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Heartsick: Three Stories of Falling in Love . . . And What Happens After it Ends by Jessie Stephens
thebookishkimmy's review against another edition
4.0
I agree with Jessie when she says that sometimes when you're going through something hard, you want to know someone else has felt the same way you have. Sometimes, what you need is stories that speak into what you're going through, not how-tos or self-help guides. You just want something that makes you feel less alone.
This is a truly absorbing account of three people falling in love and then their heartbreak. It isn't a breakup book about revenge or steps to moving on or filled with meaningless motivational quotes. It is true stories from real people of their experience with heartbreak.
I really enjoyed it, I love reading people's stories and I felt this was tangible and honest. I'd recommend it if you're going through a breakup, feel like reflecting on past relationships or just want to hear someone else's experience of love and heartbreak.
This is a truly absorbing account of three people falling in love and then their heartbreak. It isn't a breakup book about revenge or steps to moving on or filled with meaningless motivational quotes. It is true stories from real people of their experience with heartbreak.
I really enjoyed it, I love reading people's stories and I felt this was tangible and honest. I'd recommend it if you're going through a breakup, feel like reflecting on past relationships or just want to hear someone else's experience of love and heartbreak.
hoovertronic's review against another edition
4.0
This has been a book that captivated me with its capacity to describe feelings in a way I had never known. I picked up this book when Trent Dalton's Love Stories left me with a sense of unfulfillment.
It was a wonderful journey going through the highest of love highs with our characters but it was gut wrenching when we hit the lows.
It was a wonderful journey going through the highest of love highs with our characters but it was gut wrenching when we hit the lows.
rachhenderson's review against another edition
4.0
This book ended up on my To Read list because I follow Mia Freedman and she recommended it (it would be pretty weird for an employer to mention that their employee had written a book and not recommend it). Jessie occasionally appears in Mia's Facebook videos and I was curious about what her writing would be like.
Jessie says in the introduction to the book that it is primarily to let people experiencing heartbreak know that they are not allow, but also to give them somewhere to wallow. As a 40-something woman who doesn't foresee heartbreak in her near future, I didn't personally feel I needed to read this, but wondered if it might be one that I'd finish and then dash to buy by own copy (I borrowed from the library) so I have it on hand when my children inevitably experience their first heartbreak sometime in the next 10 years or so. But I don't think I will.
The three stories are very interesting, but unlikely to appeal to a teen going through their first heartbreak. The youngest of the three protagonists is still well into his mid 20s when his engagement breaks down. All three stories relate to fairly long term, more mature relationships than the first pang of young love lost.
The stories are very interesting (I read the whole book in a day) but I feel there was much more of the "in a relationship" bit than the "heartbreak" bit, so I'm not sure the book really met it's goal.
The final chapter touched very lightly on how different genders and cultures deal with heartbreak. This was really interesting and I would have liked more of this.
Jessie says in the introduction to the book that it is primarily to let people experiencing heartbreak know that they are not allow, but also to give them somewhere to wallow. As a 40-something woman who doesn't foresee heartbreak in her near future, I didn't personally feel I needed to read this, but wondered if it might be one that I'd finish and then dash to buy by own copy (I borrowed from the library) so I have it on hand when my children inevitably experience their first heartbreak sometime in the next 10 years or so. But I don't think I will.
The three stories are very interesting, but unlikely to appeal to a teen going through their first heartbreak. The youngest of the three protagonists is still well into his mid 20s when his engagement breaks down. All three stories relate to fairly long term, more mature relationships than the first pang of young love lost.
The stories are very interesting (I read the whole book in a day) but I feel there was much more of the "in a relationship" bit than the "heartbreak" bit, so I'm not sure the book really met it's goal.
The final chapter touched very lightly on how different genders and cultures deal with heartbreak. This was really interesting and I would have liked more of this.
ashmagoffin's review against another edition
2.0
I did not like this book but I want to put a disclaimer at the start of this review that I listened to the audiobook and the narration of it may have had a huge impact in my rating. Heartsick follows three individuals and their experiences with heartbreak. Jessie Stephens at the start of this book states that when she was in the depths of heartbreak she was seeking a book to help her through. I felt a disconnect with the characters, I couldn't see why they were with their respective partners and as well going into it knowing the ending really zapped my motivation to continue with this book. I felt no intrigue either to any of the protagonists and could not empathise with them. I would have much preferred a book entailing Jessie Stephens's own experience with heartbreak as her personal introduction and conclusion was my favourite part of this book.
Jessie Stephens's monotone narration of the audiobook falls flat, there is a lack of expression for a dialogue heavy book. I do think with a different narrator I may have gotten a more positive experience with this book.
2 stars
Jessie Stephens's monotone narration of the audiobook falls flat, there is a lack of expression for a dialogue heavy book. I do think with a different narrator I may have gotten a more positive experience with this book.
2 stars
desterman's review against another edition
4.0
Heart Sick (2021) by Jessie Stephens can best be described as creative non-fiction. Having suffered an awful relationship breakup just as she was meant to fly overseas with her boyfriend, Stephens describes trying to find something to read to help her process her emotions – but there is nothing that really satisfies her. Thus she decides to take a deep dive into heartbreak in this book, hoping to help others in similar situations. She rightly identifies heartbreak as being one of the most challenging and life altering experiences we ever have and something that continues to live in us no matter how hard we try to overcome it.
Her book, told through the omnipotent eye of Stephens as narrator, alternates chapters between three protagonists – Ana, Claire and Patrick. Their names have been changed, but their experiences of heartbreak have not. Ana is in her forties, has three children and has been married for 25 years. Claire is in her thirties and after she moves to London is introduced to Maggie. Patrick is in his early twenties and has not really been in a relationship yet.
The book follows the three as they move through new and pivotal relationships in their lives. Their personalities and their relationships are all very different, but the story is carefully structured to ensure the trajectory of their relationships are similar. We get insights into the process of falling in love for each of them, the developments of these relationships, and the way they inevitably fall apart. We already know from the opening chapters where the protagonists find themselves at the end of these relationships, so a bond is formed with them early. We become invested in them, in the minute aspects of their lives and love stories, which makes their heartbreak our heartbreak.
Stephens writing style is very easy to read and fills a dark, depressing terrain with colour and light. She deftly explores the complexity of relationships and how breakups are rarely sudden, but the massive shockwaves they cause to everyday life deepens the impact so they can feel as unpredictable and destructive as an earthquake. I found sharing their shock, grief, pain and anguish difficult, but necessary in looking at these experiences under a microscope. What is so confronting is how authentically Stephens has been able to portray how the events of the breakups are so incomprehensible for these people and how much they yearn for understanding and closure. But, more than anything, they yearn for it not to be at all.
The main message of the book though is the universality of heartbreak and how, despite the differences in the stories and our own experiences of heartbreak, there are so many of the thoughts and feeling that are the same. Stephens finishes the book by emphasising the fact that these experiences are not ones that we simply get over either. Like any type of significant loss, they shape us into the people we will be in the next relationship, and the one after that and so on.
At times I did have mixed feelings about the protagonists and their partners – frequently frustrated with them for their choices and being unable to see what is clearly in front of them. Similarly, I loathed their partners frequently too, and how careless they are with other hearts. However, this book is written with such empathy and insight, it is impossible not to be moved.
Her book, told through the omnipotent eye of Stephens as narrator, alternates chapters between three protagonists – Ana, Claire and Patrick. Their names have been changed, but their experiences of heartbreak have not. Ana is in her forties, has three children and has been married for 25 years. Claire is in her thirties and after she moves to London is introduced to Maggie. Patrick is in his early twenties and has not really been in a relationship yet.
The book follows the three as they move through new and pivotal relationships in their lives. Their personalities and their relationships are all very different, but the story is carefully structured to ensure the trajectory of their relationships are similar. We get insights into the process of falling in love for each of them, the developments of these relationships, and the way they inevitably fall apart. We already know from the opening chapters where the protagonists find themselves at the end of these relationships, so a bond is formed with them early. We become invested in them, in the minute aspects of their lives and love stories, which makes their heartbreak our heartbreak.
Stephens writing style is very easy to read and fills a dark, depressing terrain with colour and light. She deftly explores the complexity of relationships and how breakups are rarely sudden, but the massive shockwaves they cause to everyday life deepens the impact so they can feel as unpredictable and destructive as an earthquake. I found sharing their shock, grief, pain and anguish difficult, but necessary in looking at these experiences under a microscope. What is so confronting is how authentically Stephens has been able to portray how the events of the breakups are so incomprehensible for these people and how much they yearn for understanding and closure. But, more than anything, they yearn for it not to be at all.
The main message of the book though is the universality of heartbreak and how, despite the differences in the stories and our own experiences of heartbreak, there are so many of the thoughts and feeling that are the same. Stephens finishes the book by emphasising the fact that these experiences are not ones that we simply get over either. Like any type of significant loss, they shape us into the people we will be in the next relationship, and the one after that and so on.
At times I did have mixed feelings about the protagonists and their partners – frequently frustrated with them for their choices and being unable to see what is clearly in front of them. Similarly, I loathed their partners frequently too, and how careless they are with other hearts. However, this book is written with such empathy and insight, it is impossible not to be moved.
livvy1999's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
spidermonkey93's review against another edition
4.0
Incredible! Couldn't put it down. I reckon I'll be thinking about the characters in this book for a long time.
cec_loves_to_read_books's review against another edition
4.0
Some heartbreaks, even the rejection of your kindergarten sweetheart, can stay with you forever and shape who you become in every relationship after that.
Heart Sick is a book that takes three real life ‘ordinary’ breakups and examines them in detail to try to understand what it really means to have a broken heart.
At one stage the author says, “This book is an attempt to offer a vocabulary. To put words around the unsaid, so they may be used by people who most need them. To position heartbreak as something that belongs to men, too. It belongs to anyone who takes one of the biggest risks we ever take – falling in love.”
I expected to read more about the actual heartbreak, perhaps even the science behind it, but quickly realised Jessie’s right when she says: “What I’ve discovered through the process of working on this book is that you cannot write about heartbreak without first writing about love. The former does not exist without the latter.”
I think I’d call this book a work of narrative non-fiction and I would definitely recommend it. Jessie‘s writing is accessible and engaging and I can’t wait to see what her next book brings us.
Heart Sick is a book that takes three real life ‘ordinary’ breakups and examines them in detail to try to understand what it really means to have a broken heart.
At one stage the author says, “This book is an attempt to offer a vocabulary. To put words around the unsaid, so they may be used by people who most need them. To position heartbreak as something that belongs to men, too. It belongs to anyone who takes one of the biggest risks we ever take – falling in love.”
I expected to read more about the actual heartbreak, perhaps even the science behind it, but quickly realised Jessie’s right when she says: “What I’ve discovered through the process of working on this book is that you cannot write about heartbreak without first writing about love. The former does not exist without the latter.”
I think I’d call this book a work of narrative non-fiction and I would definitely recommend it. Jessie‘s writing is accessible and engaging and I can’t wait to see what her next book brings us.
jennahehemann's review against another edition
3.0
I won this book in a giveaway and was very interested to read it. It took a while to get into, but once I was invested in each of the three stories, I wanted to keep reading. As the title suggests, the story is about heartbreak. So if you’re looking for a love story with a happy ending, this is not it. I enjoyed the three characters’ stories, but I was bored by the author’s wrap up at the end.