A review by nicolinebl
Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue

emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wasn't aware that this story was based on real life, so reading the author's notes was certainly a surprise. It makes me excuse the ending a bit more, I suppose, as I was surprised with how quickly things seemed to go near the end of the story. 

I so deeply loved this book. It felt very open and true to my experience as a shy goody-two-shoes fourteen-year-old who was secretly gay all along. 

I haven't been fourteen for a long time, but I was very much able to slip back into those times. Emma Donoghue is a phenomenal writer, so I absolutely devoured her words (and definitely will read more of her work). 

I wasn't sure how to feel about some parts of this book. The pacing near the end felt very rushed, especially the last chapter. Like too much information had to be told in that last chapter. And although I always like a past-present chapter switch, it almost felt too "spoilery" to already know (somewhat) how things would go.
I don't know, it kind of makes you sad reading the chapters of the past - which take up the biggest part of the book (about 90%).


Besides that, I did very much enjoy this book and I'm very curious to read more about this topic as Emma mentions some of the sources of information she used for this book. 

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