When I picked up The Darkest Corner of the Heart by Lisina Coney, I thought I was signing up for a fun little romance. One would think, by the title, I would have realized I was about to embark on a very deep and very emotional journey. Alas, I didn’t blink an eye, and the novel ended up surprising me in more ways than one. 

The book revolves around a ballerina whose perfectionist attitude becomes her downfall. Her only life dream is to attend a very prestigious ballet school, which becomes impossible when she breaks her ankle and misses out on her once-in-a-lifetime audition.

The main character, Maddie Stevens, is devastated and falls into depression. This fact alone is already a touching electment to the book, yet the reader learns of her traumatic backstory which further emphasizes the fact that this book is not just a fluffy romance. 

Maddie ends up going to physical therapy and meets (you guessed it) her physical therapist, James Simmons and her love-interest. I loved reading about their relationship unfolding throughout the book; especially since they both had so much in common. 

The book dives deep into impactful themes such as family, loss, and forgiveness. Both main characters have family members that have wronged them, and yet learn how to let go of their grudges. 

I felt that the message of the novel was clear throughout the entire story: in order to live a meaningful life, you don’t have to necessarily forgive the people in charge of your trauma, but you have to let it go. Without doing that, you will keep being dragged back from your true potential. 

The actual writing itself was good, but not great. Sometimes there were moments where I felt the character was making a decision or acting in a way that was not parallel with their personality but done for the sake of the plotline. 

Despite this, the author did a great job of creating morally gray characters. I find stories that have a clear “bad guy” and “good guy” are often books that feel unrealistic and surface-level. Yet, The Darkest Corner of the Heart only had characters that had both light and darkness. It was refreshing to connect to the MFC who felt so deeply. 

Maddie’s commitment to her dancing was also a cool aspect to read about. I have never read a book about ballet, so it was exciting to learn about a new sport since the author wrote heavily on how rigorous and taxing it can be. 

Additionally, the relationship between Maddie and her older brother was such an interesting dynamic. WIthout spoiling anything, Maddie’s brother (who is twenty years older than her) is her father figure since he took care of her since she was a child. This sibling relationship was the cutest to read about because of how protective he was over her. 

The romance was also amazing, yet I did feel like the age gap between the characters was over exaggerated. Their age gap (10 years) served as their greatest obstacle, but I felt like it was a cheap excuse for the author to find some reason to keep them apart. I understand if it proved to be an issue in the beginning; one that they had to get over. However, a major chunk of the book revolved around this which made the novel boring at some points. 

Overall, I rated this book a 3.5/5.