A Matter of Heart by Amy Fellner Dominy (review)

In the swimming pool, sixteen-year-old Abby Lipman feels fast, fierce, and important. With a shot at the upcoming Olympic trials, she is at the top of her game, earning praise from her taciturn coach, kisses from her hot boyfriend, Connor, and long late-night conversations with her dad, a former swimmer whose own promising career was derailed by an injury. When she faints after a competition, a visit to the doctor reveals that she has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart condition that often manifests during adolescence and, if unidentified or untreated, can result in death. Abby is lucky: by taking beta blockers daily, she can lead a normal life, though she can no longer swim competitively. Unfortunately, Abby fixates on the last part, lying to her concerned friends and overly invested father as she concocts a plan to swim in the Olympic trials. While her intense identification as a swimmer is understandable, her insistence on competing despite both the doctor’s warnings and her repeated near-blackouts grows tedious and unrelatable. Luckily, Dominy’s prose clips along fast enough to keep readers moving in spite of the occasionally ham-fisted exposition, or the implied but never addressed romantic feelings her friend, Jen, has for her; Abby’s constant ogling of Connor’s killer bod and the sexual tension between her and Alec (Connor’s nemesis) add a steamy touch. Abby’s journey is believable enough, and the subject matter will likely pique readers’ interest; an author’s note provides useful information on HCM.