Book Review: Conditions of a Heart, by Bethany Mangle

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“I just invited Oliver to come here,” I deadpan. “Help.”

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down.” She slowly tilts her head back as she drains the rest of her drink, her eyes shutting briefly when it’s empty. “Oof. That’s bitter.” She rolls her hand in the air. “You may continue panicking now.”

I bend over, my subconscious rapidly calculating the odds that I throw up on Tori’s Birkenstocks-and-ankle-socks combo. “What was…what thinking? Why…do?”

Tori pats me consolingly on the head and gestures for me to follow her toward the kitchen. “Do you want breakfast? I have spinach quiche and egg wraps.”

“He’s going to be here in, like, an hour.” My attempts to slow my breathing turn into not breathing at all, leaving me somewhere between stunned blowfish and hyperventilating panic attack. I straighten suddenly and latch onto the sleeve of her oversized purple hoodie before she’s out of reach. “What do I do? What do I do?”

Brynn has never told anyone at her new school about her diagnosis. Now that it’s been years, is there any way to tell them that will let them ever trust her again?

Official synopsis:

Brynn Kwan is desperate for her high school persona to be real. That Brynn is head of the yearbook committee, the favorite for prom queen, and definitely not crumbling from a secret disability that’s rapidly wearing her down. If no one knows the truth about her condition, Brynn doesn’t have to worry about the pitying looks or accusations of being a faker that already destroyed her childhood friendships. She’s even willing to let go of her four-year relationship with her first love, Oliver, rather than reveal that a necessary surgery was the reason she ignored his existence for the entire summer.

But after Brynn tries to break up a fight at a pep rally and winds up barred from all her clubs and senior prom, she has nothing left to prop up her illusion of being just like everyone else. During a week-long suspension from school, she realizes that she doesn’t quite recognize the face in the mirror—and it’s not because of her black eye from the fight. With a healthy sister who simply doesn’t understand and a confused ex-boyfriend who won’t just take a hint and go away like a normal human being, Brynn begins to wonder if it’s possible to reinvent her world by being the person she thought no one wanted: herself.

Brynn decided to live her life at her new high school exactly as she wanted to. She became one of the most social students, building up to her senior year. She loves having everyone recognize how capable she is in heading up the yearbook committee, and she enjoys planning big events for the class, like prom. 

When she tries to break up a fight by talking, Brynn ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and in order to keep his own name clean, the rich kid causing the trouble tells the school that Brynn started it. To make an example of her, after her suspension, she is banned from the activities she loves for the rest of her senior year. A lot of soul-searching leads her to potentially change her life even more, if she can’t have it like she wants it.

This heartwarming story eventually has Brynn finding out who her true friends are, and realizing that she doesn’t have to do her life by herself. In spite of how much she values her impression of confidence and her independence, everyone needs help from family and friends sometimes. Brynn’s medical diagnosis means that she’s going to need more help than a lot of people along her journey.

The book was the best and worst of a stereotypical private school with the added intrigue of Brynn and her family trying to navigate her Ehlers-Danlos in secret (at Brynn’s request) through it all. In addition to being an entertaining book about the drama of a high-schooler’s senior year, it also was educational about her diagnosis and personal limitations. The book earned 4 out of 5 stars and would be a good read for those who like contemporary YA romance and family dramas.

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Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys reading, really good chicken salad sandwiches, and building Lego sets. Check out her other activities and book reviews on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.