In A Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

Amelia has been waiting for years for a new heart; if she doesn't get one soon, she will die. Eagan is a competitive figure skater who has a difficult relationship with her mom. Eagan suffers a freak accident while competing and dies; Amelia is the person who receives her heart. After she wakes up, Amelia feels happy, guilty, and a bit...not like herself. She's sarcastic, for one thing, and speaks back to her parents, and she's taken an interest in...figure skating? Amelia is determined to learn more about the girl whose heart she now has and to figure out a way to let Eagan rest in peace.

I really liked the premise of the novel - it has just a bit of a supernatural vibe, but the kind of one that still seems kind of plausible. I liked the journey that Amelia has to go one as the recipient of a new heart, processing survivor guilt, dealing with the fact that there was a time on the operating table when she didn't have a heart at all, viewing herself as a kind of monster made up of spare parts. Eagan's story reminded me a lot of The Everafter, but with figure skating. I could have lived without the love-interest character for Amelia, but even he was enjoyable, and overall this was a different sort of story that I'm glad I picked up.


Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The Next Competitor by K.P. Kincaid
Six Months to Live by Lurlene McDaniel
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan
The Everafter by Amy Huntley