Reviews tagging 'War'

Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue

6 reviews

jasmineehare's review

emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

I loved this book; I knew very little about Anne Lister beyond her being queer, and I couldn’t wait to get to the author’s note at the end to find out more about the history of these characters (people!). This reminded me of A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libby Bray but without the magic and much more explicit. I liked that the writing didn’t feel modern; I felt that I was thinking of things in the way that a girl in 1805 would, as much as possible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, War, Colonisation, Classism, Racism, and Sexual assault

arayo's review

funny slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Classism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

kezharri's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Pregnancy, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, and War

njh_books's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Chronic illness

Minor: Suicide, War, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

meliemelo's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

For a while, I thought this would earn five-stars. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sweeping romance I hoped for, even though from the first few pages it seemed written like one - although the author can hardly be faulted since, and I hadn't realized it until the last few pages (shame on me!), the whole novel is based on a true story. I'd love to get an exquisitely written, positive historical queer romance, someday. 

Because it is beautifully written. I love Emma Donoghue's prose and found it very hard to put the book down most of the time. The ending felt a bit rushed, although it's easy to understand that the story was so contained by design. Reading the note afterwards, it seemed to me like the reader was meant to "fill the gaps" with their own knowledge of Ann Lister's story (or by reading said note), which I'm not sure is great practice in general.

I did love the "slice of life" aspect of a lot of the book, even aside of the romance, and the author's research seems to have been extensive, which I appreciate.

All in all, it's difficult to articulate what I felt about this book. Some parts of it made me slightly uncomfortable (on purpose), while others were magnificent. It's a rare case of loving the parts (so many beautiful lines!) more than the whole. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Racism

Moderate: Death, Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

Minor: War

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Sexism, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Colonisation, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: War, Suicide, Medical content, and Slavery