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biblio_t's review against another edition
5.0
“I seem to have stumbled onto love, like a pothole in the night.”
This gripped me so tightly, I had to finish it straight through. I read a combination of the print book and audiobook and both were fantastic. Sometimes an author's writing is just everything to your brain.
rachbreads's review against another edition
2.5
I’ve read two other books by Emma Donoghue - Room (my rating: 4/5) and The Wonder (my rating: 5/5). The Pull of the Stars (my rating: 2.5/5) is similar to The Wonder - set in historical Ireland, elements of religious/societal oppression, nurses, a single, small setting for most of the action. What The Wonder had that TPotS lacked is this delicious slow burn tension - there’s a big mystery at the heart of TW that the nurse is trying to figure out, and we as readers realllly want to know what’s happening which keeps you so engaged. Plus there are very few characters so you get really connected to them over the course of the book, as opposed to the revolving door of patients and doctors in TPotS where no one stayed around long enough for me to care about them.
What I liked about TPotS was also what I loved about The Wonder - she intentionally keeps the setting very small it almost feels claustrophobic. So we felt stuck in this tiny fever ward with Julia the same way in TW we felt stuck in this tiny bedroom with the nurse Lib. I will say overall that I was rooting for Julia - she really was trying her best and I wanted her to succeed. I guess that’s why the ending let me down because Donoghue gave her a hint of happiness with Bridie and then took it away. I guess we could infer that she will be happy making a family with her brother and the baby but it still felt like a letdown. And I feel like we had no indication at all throughout the rest of the book that she would ever do anything like quit her job and take home a baby…
Other thoughts - why was Kathleen there? She felt unnecessary as a character other than to give us proof that there was also political unrest happening at the same time as the pandemic. It was interesting to read about the medical beliefs and procedures of the time with regards to pregnancy/maternity as well as the flu and compare them to present day practices - I’m sure she did a lot of research.
Overall, not a terrible book, and it had some interesting moments, but it probably won’t stick with me. I feel like mostly what I’m taking away is an increased horror of childbirth 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
scarybrow17's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emmabeckman's review
5.0
Okay, I personally loved this one but I can definitely see how it would be A LOT for some people. I think if you liked EVERYTHING about the show Call the Midwife, you would like this one a lot too, as they are quite similar. I actually really enjoyed reading this pandemic tale during the pandemic, as I liked the exploration of life continuing as normal even when life can never go BACK to normal. I concede that this book does fall into one major LGBTQ+-related bad trope, but I think it works for the setting, as well as toward the idea that Julia can perhaps be more fulfilled in her life as it goes on even though her revelation was marred. But I can still see how that trope would really irk people. My only other "problem" was that I don't love having existential crises while reading books, because I spiral into anxiety scrolling on Instagram which is such a waste of time and I had to do it twice with this book, but that's more of a personal problem than an actual problem with this book.
mmwooters's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
The book is pretty slow with too much time spent on medical specifics, but the characters creep up on you unexpectedly. The ending is devastating and too brief. Would’ve preferred more time spent on rounding out the characters
burningupasun's review against another edition
3.0
Well that was sad! Granted I should have expected it, considering it's a book about the Spanish Flu pandemic, but hoo boy. On the one hand I found this book frustrating, mostly because it doesn't use dialogue tags (no " marks) so the dialogue and text all blend together. Eventually you sort of become used to it, but only sort of. I got confused a good amount. Also it's very, very depressing. Slightly hopeful at the very very end, but mostly depressing.
On the other hand, it was pretty riveting at points and I did cry like a baby at the last few chapters. If you want to read a book about the pandemic with LGBT characters and a really good exploration of class issues and poverty during a pandemic and don't mind too much overwhelming depression and a lack of quotation marks, you'll probably like this!
On the other hand, it was pretty riveting at points and I did cry like a baby at the last few chapters. If you want to read a book about the pandemic with LGBT characters and a really good exploration of class issues and poverty during a pandemic and don't mind too much overwhelming depression and a lack of quotation marks, you'll probably like this!
ilikenaps's review against another edition
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
nb61's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Very sad. Historical fiction.
No quotation marks!
Irish troubles: girl basically enslaved to nuns
Childbirths, deaths, stillbirths, and defects
War
Epidemics
No quotation marks!
Irish troubles: girl basically enslaved to nuns
Childbirths, deaths, stillbirths, and defects
War
Epidemics
manjiri's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
thehawk72's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating 2.5
This book was very graphic with the descriptions of childbirth which is something I guess I should have prepared myself for better before reading it. The description the author gives of a blood transfusion also made me feel incredibly sick to my stomach.
Otherwise, the writing just felt very average. I was not overly invested in the story. But it is sad to see how history is repeating itself.
This book was very graphic with the descriptions of childbirth which is something I guess I should have prepared myself for better before reading it. The description the author gives of a blood transfusion also made me feel incredibly sick to my stomach.
Otherwise, the writing just felt very average. I was not overly invested in the story. But it is sad to see how history is repeating itself.