Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka

The Quick Cut: A girl struggles to move on with life six months after her heart transplant.  

A Real Review:    Thank you to Candlewick Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.    Although organ transplants are a common occurrence in today's medical community, they are much more complex than they seem. Having a new organ from another individual is truly taking a piece of them. However, do these parts play a role in who you become post transplantation? This is one of the questions brought up in the story centered on Chloe.   Chloe has spent her life trying to get good grades and make all the right moves for a solid future. However, when she collapses during a cross country meet, life spirals out. It turns out she has a rare heart condition, which requires a transplant. Now she's six months post operation and struggling to keep her life going. Suddenly she's struggling in school and finding herself interested in new hobbies (along with new nightmares). Is she getting more than a heart from her donor? What is happening to her?   This story has an intriguing premise, but I couldn't keep myself from nit-picking as I continued to read. While the post transplant lifestyle and it's struggles are well covered, the way the book grazes over that transplant waiting period bothered me. The way it's written makes it look like waiting on the list is easier than it actually is.   In addition, the book seems to struggle between two premises: keeping a magical aspect to the story and discussing the possibility of cellular memory being real. The author attempts to balance both and fails to realize either in the process. That plot twist ended up frustrating me more than anything.   Cellular memory is a fascinating concept that I think would have played out better in an adult novel. The audience would've been more interested in the idea than young adults will be.   A struggle to balance two ideas makes this story fall flat.  My rating: 3 out of 5