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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
Okay I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. In the trope sort of sense - we've got enemies/rivals to lovers and miscommunication trope par excellence amidst a background of class struggle and I was so invested that I ended up trying to talk sense to the characters toward the end.
My single critique is that it ended too soon and abruptly and I wanted just three seconds more of Margaret and Thornton being a functional pair of people. But their will-they-wont-they plotline was really well written. Really, it's just a good book, and it's more than just romance. Go read it!!
My single critique is that it ended too soon and abruptly and I wanted just three seconds more of Margaret and Thornton being a functional pair of people. But their will-they-wont-they plotline was really well written. Really, it's just a good book, and it's more than just romance. Go read it!!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
If you're going into this expecting an epic romance then this probably isn't the book for you. Although Margaret and John are definitely obsessed with each other in their own way, this book is much more a character study and a treatise on life in industrial towns in the mud 19th century. Still enjoyable though, but I expect it's definitely much easier to read as an audiobook (as I did) than as a physical book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Grief, Death of parent
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You can see the clear impact of Pride & Prejudice on this era of British literature. The main characters are definitely influenced by Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy, and their banter and development is just as satisfying. Our main character is very headstrong and opinionated for a woman of her time and helps to reign in the surly attitude of her male counterpart. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.
I absolutely love this story, but I must confess... when it comes to these wordy old classics with dense vocabulary and social hierarchies, languages, rules, and politics I don't understand, it makes for a less enjoyable read for me. There's so much about this book I appreciated--like the complexity of the characters and how each one felt so real, how the characters grew over the course of the story, and how so many nuances of emotion were zeroed in on--but I much prefer to watch the mini series.
I really struggled with this book at first. The first 100 pages were rather slow, and I struggled to get into at all. However, once we got into the character development and the struggles of Milton, it really grew into an interesting novel.
Some coin it to be the 'industrial Pride and Prejudice', and I understand where they are coming from, but I personally believe it to be better, or at least more interesting, than Austen's novel.
What really made it so interesting was Margaret. At first I considered her to be weak and wimpy, like so many other 19th century women are portrayed to be. But, throughout the novel, Margaret really comes into her own, becoming a woman that has her own opinions and views and doesn't need a man to dictate her life. While John Thornton is obviously her love interest, it actually only takes up a smal amount of the novel, and much more is focused on the life of Margaret in Milton, and how she adapts from the opposite, beautiful South to the imperfect, unequal North. As she says herself, she has to 'follow her own ideas of duty', not dictated to her by a husband or a father.
And I think her time in Milton instilled that drive in her, the intelligence of Thornton and the pride of Higgins. With a worthwhile, interesting heroine at the helm of the story, North and South really explores the differences and inequalities in both areas of the country, while making it personal and emotional, even if it does take 100 pages to really come to life.
Some coin it to be the 'industrial Pride and Prejudice', and I understand where they are coming from, but I personally believe it to be better, or at least more interesting, than Austen's novel.
What really made it so interesting was Margaret. At first I considered her to be weak and wimpy, like so many other 19th century women are portrayed to be. But, throughout the novel, Margaret really comes into her own, becoming a woman that has her own opinions and views and doesn't need a man to dictate her life. While John Thornton is obviously her love interest, it actually only takes up a smal amount of the novel, and much more is focused on the life of Margaret in Milton, and how she adapts from the opposite, beautiful South to the imperfect, unequal North. As she says herself, she has to 'follow her own ideas of duty', not dictated to her by a husband or a father.
And I think her time in Milton instilled that drive in her, the intelligence of Thornton and the pride of Higgins. With a worthwhile, interesting heroine at the helm of the story, North and South really explores the differences and inequalities in both areas of the country, while making it personal and emotional, even if it does take 100 pages to really come to life.
challenging
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my favorite quotes is an example of a pithy Victorian wit: "The whole family were quick, brisk, loud-talking, kind-hearted, and not troubled with much delicacy of perception." I should probably figure out why I chuckled.
For something that is sold as an EPIC romance- wow... this did not age well. If you are interested in a mill owner who is obsessed despite being spurned several times and politics arguing that really- mill workers should just kind of deal with the terrible working conditions... then this is a book for you. Elizabeth Gaskell loves the idea of a perfect heroine haunted for years by a minor lie- but not troubled at all by being paternalistic and proud. It was a struggle to get through and would not recommend.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes