Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min

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Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min
Published by Flatiron Books on July 26, 2022
Age Group & Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Representation: Japanese-Korean main character, transgender main character, lesbian side character, Latinx side character
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Publisher

Lio Min’s Beating Heart Baby is an “achingly romantic” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock

When artistic and sensitive Santi arrives at his new high school, everyone in the wildly talented marching band welcomes him with open arms. Everyone except for the prickly, proud musical prodigy Suwa, who doesn’t think Santi has what it takes to be in the band.

But Santi and Suwa share painful pasts, and when they open up to each other, a tentative friendship begins. And soon, that friendship turns into something more. . . .

Will their fresh start rip at the seams as Suwa seeks out a solo spotlight, and both boys come to terms with what it'll take, and what they'll have to let go, to realize their dreams?

A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.

Trigger & Content Warnings: transphobia, homophobia, death of a parent, panic attack, smoking, alcohol, racism, deadnaming (not shown), child abuse

I feel like no matter what I write in this review, there’s nothing I could say that would truly capture what Beating Heart Baby probably deserves. Lio Min’s debut novel was deeply emotional, hit a lot of feels, and was messy in all the good ways.

The novel is set up like an album, with each chapter as a track and having a Side A and Side B, which the choir child in me absolutely loved. The two sides are two POVs: Santi (Side A) and Suwa (Side B). Side A starts with Santi moving to Los Angeles with a fresh slate, except the city isn’t exactly a fresh slate because it reminds him of Memo, someone he met on an anime forum in middle school and who he’s dreamt of visiting for years after they form a close friendship over the course of three years. But he doesn’t get that chance, not after he accidentally leaks a song sent from them that catches the attention of music labels when it should never have.

Santi is quickly welcomed by most members of the marching band of his new high school, except for Suwa, a musical prodigy who doesn’t think Santi belongs in the band. The two of them form a tentative friendship that eventually becomes something more. I loved all of the characters: their friendship and support they have for each other, the memories they had before and continue to form – they were absolute gems and deserve the entire world. Personal favorites include Aya, Suya and Cap.

Side B starts roughly halfway through Beating Heart Baby, set approximately a year and a half after the end of Side A and after Santi and Suwa have a falling out. While I expected the POV change from a mile away, I was still very much disoriented with the POV change because I was just very much moving along with the story like I do when listening to a new album from my favorite artist, and then boom.

Looking back on it, though, I think I appreciate it a lot more. Both sides explore identity, betrayal and found family, but Side A explores first love and seeking forgiveness while Side B explores second chances and acceptance. I also really liked getting to see the characters grow from their high school years and going on their own paths but also coming back and connecting with each other at their roots in LA, and I feel like the book’s format really explores those that another format probably wouldn’t have flowed as well.

I do think the novel is quite atmospheric; I really felt like I was there for the vibes and flowing along with the story after being thrown into the story a little. I enjoyed Min’s writing style a lot, especially their descriptive imagery that sometimes packed an emotional punch.

Beating Heart Baby explores identity, found family, first loves and second chances; much like life, it has its flaws and gets deep at times, but I think this may be the beauty of the novel. Overall, Min left me pondering over the book for hours after I read the last sentence and will likely do so for a long time.