LITERARY FICTION: The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

STORYTELLING: 5/5 

WRITING STYLE: 4/5 

THEMES/MESSAGE: 5/5 

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 4.5/5 

IMPACT/ENGAGEMENT: 4/5 

Total Grade: A- (90%)

“You need a story about your own life, or the bad stuff in your head writes the story for you” (345).

Before reading my review, you should know that it’s my first written review of anything ever. Sure, I’ve had to critique books and excerpts in an academic setting before, but this is my first tried and true review of a book I read for fun. I don’t want it to be an entire layout of the characters and their actions, nor the story that unfolds throughout the pages. Rather, I want this review to act as me telling you enough about The Road to Tender Hearts as a way to draw you in and consider reading it for yourself. Maybe I’ll throw in a couple of recommendations to pair it with as well. 

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I went into reading The Road to Tender Hearts partially blind, by that I mean that I knew it was a book about a father and a daughter that have a strained relationship, and some other characters going on a cross country road trip from Massachusetts to Arizona. And at face value that is part of the plot, yet it is only a slim piece of the overall picture. There are quite a few heavy themes throughout the story and while it is unfortunate to read about such things happening to others, I want to make it clear that the author doesn’t just throw these concepts at the characters to make them suffer or to exaggerate loss. These heavy themes are applied because it is a reflection of what life looks like for people, if anything these heavy themes become their own characters that are along for the ride in this small Massachusetts town as well as across the country. 

“It’s a story about horrible things that happen to people, and how on earth anyone can stomach raising children in a world where doom and disaster lurk around every corner” (10). 

There’s a handful of characters to keep track of throughout the novel, they’re all easy to track as their personalities make them feel like fully fleshed out people and not two dimensional characters on a page. It is easy to describe these characters and their actions, but I will refrain from saying too much about them so I don’t spoil the book too much for you. 

PJ Halliday is a $1.5 million lottery winner, an alcoholic, and a homebody who has only left his hometown once (and that was because he got drafted to fight in Vietnam, not exactly the most ideal reason to leave). PJ is the kind of character that you root for, but are disappointed by several times either by his actions or his words. Then there is Sophie, the daughter with whom PJ

has a strained relationship with, and for good reason too as there has been a lot of disappointment in their lives. Sophie is similar to nearly every 20-something I know, she has a not so great job, doesn’t know what she wants to do in life, likes the occasional edible, is considering going back to school, etc (there maybe a hint of projection in one of those statements, have fun guessing which one!). 

Along for the ride on this road trip are Luna Meeklin – age 10 – and Ollie Meeklin – age 9 – who at their young ages have had their fair share of tragedy recently happen to them (I won’t tell you how they get roped into this cross country trip, but it is a wild ride so buckle up). Although the Meeklin children are Irish twins that share a supernatural twin-like bond, they are entirely their own people. Luna is an outspoken child who knows a lot and just wants someone to listen to her; she also has a klepto streak and it’s a good idea to not let her have a pair of scissors. Ollie is the softer and quieter child, he wants his sister to be happy and for himself wants to be loved in a way that his parents didn’t really provide for him. And finally on this road trip is Pancakes the cat, who like most grown felines he has infinite and introspective knowledge on life, as well as death. 

“The cat was amused at these two idiot humans, talking about how unfair death is, when it’s one of the few things everyone gets. Death is a magnificent invention, the cat knew, because it’s the impermanence of life that makes it beautiful” (359). 

If you have ever been on a road trip that is well over 5 hours, paired with people that are similar to this character list, I’m sure you can infer how well this nearly 3,000 mile road trip goes. It is chocked full of shenanigans, an array of interesting people met along the way, on the nose named towns, seedy motels, sexual novelty mugs, McDonald’s (which tastes the same everywhere), and death. Yes, that’s right, death. I told you that some themes are their own characters and death is one of them, but this characterization of death isn’t scary or merciless, death is natural and is personal to everyone. Overall, this book is full of dark humor – even when there’s moments that may feel inappropriate to laugh at – love, disappointment, joy, anger, second chances, forgiveness, and so much else.

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Something to watch and something to listen to if you like The Road To Tender Hearts: 

Film: Bleeding Love (2023) follows a father and daughter on a road trip from Southern California to New Mexico (personally I think that a road trip with Ewan McGregor would do wonders for me, he’s an attractive man, sue me!). Both book and movie share these narratives of addiction and strained relationships between father and daughter, which are displayed incredibly well as we are clued into the resentment, disappointment, anger, and love that is felt by people who are in active addiction or recovery; as well as the reciprocation of those feelings from loved ones of the current/former addict. 

Music: The Great Divide: The Last Of The Bugs (2026) by Noah Kahan. I recommend listening to the album in its entirety all the way through in release order for your first listen. Kahan is one of those musicians whose detailed songwriting is truly amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. And there is so much depth to his music that each listen provides something new to focus on. Another thing that I love about his music is while he has his own perspective on the meaning of a song, he makes it so that the listener can add their own interpretation as well. There are so many songs on this album that pair perfectly with the book and its characters like “Willing and Able”, “Deny, Deny, Deny”, and “Spoiled” to name a few.