Bad On Paper Podcast Book Club: “Heart the Lover” by Lily King

Hosts: Becca Freeman & Olivia Muenter
Date: October 29, 2025
Book: Heart the Lover by Lily King

Episode Overview

In this vibrant October book club episode, Becca and Olivia dive deep into Lily King's Heart the Lover, dissecting its powerful themes of love, loss, regret, and the bittersweet "what-ifs" that linger through life. Sharing live, unfiltered reactions, they explore the novel’s narrative structure, complex character relationships (including a particularly poignant love triangle), and the surprise connection to King’s earlier work, Writers & Lovers. The discussion is candid, emotional, and enlivened by the hosts’ personal anecdotes and literary insights.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Personal Highs & Lows

[01:03 – 04:35]

• Becca celebrates the momentum for her own forthcoming book, describing the excitement as “when everything feels possible and exciting” [01:44, Becca].
• Olivia rejoices over finding the perfect pillows for her vibrant striped couch, adding: “It just feels like the perfect little addition” [02:25, Olivia].
• Becca recounts finding out her illness was simply a broken heater, quipping, “I was just physically cold” and relaying a repairman’s worrying “I’ve never seen anything like this before” [04:04, Becca], but reassures all is now fixed.

Story Recap: What is Heart the Lover About?

[06:12 – 06:47]

• Becca provides the synopsis: the protagonist, Jordan, in her senior year of college, becomes involved in a love triangle with Sam and Yash, fellow English majors. These relationships shape the rest of her life across multiple decades.

Initial Reactions

[06:47 – 08:27]

• Olivia “loved it,” far more than Writers & Lovers, praising the clarity and emotional resonance: “The core of the story felt more clear to me” [07:45, Olivia].
• Both agree the writing is “so different” from what typically draws Olivia in, yet it engrossed her this time.

Comparing to Writers & Lovers

[08:46 – 10:07]

• The hosts find Heart the Lover more focused and emotionally grounded than its predecessor. Olivia notes: “What might have been, and just dreaming of different paths… I just really liked it.”

Emotional Impact & Grief Representation

[08:46 – 12:13]

• Becca highlights how the portrayal of grief, especially in the book’s third act as Yash is dying, is “so masterful,” capturing the “mundanity of it… how stupid and simultaneously important everything feels” [08:46, Becca]. Olivia adds: “It never felt melodramatic… very lived in and real and warm” [09:44, Olivia].
• Both share intense emotional responses, with Olivia preparing to “go into emotional battle” after hearing how many readers cried, and Becca recalling reading (and weeping) on a plane [10:07 – 12:03].

Major Analytical Themes

The Connection to Writers & Lovers

[12:14 – 17:53]

• The hosts discuss the final reveal: Jordan is, in fact, Casey from Writers & Lovers. Olivia identified this due to overlapping life details, but Becca, despite rereading Writers & Lovers, did not pick up on it until pointed out on Instagram.
• They relay author Lily King’s process: she did not set out for the books to connect, and the overlap evolved late in writing.
• Becca shares that only a tiny continuity issue exists—otherwise, the cross-book narrative feels plausible.

Love Triangles—Why They Work

[19:37 – 22:37]

• The hosts analyze Lily King’s “favorite shape,” the love triangle (per a witty Minnesota Star Tribune review).
• Olivia relates to the “realism” of being in the wrong relationship in college, noting, “It just felt so real to me that…in college you’d be in this type of relationship that brings you to this other person.”
• Both hosts had strong reactions to Yash’s ponytail: “I was furious that Lily King made me root so hard for a man with a ponytail” [22:32, Becca].

Structure: Three-Part Narrative

[22:42 – 24:43]

• The novel unfolds over three acts: college, marriage with children, and death/grief.
• Becca found the third section “what made this book my favorite,” while Olivia was most gripped by the intense and complicated second part, saying: “I would have read a hundred more pages in that scene, to be honest” [24:35, Olivia].

The Significance of “Heart the Lover” and Sir Hincomb Funnybuster

[24:45 – 28:20]

• The recurring fictional card game both gives the book its title and grounds its themes. Its presence across decades “made the book feel so real and so lived in” [25:15, Becca].
• The hosts humorously debate what Sir Hincomb Funnybuster would look like: a rabbit, or a “human peanut hybrid. Definitely a monocle, even if not in peanut form” [28:00, Olivia].

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Her ability to portray [the process of dying] is so masterful. Like just the mundanity of it, how much it has to do with food and chairs and, like, how stupid and simultaneously important everything feels.” —Becca [08:46]
• “It never felt melodramatic to me, you know? It felt very lived in and real and warm.” —Olivia [09:44]
• “I wanted you guys to just be together so much, but I didn’t.” —Olivia on the tension and regret at the heart of the story [36:09]
• “I was like, I’m ready to forgive you, Sam. Like, you got your cot. You’re, like, sleeping at the hospital.” —Becca, on character redemption [46:39]
• “If someone out there feels particularly emotionally attached to this book, I just want to say: Sir Hinkomb Funny Buster would be a great name for a pet.” —Olivia [27:35]
• “Why does any book, including my own, need to be longer than 249 pages if this is what you could do with 249 pages?” —Becca, in awe of the novel’s brevity and power [47:15]

Noteworthy Details

Spoiler Alert: The Last-Minute Pregnancy Plot

[40:33 – 41:34]

• Becca shares a fascinating behind-the-scenes fact from a Lily King reading: the storyline about Jordan’s pregnancy and adoption was added just 11 days before the final manuscript was due. The second section (Olivia’s favorite) was massively expanded at the 11th hour.

Universality and Book Club Popularity

[50:24 – 51:54]

• This book received “the most universally liked book club pick” response, possibly ever, with Becca noting, “I haven’t seen a single person who was like, eh, it wasn’t for me.”

Segment Timestamps

• Highs & lows: 01:03 – 04:35
• Book summary: 06:12 – 06:47
• Initial reactions: 06:47 – 08:27
• Grief & emotional impact: 08:46 – 12:13
• Writers & Lovers connection: 12:14 – 17:53
• Love triangle & character analysis: 19:37 – 22:37
• Three-part structure: 22:42 – 24:43
• Card game & title discussion: 24:45 – 28:20
• Pregnancy plot and structure revelations: 40:33 – 41:34
• Universality & reader response: 50:24 – 51:54
• Final thoughts on length, writing style, intent: 47:15 – 48:55

Final Thoughts

• The hosts commend Lily King’s “sparse,” “restrained,” yet incredibly affecting prose [47:58, Olivia].
• Side characters are deftly handled: “There was just so much in this book, and yet it was such a tight package” [48:20, Becca].
• The ending, open yet resolved, left both satisfied, focusing not on answers but on the emotional journey and “the beauty in what goes sideways” [49:24, Olivia].

Next Book Club Pick

• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, described as the “perfect November read,” predominantly told via letters and notes, exploring themes of family and connection [66:19 – 66:58].

Quick Pick Recommendations

• Becca: Ready or Not by Cara Bastone (tender romance), The Kiss of The Basilisk by Lindsay Straub (wild, smutty romantasy).
• Olivia: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (cozy, epistolary novel).
• TV: The Diplomat Season 3 (recommended by Becca), and Twinless (cringe, thought-provoking drama per Olivia).

For discussion and community, join the Bad On Paper Facebook group or follow on Instagram. Olivia’s debut novel “Little One” is now available for pre-order.

This episode offers a heartfelt, insightful, and spoiler-rich analysis of the nuance and emotional gravity in Lily King’s Heart the Lover, celebrating its structure, characters, and literary magic.