making you feel you could actually be there. This is a wonderful read, with an unexpected twist. Highly recommended.
My thanks to Hutchinson Heinmann, the author and Netgalley for an ARC of My Other Heart in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. This is well written about 2 teenagers who are 'finding themselves' although the writing style seems suited for a more younger audience maybe YA. Still, a solid read.

As a huge fan of Little Fires Everywhere, comparisons to that book drew me in but despite a slightly similar plot line these are very different books.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the writing and found it a bit simple bordering on young adult, which isn’t a bad thing but wasn’t what I was expecting.

I didn’t dislike this book but overall it was pretty forgettable.

May 1998:
Mimi Traung and her baby daughter Ngan are at Philadelphia airport waiting to return to Vietnam but then Nigan disappears.
Seventeen years later two friends are deciding their summer holiday plans. Sabrina is going to China to meet family and Kit to Toyko where she hopes to find her biological mother.
Meanwhile Mimi returns to Philadelphia for answers.
Are they all connected and how?

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. After reading the blurb I thought the book would be more interesting. I felt like it was a very slow mystery novel with a teenage angst element thrown in. I found all the characters lacking and could find very few redeeming traits in any of them.

This is only my opinion and has very good reviews from others so it may be a marmite book

An interesting insight into Asian culture in a coming of age story about two young girls. I failed to empathise with either Sabrina or Kit, the two main characters but the book gave a good insight into the issues facing immigrants in the US. Family secrets, parenthood and a little bit of mystery are the themes with the book tailored more towards young adults but it left me feeling a bit disappointed. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

An interesting well written book about two American teenagers on the brink of college 'finding themselves'. I did find the writing a little simplistic and perhaps more suited towards a YA audience. I also guessed the ending well in advance. Still, this didn't detract from what was a good read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner is an amazing read about finding your own identity to find your path in life. The characters are very well written even though some are not so likable but it's part of their personality and this shows the great writing skills the author has. I think Emma Nanami Strenner is an author to have on radar.

“My Other Heart” is one of those beautiful books I could not put down. Emma Nanami Strenner weaves a story of identity, family, and self-discovery through multiple points of view, and I was immediately drawn into the lives of Mimi, Kit, and Sabrina.

While the central mystery of the novel—surrounding a missing child—wasn’t particularly suspenseful (the ending was quite predictable), that didn’t take away from the overall impact of the narrative.

The storytelling is compelling, and I loved the use of multiple perspectives here. I particularly loved watching Sabrina’s growth throughout the novel.

At times, I wasn’t sure the structure was completely balanced—it occasionally felt like certain parts or characters got more focus than others—but overall, the novel worked.

I was drawn into this from the start - what a terrible thing to happen to Mimi and how little sympathy she got. The seventeen year wait seemed a little long, but it must have been hard for her with distance, language etc. I'm glad she found Toan! I found Kit rather irritating, but probably typical of an American privileged teen. But the shock of what happened seemed to bring her to her senses and make her realise how lucky she was. I guessed the truth behind what happened to Ngan, but I'm not sure if it was supposed to be a twist. I did find the jumping about from time to time and character to character jarring.

I was up until the early hours reading this book as I couldn’t put it down! Three stories; Mimi, the frantic mother who loses her toddler daughter in Philadelphia airport and never stops searching for her, Kit, adopted daughter of wealthy parents and Sabrina, Kit’s childhood friend who’s Chinese mother Lee Lee works hard to look after her daughter but sadly lacks a green card, as soon as she comes of age Sabrina takes on the responsibility of taking care of the two of them. Kit’s life is simple, Sabrina’s is hard and the differences soon become evident when it comes to love, life and career choices. Told with great depth and empathy; the conclusion was perfect!

'My Other Heart' was a beautiful journey exploring different types of love, such as relationship love, mother's love, friend's love, and self-love. We follow three different women through their search for acceptance and truth and belonging after life has thrown them curveballs. We are shown a glimpse of what it might possibly be like to be a first-generation immigrant - to have to fight and search to find out about your past. We see the lengths a mother will go to after seventeen years to find her child. Finally, Emma Nanami Strenner weaved in beautiful descriptions of sunsets throughout the book that just added to the book's appeal.

A story about two Asian girls growing up in Chesnut Hill and the different routes their lives take as they both try to seek out their origins. Not a particularly enthralling book, but I had to carry on to the end to find out what actually happens. The story takes place during their summer break prior to going to university, each gets involved with boys but not necessarily as you might expect. On the whole a pleasant read, but it didn’t grab my attention.

A lovely, original & beautifully written book. The characters are well formed & written about with empathy enabling the reader to care about them. The mix of Asian & American culture works well. I thoroughly enjoyed & highly recommend reading The Other Heart.

What a rollercoaster ride of emotions!! Absolutely devoured this book! The character stories that ran though it were emotional, fascinating, suspenseful and warming. The author keeps you guessing throughout about the identity of the missing child years later where you find yourself sure you’ve worked it out one minute and then flipping to thinking it’s someone else and back again constantly, which is exactly what a good book should do! Good characters and great drama throughout.

My Other Heart makes for an easy read, with its fluid prose and engaging if often two-dimensional characters. At times it feels as if it's on the cusp of YA - and perhaps that would have been better suited. As it is, the underwhelming mystery and predictable ending just feels a little too basic for an adult audience.

My other heart follows three women whose lives are connected by a mystery: Mimi, a Vietnamese mother whose baby goes missing at a U.S. airport in 1998; Kit, a half-Japanese teenager adopted by wealthy white parents; and Sabrina, her best friend, who lives with her single Chinese mother.
The book explores a range of themes: adoption, and what it means to truly belong, cultural heritage, race, class, and family.
A thoughtful, emotional read with a twist you won’t forget - a strong debut!

A thoughtfully written book about life in America and cultural identity. The characters were well observed and as a reader, it was easy to become invested in their stories. The swapping between different narratives and timelines was well managed. The climax of the book felt like it appeared quite suddenly but maybe threw you off the scent slightly!

What an utterly powerful and spectacular read. A beautiful story, covering a complex range of subjects. Beautifully written. Thought-provoking and simply fabulous.