Reviews

The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal

emkreads's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

Franchement, je suis surprise d'à quel point c'était bon

melissakavanagh's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.25

janinevduijn's review against another edition

5.0

Stunningly beautiful book, describing the journey of a heart that is transplanted out of the body of a young surfer into that of a middle aged myocarditis patient. The flow of the prose mimicks that of a heartbeat, waves in an ECG or the sea. It was such an enthralling and emotional read, a true piece of art.

rafinou's review against another edition

1.0

Wtf was that? It was soooooo bad, read this for a french class... Damn never read something that boring. There was absolutely no point to this book anyways, 1 star because she used fancy description of the medical field

flure's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

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

5.0

katie19's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

bookwormy614's review

DNF. Buzzfeed recommended I read this and I usually read everything they tell me to. Highly praised in the author's native of France. Sadly though, I just could not get through it. The premise is unique (the people involved and affected by an organ donation) which is what drew me in in the first place. However, there was a lot of unnecessary filler in the story. Too many character details that seemed unimportant. Also, the medical jargon is a bit ummm ... wordy. I reckon I'll revisit this book at some point just not the right time now.

reillsreads's review against another edition

2.0

Ugh. This book had so much more potential and I was so excited to read. However this was too much prose for my liking. Basically like reading a giant ass poem. It was hard to follow at multiple points and forced myself to push through. It's also just one big narration, essentially. No dialogue really. The story focused a lot more on hospital characters rather than the transplant recipient or donor.

and7964's review against another edition

3.0

The Heart is a book about what it means to die and how the people around you are left to deal with that grief and trauma. Maylis De Kerangal did a wonderful job of balancing the medical with the intense, emotional aspects in The Heart.

I must warn any potential readers however that The Heart has a more intense and mature theme and I personally wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone under 16 years old.

addy_rose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

I'm so genuinely impressed by this book. I randomly grabbed it based on the cover recently and couldn't be more happy that I did. The Heart is a French translated novel about the importance of life and the importance of how our lives end. The writing is astoundingly beautiful and paints a really intriguing picture about how intertwined every persons' lives are and it really depends on your view at how much someone else's actions and life choices can ripple effect your own life. The overall theme of passing life from one person to another while also stealing the original person's life from their loved ones is discussed so gently and emotionless while also serving the moral dilemma with empathy and understanding. It's genuinely so impressive that this book can stand so solidly and the writing be so beautiful even after translation, nothing was lost and it is just overall a very powerful read.