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Reviews
Heartsick: Three Stories of Falling in Love . . . And What Happens After it Ends by Jessie Stephens
alexskye97's review against another edition
4.0
This book was heart wrenching and painful and messy but somehow so familiar. In some ways I find myself hoping I will never have to relate so much to this book again!
stevenjpitt's review against another edition
5.0
This book is NOT a self help book. But by hearing the real and raw experiences of three individuals journeying from the beginning to the end of a relationship, I was able to unpack some of my own lingering thoughts that I’ve been carrying since previous heartbreak. It also made me aware of universal experiences shared by all three individuals who on the surface seem so different… which made me feel less alone.
Quotes:
• “My life has become an empty performance for the 1 person who isn’t watching.”
• “An idea doesn’t arrive once, it haunts you.”
• “The feeling is still right there living in his chest.”
• “There are few things we control less then how someone else feels about us.”
• “The admission of a partner in the middle of a conversation never quite fits. No matter how natural it roles off the tongue, it always feels like a confession.”
• “Borrowed colour from other people.”
• “Art helps when love has failed us.”
Quotes:
• “My life has become an empty performance for the 1 person who isn’t watching.”
• “An idea doesn’t arrive once, it haunts you.”
• “The feeling is still right there living in his chest.”
• “There are few things we control less then how someone else feels about us.”
• “The admission of a partner in the middle of a conversation never quite fits. No matter how natural it roles off the tongue, it always feels like a confession.”
• “Borrowed colour from other people.”
• “Art helps when love has failed us.”
alucyliu's review against another edition
4.0
Listened as an audiobook read by the author. I flew through it, finishing it in about 3 days. This was very good, reminiscent of Three Women. Long form nonfiction that reads like fiction, we follow Patrick, Claire and Ana and their stories of love and loss. The three are different ages and live very different lives but their stories of love and loss show that such experiences feel so unique to each of us, but occur to all of us in different ways.
taylordepuydt's review against another edition
4.0
"But if they'd spoken - asked questions beyond the rudimentary - they would have learned that the roots of their suffering grow from the same soil. That their loneliness binds them rather than isolates them. And isn't that the ultimate irony? That nothing makes us more human, more united with every person and every culture in every period of history, than the very emotion that tells us: I am all alone."
This book provides a deeply vulnerable look at grief and heartbreak in a world that prefers to focus on the shiny things; the people who only get better after a break up or the one's who have their life together. I commend Ana, Patrick and Claire for their honesty in recounting their stories of love and grief, there was no sugar coating just vulnerability and uncomfortable truth. It is a human desire to peak behind the curtain of someone else's life and these stories really bare it all for us to see in all the messiness.
Jessie is an excellent writer, I was engaged with her writing and found this book to be compulsive to read. I appreciate the analysis of love and grief and the rejection that everyone has felt at some moment in their lives. I also appreciate that these stories weren't tied up neatly, it made them feel natural and realistic. This isn't a happy book, but I think it's one that everyone needs at some point in their life. A reminder that we aren't as alone as we all think we are.
This book provides a deeply vulnerable look at grief and heartbreak in a world that prefers to focus on the shiny things; the people who only get better after a break up or the one's who have their life together. I commend Ana, Patrick and Claire for their honesty in recounting their stories of love and grief, there was no sugar coating just vulnerability and uncomfortable truth. It is a human desire to peak behind the curtain of someone else's life and these stories really bare it all for us to see in all the messiness.
Jessie is an excellent writer, I was engaged with her writing and found this book to be compulsive to read. I appreciate the analysis of love and grief and the rejection that everyone has felt at some moment in their lives. I also appreciate that these stories weren't tied up neatly, it made them feel natural and realistic. This isn't a happy book, but I think it's one that everyone needs at some point in their life. A reminder that we aren't as alone as we all think we are.