Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Pull of the Stars

"The Pull of the Stars" by Emma Donoghue is a beautifully written and deeply moving novel that takes place during the 1918 flu pandemic in Dublin, Ireland. The story follows Nurse Julia Power, who is tasked with caring for pregnant women who have contracted the deadly virus and have been quarantined in a small ward.

I picked this book up after a reading a novel I very much HATED. pretty much anything that I would read afterwards was golden in comparison because my standards had gone LOOOOOWWW.

I really liked the main character, Julia Powers, a 30 year old nurse living with her brother, Tim.

Tim is a WW1 veteran who was rendered mute after his time in the trenches —- and like .. damn … he’s not the same anymore 😭😭 he’ll never be the same anymore … he deserves the world omg

Julia’s an incredibly resilient character, and that must come from her 8 years of nursing experience. The way she powers through and commits to her patients, putting them before herself —damn !! good for u girl

However, as many pandemic-themed works, The Pull Of The Stars lacks conflict. There is barely any tension apart from dangers of the Great Flu—including the romantic attraction between Julia and Bridie! Their dialogue feels natural, mind you, and I found myself completely immersed within scenes of action and high emotion, I found it hard to connect with the characters and their interactions because I didn’t feel like I was supposed to CARE about them.

The Pull Of The Stars was a great book, and I breezed through it within a matter of hours. But overall I felt like it had a lot of potential to go further in depth about certain characters and their relationships in the novel — particularly Tim! I simply feel like there’s so much about him that (for lack of a better word) goes unsaid. His role in the novel as a reminder of the toll that war has on those who fought was SO interesting to me especially because of how it demonstrated the impact that war had on soldiers when they returned home to their families to resume civilian life. And I would’ve loved if the book went further into that. Tim feels like a prop in some ways, just so that Julia can point and go ‘yes we are in a war and that is what happens in war he is an example that is it’ — perhaps it’d make for a more impactful read if there were flashback scenes to before the war, to contrast the past v present and portray a heartbreaking theme of trauma and loss experienced by the characters— both in the context of the pandemic and the first world war. Perhaps I’d feel more engaged with this book if it delved deeper into Julia and Tim’s respective backgrounds—Who were they, before the War? How did Julia react when her brother returned, unable to utter a single word? What can they do to move forward, in a time of drastic change and industrialisation, when their very lives were so shaken by a horrifying World War, followed by an even more brutal pandemic?

Overall, The Pull Of The Stars was an interesting read and I’ll definitely keep it on my list of rereads. I loved the scenes where Julia and Bridie were alone together to banter on their own, and I adored anything to do with Tim because I think he deserves the world. But the lack of conflict and feelings of urgency in this novel is definitely what made me drop this down from a 5 star rating.

Content Warnings

clemrain's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, Gore, Violence, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Drug abuse, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual violence

This shattering story takes place over three strenuous days of a nurse and runner in a maternity ward during the influenza pandemic. It’s a difficult, slow read that dives into the little hours of horrors experienced by the most vulnerable. I don’t really have the words for this book. I had a very vague knowledge of the influenza pandemic. But academic readings don’t do the justice to this tragic period of time. This book does and I think it’s because it’s takes a very small real part of the pandemic and focuses on it. The world is so much more than just the grand scheme of things. I don’t know much about Ireland’s history past the famine most of us are taught about. But of course just like any country, Ireland had its l share of religious trauma. I wanted to scream and yell and cry. The romance was so fleeting but it was impactful. I wish it had been woven into the plot a bit earlier but

it was seamless and quick and sad. Of course Bridie would. Sad end to her, and I don’t exactly appreciate a woman’s death being used as a way to develops another character—even if it’s a woman rather than the regular man in most stories.

Nurse Power is a dear character to me. Complicated and closed, but just doing the most she can while keeping her head on her shoulder. She’s named Power for a reason. Bridie Sweeney, what a darling character. So innocent but so weathered. Beautiful written. It’s a hard read. The old speak and Irish slang had me pause and googling a lot. And there aren’t many books that truly cover such a small space of time in a full novel. As you’d expect it can get very overwhelming and difficult to read. But it’s a rewarding and educational and definitely worth the trek.

ladysanctuary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

booksandbargains's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

margaretrose's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Content Warnings

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