Alive by Chandler Baker (review)

A heart transplant gives seventeen-year-old Stella a new lease on life, but she’s still troubled by weird visions and ongoing pain, especially a fierce paroxysm that arrives at the same time every day. When dreamy new guy Levi Zin shows up, though, their budding romantic relationship thrills Stella and also seems to ease her physical torment. After Levi’s magnetism turns into controlling behavior, Stella sensibly breaks it off, only to find that Levi’s still deeply interested in her—and that he may be connected to the murder of a girl who was found with her heart torn out. The writing occasionally strays into awkwardness or cliché, but in general the story is cinematically engaging with some sharp touches amid the enjoyable cheesiness. It’s refreshing that Stella dumps Levi despite their intense connection, and loyal Henry is a rock-solid friend/ally/wannabe boyfriend. The book keeps things gratifyingly ominous for some time, with a teasingly late reveal of the fact that Levi (whose name is an anagram for “evil”) is the former owner of Stella’s heart, returned from the dead to claim his own. This will be a satisfying gallop of a read for those who hold low-gore, high-concept supernatural horror dear to their non-transplanted hearts.