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yayathegreat38's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Slavery, Religious bigotry, War, and Injury/Injury detail
nikkilerae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
By Emma Donoghue
4.5 ⭐️
No Spoilers
This book is written from the perspective of a 30 year old unmarried catholic nurse in Ireland during the Spanish Flu epidemic. She worked in the makeshift fever ward for expecting mothers. Her story tells of the hard work to try and keep the people she nursed alive when the flu was taking many souls daily. The stress of being understaffed was insurmountable but she trudges on. She also has to deal with the Protestant/catholic rift in an unbiased manner, which is pretty hard to do when you were raised from birth to believe certain things. This story takes place over just a few days and really gives you a strong idea of what it would’ve been like to work along side Nurse Powers.
Tissues will be needed - This story was so well written and I loved it, but there are several scenes that triggered strong emotions. The only reason I gave this book 4.5 stars instead of 5 is because I felt like the end was a bit rushed. The ending was still amazing, but there was potential there to extend the story a bit.
If you love strong women and historical fiction this book is for you! Even if you just love strong women characters. This book is excellent and I highly recommend it. Please read the Trigger Warnings.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
aliterarygoodtime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Classism
bookscatteandme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
swhitzel's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
2.5
Generally, this was a beautiful story, but it also seemed quite abrupt (in its ending) and felt as though it had little resolution. Based on the synopsis, I expected more of a relationship to develop between the three main women, and yet the connections felt superficial and forced. They go nowhere, but they also had so much potential!
Also, the depictions of birth and the medical situations were quite graphic. I often found myself sick to my stomach at some of the descriptions, especially early on.
Now that I'm writing this, I think I enjoyed the potential of this story more than the actual story itself.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, War, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
isaaah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Classism
Minor: Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Abandonment
bessadams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and War
stargirlmolly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence and War
sarahflanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
jovienna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I picked this book up after a reading a novel I very much HATED. pretty much anything that I would read afterwards was golden in comparison because my standards had gone LOOOOOWWW.
I really liked the main character, Julia Powers, a 30 year old nurse living with her brother, Tim.
Julia’s an incredibly resilient character, and that must come from her 8 years of nursing experience. The way she powers through and commits to her patients, putting them before herself —damn !! good for u girl
However, as many pandemic-themed works, The Pull Of The Stars lacks conflict. There is barely any tension apart from dangers of the Great Flu—including the romantic attraction between Julia and Bridie! Their dialogue feels natural, mind you, and I found myself completely immersed within scenes of action and high emotion, I found it hard to connect with the characters and their interactions because I didn’t feel like I was supposed to CARE about them.
The Pull Of The Stars was a great book, and I breezed through it within a matter of hours. But overall I felt like it had a lot of potential to go further in depth about certain characters and their relationships in the novel — particularly Tim! I simply feel like there’s so much about him that (for lack of a better word) goes unsaid. His role in the novel as a reminder of the toll that war has on those who fought was SO interesting to me especially because of how it demonstrated the impact that war had on soldiers when they returned home to their families to resume civilian life. And I would’ve loved if the book went further into that. Tim feels like a prop in some ways, just so that Julia can point and go ‘yes we are in a war and that is what happens in war he is an example that is it’ — perhaps it’d make for a more impactful read if there were flashback scenes to before the war, to contrast the past v present and portray a heartbreaking theme of trauma and loss experienced by the characters— both in the context of the pandemic and the first world war. Perhaps I’d feel more engaged with this book if it delved deeper into Julia and Tim’s respective backgrounds—Who were they, before the War? How did Julia react when her brother returned, unable to utter a single word? What can they do to move forward, in a time of drastic change and industrialisation, when their very lives were so shaken by a horrifying World War, followed by an even more brutal pandemic?
Overall, The Pull Of The Stars was an interesting read and I’ll definitely keep it on my list of rereads. I loved the scenes where Julia and Bridie were alone together to banter on their own, and I adored anything to do with Tim because I think he deserves the world. But the lack of conflict and feelings of urgency in this novel is definitely what made me drop this down from a 5 star rating.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism