The Half Hearted Girl

On one side of the world a girl is born with half of a heart, at the very same time on the other side of the world a boy is born with half a soul. When one day they meet in the the very middle of the world. The Half Hearted Girl is part graphic novel, modern fairy tale, romance, adventure, and storybook. This book is packed with tons of amazing illustrations. The Half Hearted Girl: Review by BookBlogger The Half Hearted Girl ( 2 words not hyphenated) is a black and white fully illustrated book. The story, writing style, and art are relevant to people of all ages, however I think the target audience is probably around 11-20 years of age. I wish it was easier for me to classify this book, but it simply stands alone. I want to be clear that this book is by no means some Obscure novelty book. With a page count of around 100 and with so many illustrations it is hard to classify by modern literary classifications. I think of it more like a modern fairy tale. This is a book you would have seen in books stores 70 years ago. It is similar to some of the works of Hans Christian Andersen. I call it a modern fairy tale because their is no physical antagonist in this story. The challenge our Protagonist has to face is that of an internal nature. The main theme of this story is about love and soul mates and how meeting another person can sometimes help us become a more complete person ourselves. The story follows the life of The Half Hearted Girl and her quest to seek out wholehearted things. When one day she discovers something special. This discovery sends her off on an adventure. The author now tells a parallel story of The Half Soul Boy. Who one day also discovers something that leads him off on an adventure of his own. Layered inside of the main story line is a coming of age tale with some very significant and meaningful insights about life, the emptiness we all feel inside at times, and the great mortal coil . There is a real longing so many of us feel to try something new, to meet someone new, to go someplace new, and to find out what is over the horizon. We often think that somehow we will find what ever it is we are missing if we just keep looking, but somehow it's always just one more step away. Often times as humans be do not appreciate who and what we have around us, and how amazing our lives are until we seek out the unknown. What do most of us find out there beyond the rim of the world? Well, some of us do find our Soul Mates, but we also find the answer to our own unique question, the same question that set us on our journey to begin with. The answer more often than not is that all we need, all we love, and all that matters was always there all along we just needed to see the world and to gain knowledge; we just needed to meet new people to gain experiences, so that through comparison we can see who we are, where we come from, and what matters most to each of us. We often get restless and start feeling trapped. This is something a lot of us deal with all of our lives. Perhaps we feel like the daily routine is like living with half of a heart or half, of half of a soul. Sometimes we just have to get far enough away from those things, those people, and those places and to realize there is nothing out there in the unknown that we will find under some rock that will somehow complete our lives and make everything perfect. Even when we find the one thing we seek it always comes with a choice. After all isn't life often about giving up something you want, for something you want more? That is my own interpretation of the story, I do feel the author may have had a more literal meaning in mind, but that is one of the wonderful things about every story I have read from Sandra Harvey. Ultimately it is for you to decide. Do not miss out on this incredibly wonderful and life changing story, with amazing illustrations by Calum Jones.