Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Learned by Heart

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue

3 reviews

hmatt's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm not generally one for slow, introspective fiction, but Donoghue does it well and I was intrigued by the premise of this one. I feel as though the story lulls midway through, though, and I didn't get much from it after that... I'm also not sure that I like the framing of the letters from the future. That didn't work for me, although I suppose I see why the author wrote it that way.

I think I would have preferred a bit of a mystery fade-to-black situation after Lister leaves with her broken leg. The end as it is felt a bit tacked-on and really jolted me as a reader out of the atmosphere the rest of the novel created.

I do think others will enjoy this more deeply, it just wasn't the right pace and vibe for me.

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ruthlessreads's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This wonderfully researched historical fiction based on a true story explores the budding relationship of two young girls at boarding school in 19th century England--Eliza Raine & Anne Lister. It's a beautiful & heart breaking love story but I do think it's quite a slow read. If you aren't interested in character studies, especially if they're delivered with historical minutiae & strict attention to detail, then this might not be the book for you.

As someone who really enjoys reading about this time period and about historical queer people, I loved this book. It was carefully researched and I can tell that Donoghue took a lot of care in her characterization of both Lister & Raine. Be warned that this is not a story that ends happily so I don't recommend going into this if you're looking for a soft, happy romance.

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njh_books's review

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Having a decent background knowledge of Anne Lister, reading a historical fiction account about a section of her life where a lot of the information is missing, is quite interesting. Also seeing Anne Lister from someone else's eyes is refreshing as most stories about her have been either told from her perspective (her journals) or closely follow her (<i>Gentleman Jack</i>). We often discuss the adult Lister, but it is thought-provoking to think about how she was in her teens--what she would have been like and what she would have been up to.

That being said, this book is slow paced. The first 25 pages were long and the first 100 got slightly better, but were still long. The first really romantic scenes/actions between Lister and Raine occur in the 190s/306 pages. Slow burn of slow burns with a slow pace.

The letters from Eliza from the present back to the Eliza in 1805/1806 didn't work as smoothly for me as I would've liked. Without a lot of the information I already had about Lister and Raine, I think I would've often been left confused.

I think the premise is nice, but the plot almost cuts off as soon as it starts. Just when Raine and Lister finally seem to have some happiness, it's gone from Lister breaking her leg by falling off the school wall. I don't think we know the real reason why Lister left the Manor School, but for who she was, breaking a leg in such a careless way seemed strangely out of character.

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