Beating Heart Baby

Written by Lio Min

Narrated by Alejandro Antonio Ruiz and Jensen Silvio

Lio Min’s Beating Heart Baby is a “dizzying, sexy, and utterly heartfelt” (Mary H. K. Choi) love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock

When artistic and sensitive Santi arrives at his new high school, everyone in the wildly talented marching band welcomes him with open arms. Everyone except for the prickly, proud musical prodigy Suwa, who doesn’t think Santi has what it takes to be in the band.

But Santi and Suwa share painful pasts, and when they open up to each other, a tentative friendship begins. And soon, that friendship turns into something more. . . .

Will their fresh start rip at the seams as Suwa seeks out a solo spotlight, and both boys come to terms with what it'll take, and what they'll have to let go, to realize their dreams?

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Jul 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9781250855732

Lio Min

Lio Min writes about music, magic, and sadness at the nexus of queer youth culture and metamorphic Asia America. Their culture reporting and fiction have appeared in The FADER, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, Nylon, and many other outlets. They live in California.

Reviews for Beating Heart Baby

[Kimberly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful and gay. I liked it for the most part but the middle is what got me

[Mayra Rulli · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What an amazing book! The audiobook was incredible, I really recommend it.

[Dan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love love love this story. Emotional, gutting, relatable...but the kind of love story you find yourself revisiting as you continue to digest the complexities of bravely loving yourself in order to truly love someone else. Santi is easily one of my new favorite literary characters; He loves fiercely--in a way few people ever really know, if any. While listening to this book, an hour and a half marking the ending-I felt the sting of a great story that would inevitably end and leave me alone with my feelings. But one that would now forever be part of what all the others measure up to.