Review: The Heart Does Not Grow Back by Fred Venturini |

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Picador (November 4, 2014)
ISBN: 9781250052216
Source: Publisher

Dale Sampson has become quite used to being a less than remarkable person. He’s just an average kid attending high school in a small Midwestern town. He earns decent grades and survives the torturous four years of social torture by riding on the coattails of his best friend, Mack. Then, a horrific accident takes away his one hope of love, leaving Dale with a strange ability: he can regrow organs and limbs.

Guilt-ridden, Dale opts to use his new gift to redeem the lives of those lost, including his own. In his quest, he gets dangerously close to those who would like to take advantage of Dale’s “powers.” As the endless surgeries continue, Dale realizes his actions will never repair the heartache he’s felt for so long.

In this stunning testament to love, loss, and forgiveness, Venturini has crafted a novel like none other. What starts out as a rather comical and sarcastic book quickly turns into something much more powerful. Within a few pages, the tone changes into something far more powerful, more visceral, than could have ever been predicted.

In The Heart Does Not Grow Back, Venturini not only tackles the subject of loss and grief, but how we see ourselves as human beings. We are more than just the sum of our parts; there is an essence, a soul, within each of us that struggles for acceptance and love no matter what happens to our bodies. The concept of what it takes to be a hero is also a profound aspect of this novel, specifically the concept that sometimes it’s the small acts, not large ones, that make a hero.

This novel is certainly unlike anything I’ve ever read. Admittedly, the first time I read the premise I rejected any thoughts of reading it. Yet something about it made me rethink my initial impressions and for this I am quite thankful. My experience with this novel, and the novel itself, is a clear message that first impressions aren’t always the best. Pick up this novel.I guarantee it will transform you. Highly, highly recommended.