I've read all the Emily Giffin books and enjoyed them all...but this one..depressing. Not a feel-good story at all.

I had high hopes of this book, but they quickly faded. The characters for the most part were not likable, or relate-able. I thought there would be some interesting way the womens lives came together, but no. If you want to read about cheaters and infidelity then read away...

***SPOILERS ALERT!*** Emily Giffin sure knows how to write a novel. When I first started reading Heart of the Matter, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me thought that Giffin strayed from the usual love story to something more serious as the story begins mainly with Charlie, a young boy who gets severe burns after a sleepover incident. But then we meet Nick, Charlie’s plastic surgeon, and sparks fly between him and Charlie’s mom, Valerie. Oh, but I should mention one thing – Nick is married with 2 children. Valerie and Nick start out as friends, innocently enough. Talk always begins with Charlie and his progress, but eventually the two are texting and phoning each other daily with sentiments such as “I miss you” and the like. One night they end up making love and Nick admits that he’s falling for Valerie. The crazy thing is that I actually found myself rooting for Valerie and Nick to be together as the story went on (even though, in my heart I knew that he would ultimately end up with Tessa). I don’t know if it was intentional on Giffin’s part, but I found Tessa, Nick’s wife, to be annoying and unlikable. Part of the higher society, Tessa was friends with those “desperate housewife” type of women – Romy, the mother of Grayson, who’s sleepover Charlie was attending when the accident happened, seemed so high and mighty and actually brought a bottle of wine as an “I’m sorry” gift to Valerie in the hospital; and April, who is constantly gossiping about everyone. However, this book didn’t turn out to be about love at all – well, at least it wasn’t right at the front burner. The novel turned out to be about forgiveness and forgiving just to forgive, not holding grudges, showing grace and courage when the time calls for it. What do you do when your son is burned at a party? Do you sue the parents who should have been watching the children in their care who are playing around the fire? Can you forgive the parents for what they’ve done? What do you do when your husband has an affair with a woman, not for sex, but for love – for wanting to be with her because it feels like it did in the beginning of your relationship? Can you forgive your husband? Can you forgive the woman? So many questions are brought up and the book turns out to be more serious than I had expected. Even though part of me still kind of wishes that Nick and Valerie ended up together, the story ended up being more about the women than the guy. After Nick admits to his wife that he had an affair and she orders him to get out of the house, we lose Nick entirely. The reader is then left to see how Valerie and Charlie cope with the loss (which is hard for Charlie since he doesn’t have a father – Nick was a father-figure to him), and to see how Tessa reacts to this news of the affair. While it ends well for all parties, the reader is left knowing that it’s not that simple – it’s not an “Oh, you cheated, but I still love you” kind of ending. It’s more of an “I know you cheated, and I may not be able to trust you again, but we can start over – we can work through this pain – it won’t be the same, but maybe we can make our life better” kind of ending. It’s leaving the reader wondering what does happen after the pages end – does Nick cheat again? Do him and Tessa realize that maybe they can’t make it work? Does Valerie manage to contact Lion, Charlie’s father? Are they able to move on? My only complaint about this book is that we never really get into Nick’s head. I loved seeing him interact with Charlie, though it’s sad when Charlie realizes that Nick may not be coming back in the end. When Nick met up with Valerie to break off the affair, he told her he loved her and will always love her. Even Tessa said that he loves this other woman, but can’t be with her. It just amazes me that he can say that he loves Valerie and then go home and beg his wife for forgiveness and tell Tessa how much he loves her. However, he did tell Valerie that he has a family to think about and he doesn’t want to ruin what he has with them. I don’t know what to think – I did really like Nick in this book, but I think I enjoyed the surgeon Nick, rather than the groveling, down-on-bended-knee Nick. Though, I do wonder if my dislike for Nick is because of Giffin’s writing or because he is the adulterer, the one who is cheating on someone in this novel. I’m sad that I devoured this book so quickly and now have to wait at least another year or so until Giffin releases her next effort. Though, I am happy to have found such a wonderful author who can have so many things going on in a novel – love, loss, pain, suffering, happiness, etc. – but still manages to get to the heart of the matter. That is, what really matters in life – having hope.

This book was definitly not like her other books, it was an interesting read, but I agree with some other posts that the end left me feeling like I wanted more. All in all though, really enjoy Emily Giffin's novels and can't wait for the next one to come out!

I usually love Emily Giffin, but her last 2 books haven't been my taste. This book was dragged out and when you hit the end my thoughts were "thats it?!" felt like it was a waste of my time.. and will prob not read any of her up coming books.

Good read very interesting! Love Emily Giffin & everything she writes!

Have never read an Emily Giffen book but have to say will read her work in the future. Very much enjoyed the two perspectives and found myself sympathizing all the characters in many elements. Found it to be an easy read and an easy story to follow. Would recommend.

This book was a bit of a surprise in the beginning. It wasn't like Emily Giffin's usual books. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it was a kind of slow paced. I really didn't like the ending, though. The dialogue was really unrealistic.

I enjoyed this book but found it to be quite different from her other books. It actually read more like a Jodi Piccoult novel with the two female characters alternating the narrative. I found the ending a bit weak and I wished that there were chapters devoted to the man's perspective as well as it was hard to understand his actions as they were only shown through the two women's eyes. I enjoyed the story itself, especially the cameos by Rachel and Dex, and found it to be very thought provoking but I definitely enjoyed Something Borrowed and Something Blue a lot more.

I usually really enjoy reading Giffin's novel, however, I was a bit disappointed in this one. I couldn't relate to the characters personally. I've never completely related to any of Giffin's characters as I'm in my early 20's and have never been in a serious relationship. However, in Giffin's other novels, I would still feel a sort of connection to the character.s I found myself confused from constantly switching from liking characters to not liking them. The ending didn't leave me with a feeling of satisfaction. Even if Nick had made the other choice, or Tessa made the other choice, I don't think I would have been satisfied. I don't want to accept what Nick and Val say at the end either. Even if it is the truth, I can't personally accept it. Giffin took a much more serious tone to this novel compared to her other ones. Although I would never say her previous novels were not serious at all, I always felt a sort of light-hearted, chic-lit feel from them. This was not the case for Heart of the Matter. It was pure business. Giffin does cause the reader to think about what is a marraige, and the affects an affair has on everyone.