Guard Your Heart

Although “Guard your heart,” is aimed at the young person’s market, it is a long time since this sixty three year old, felt as sad at reaching the end of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of immersing myself in this modern Romeo and Juliet love story, of Aidan and and Iona. The story is set in the summer of 2016, in the context of the Brexit referendum result, the Euros, the Olympics, and A level results. Aidan and Iona share a birthday, April 10th, 1998, the day of the Good Friday agreement, but little else. They have different church allegiances, political identities, sporting cultures, family histories, holiday destinations, and live in different areas of a city, which can't even agree on its name. The novel bursts into life through Iona being a witness to Aidan being brutally assaulted, after a drunken crossing of the Peace Bridge, on the night he finished his A Levels.Sue has been able to harness her experience of teaching history, and working in community relations in the Maiden City, to explore a wide variety of themes including, love, sexual attraction, domestic violence, intergenerational trauma, addiction, sectarianism, faith, redemption, and grief. Using witty realistic dialogue, as Iona and Aidan share the story telling duties, Sue introduces us to a wide variety of supporting characters, Theresa the fussy aunt, Paddy the Painter, Nan the doting but perceptive Granny, Adam the courageous loyalist bandsman, John the concerned policeman, Sean the disturbed brother, Mr Scott, the protective father, Daithi, the Franciscan spiritual director, Mr O’Suilleabhain, the supportive teacher, and Saoirse, the loving sister. Each character is given the space to evolve way beyond the stereotype.Finally a warning, either read, “Guard your heart”, when you have lots of time, for you will not want to put it down, or be prepared to exercise great discipline, in order to drag out the enjoyable reading experience.

This book develops into a real page turner as the relationship between Aidan and Iona grows. The familiar themes of forbidden love are given a brilliant freshness through the backdrop of post-troubles Derry. The coming-of-age angst is thrown into stark focus through the prism of divided societies that are trying to heal, but with so many barriers still to be addressed that the past casts a long shadow over the future. There is a deep understanding of the complexities of life in Northern Ireland but it used to complement the deep human interest story of the main characters. The troubles device never overshadows the love story at the heart of this book and I ended up caring about the characters and the place by the end. This book taught me and entertained me in equal measure and I hope that we hear a lot more from Sue Divin in the future. A very accomplished debut.

What a brilliant read! It’s right up there with some of my favourite books. So much more than a love story or a book about the legacy of the troubles or a book for young people - I’m 72. There are so many layers. Like others I read it in a couple of days. Just couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait for the next one. Thank you Sue.

Like many others, I found it difficult to put it down. The nearly 300 pages are telling a story of so much more than just two young people. If you live anywhere near Derry~Londonderry, you’d nearly feel as if you’ve walked passed them. The book tells a story without prejudice, shows the struggles of young people in a context of NI troubled history and portrays so many beautiful places. I cannot wait for Sue’s next book.

Guard Your Heart is a modern day Romeo and Juliet story set in Ireland that shows the modern day impact of the troubles and how years of prejudice still runs rife in the country. In this story Aiden (a catholic) and Iona (a protestant) are thrown together when Aiden is attacked and Iona films it on her phone. She manages to stop the attack by threatening to go to the police with the evidence. Iona and Aiden’s love story starts with this one act of selflessness.Among this story of forbidden love, prejudice, and religion is a story of class difference. How a persons station in life is determined by so many different factors and the hopelessness that you feel can be overwhelming.Overall, I really liked Guard Your Heart. At times, I did feel the pacing of the story was a bit slow but the final third of the novel had me reading as fast as I could and making me lose my breath. The sign of great writing in my opinion.

A fabulous debut novel which is so difficult to put down. I’ve just finished reading this wonderful book again this morning in tears and snotters. A reminder there is Hope even amongst all the recent events in Northern Ireland. So many of us see some of ourselves in Aidan and Iona and the relationships we’ve had. I hope like them we have a better legacy to leave our children. Here’s to it as people have been already saying - being on the schools reading list as truly everyone needs to hear and think about this story. You won’t regret this read. Can’t wait for the next novel.

This was the 1st book in a long time that I just did not want to put down! From the get go I was involved with Aidan and Iona. I especially liked how the story was told from the character's perspective and it just drew you in to find out what happened next. The struggles of each character based on their community and heritage were informative and thought provoking. It was interesting to realise that despite 'Peace' the struggles of the past are still real for the Youth of today. It was a roller coaster of emotions and wondering will they/won't they. I now live in the city where the book was set and the detailed descriptions of each place really made the story come alive- I felt like I had walked where they walked.This book is suitable not just for teeneagers but also for adults and I really feel would be a suitable text for the curriculum. I look forward to reading many more books by Sue Divin.