Susanne's Reviews > The Heart's Invisible Furies

5 Absolutely Brilliant Amazing Stars.

Unforgettable, Heartbreaking and Humorous. In “The Heart’s Invisible Furies,” John Boyne takes us on the journey of Cyril Avery’s life. His loves and losses, his heartbreaks and his triumphs. He makes you laugh out loud hysterically and cry just as often. John Boyne makes you fall in love with every single character in this brilliant novel. Cyril, his best friend Julian Woodbead, Julian’s sister Alice, Bastiaan and Ignaac. After finishing it, my heart was full. “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” definitely tops one of my favorite books ever list. I hope it finds its way on yours as well.

In the 1940’s, Cyril Avery’s birth mother, Catherine Goggin, was cast out of the Catholic Church for being an unwed mother. Cyril was then adopted by Charles and Maude Avery. They have never considered him to be a “real” Avery. Then, at the age of seven, Cyril undergoes a defining moment. He meets Julian Woodbead and they do what all little boys do, expose themselves to each other. In that exact moment, Cyril knows. He likes boys. He also knows that in Ireland, in that day and age, it is not acceptable, thus Cyril keeps it a secret and so it begins. A life of keeping secrets.

Heart’s is brilliant, clever, heartfelt, humorous and sad. Moments of laughing out loud WICKEDLY and SOBBING hysterically. This novel progresses every seven years up until 2015, throughout Cyril’s life as a gay man. He is responsible for heartache and pain and equally experiences bigotry, racism, love and hate. No one gets out unscathed. John Boyne brilliantly ties characters and storylines together in a way that stunned me. I loved this novel like no other. All I can say is that I hope you will too. Read it. Read it now. You will NOT regret it.

I shared this reading experience with Brenda and Lindsay. Reading this together was incredible. Lindsay and I loved Cyril like no other character. I’m so glad I read this with my sisters! Thank you ladies. Love you both.

Published on Goodreads, Amazon, Twitter and Instagram on 3.11.18.