Title: The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae
Author: Stephanie Butland
Genre: Women’s fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

Ailsa Rae was born with a heart that didn’t work right. Her whole life was spent in protecting herself, being sick, and praying for a transplant—not really living. When she was 28, that wish came true, and now she has a new heart. What she wants is a new life.

Ailsa lost her best friend/boyfriend Lennox when he did not receive the liver transplant he so desperately needed, and sometimes it feels just wrong that she has a new lease on life and Lennox…doesn’t. So Ailsa talks to her blog and asks it for help making decisions, and she talks to her new heart, Apple, as they learn to live together. Ailsa’s rock has always been her mom, Hayley, but some of the dreams Ailsa has are things her mom doesn’t approve it.

Ailsa knew dying was hard, but she never imagined that just living was even harder.

I enjoyed this book so much! I know a good amount about kidney transplants (family history + my job) and a bit about pancreas transplants, but next to nothing about heart transplants. Ailsa was so much fun to read: her voice, her attitude, her just-like-everyone-else-but-afraid-I’m-different hopes and dreams. She’s incredibly strong from her experiences, but she’s been sheltered her whole life, so she’s like a colt taking its first wobbling steps into the world. An excellent read!

Stephanie Butland is a breast cancer survivor and an author. The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is her new novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Alisa Rae has lived a life that felt stunted from the beginning. Born with a heart defect that kept her from doing many things that her peers were able to do. At a certain point her heart wasn't able to basically keep her alive and she went on the transplant list, her miracle heart arrives and this story begins - life after a transplant.

Told through typical story both in the present and parts that were from a year ago and through blog posts, this story was so entertaining. I loved how all three of the parts were woven together, it was just put together so well! The peaks into the year before gave the reader a glimpse of life before the transplant and time in the hospital and gave some context to the current storyline and Alisa Rae's feelings and how she became the person she is in the current storyline.

Speaking of characters, Alisa Rae was just great to follow on a journey. She was sweet but had flaws and I felt as though portrayed the ups and downs and true feelings of someone that is healing from a long term illness. I loved how she felt guilty for sadness or anger even as she was only living due to someone else's death, the way the author did this was just spot on.

Even if you don't tend to read books that are set outside of the US, don't miss this one. I know some readers who avoid books set in England, read this one, the story is universal.

Take one completely engaging lead character (Ailsa), add a life-threatening condition, a a sparkling cast of characters with issues of their own, and tango – well that’s a recipe for a novel that made me happy I’m a reader.

Ailsa was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and has managed to stay alive until the age of twenty-eight when a compatible heart becomes available. She thought the journey to that day was hard. And it was. But she learns that living with her new heart has a new set of challenges, not the least being brave enough to put herself out there in this new life.

The story is told through the blog she set up related to her condition, emails and texts with various people, and the story of past relationships. I hesitate to expand but I can say I’m very glad to have had the chance to read Stephanie Butland’s second novel. It’s an emotional novel and one that left me with a happy heart.

This is a story that has heartbreak, strength, courage, cowardness, love, determination, growth and just about every emotion you could feel. This is Alisa’s story, but there wouldn’t be a story without those who helped her along the way. I think we all hope we are the mother Hayley is. This story talks about and encourages something very important to me, being an organ donor. Yes, this plays a huge part in Alisa’s story. It was good to follow Alisa in her journey. It made me think about things I hadn’t really thought about before. This is a good story with wonderful characters. I hope you get the chance to meet them. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

Ailsa Rae was born with a three-chambered heart, and has spent her life with surgeries, drugs, and hospital stays to keep her alive. At 28, she's been waiting for a heart transplant for years, and now either she gets it, or she won't live out the year.

She gets it, and starts to discover what it's like to be a normal person, who can expect to live, if not a normal life span, at least one that has a few decades ahead rather than a few more weeks. This includes learning to take responsibility for herself and her decisions, in a way that previously she not only didn't need to, but truly couldn't.

It's harder than she expected, and not nearly the delight she might have expected. She needs to learn to separate a bit from her mother, Hayley, without permanently damaging the relationship of the parent who fought so hard to keep her alive. For the first time in her life, she needs to get a job--with no prior job experience to offer. She needs to find out what she enjoys doing, when walking across the room is no longer the limit of her ability to exert herself.

This could sound a bit grim, but in fact it's warm and enlightening and, ultimately, very positive. She becomes a serious walker. She learns to dance, and she finds she likes working in a coffee shop and getting them what they want.

She starts to work out what she really wants to do with her life, and it's a bit more ambitious than being a coffee shop waiter.

She meets a drop-dead gorgeous guy who has his own complicated history, very different from her own complications.

It's a very rewarding book to read. It's all in the relationships, and Ailsa's beginnings of growing into a mature, independent adult after a life of forced dependency. And no, it's not all fun, but yes, Ailsa, and the reader, do have a lot of fun.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Ailsa Rae has spent her life in and out of hospitals and living in fear.
In fear of what? See it's her heart, she's been afraid it will give out on her. She's become weaker and weaker and she was dying. She receives a transplant just in time. You become invested in her life and care what happens.
She's been taken care of by her mother who has devoted her life to her daughter's care and this causes a closeness of the women but her mother hovers and doesn't really seem to be able to break the bond when she doesn't need the level of care she originally did.
Alisa just wants to live a little, be a normal twenty something year old. Dancing,mountain climbing,activities she held herself back from doing when she was unable to.
Before she can do all this she needs to learn to put one foot in front of the other and conquer her fears about starting to life to it's fullest potential again.
Then there's the part about her wanting to find her father who her mother doesn't seem to want to talk about.
An avid blogger she lets her social media polls help to direct her life.
Entertaining,charismatic and eye opening you will remember this for a long time.

Published October 29th 2019 by St. Martin's Griffin.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks, #netgalley #stmartinspress for a free egalley (ARC) of #thecuriousheartofailsarae by @stephaniebutlandauthor in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We meet Ailsa Rae and her new heart, Apple, while Ailsa is recovering from heart transplant surgery. As she gives her new heart a name, gains her strength, contemplates the relationship with her mother, and the loss of her best friend/boyfriend, her thoughts turn to her future. She’s always lived as a sick girl with the reality of early death, and making plans for a career and living on her own is suddenly daunting. Through flashbacks, we learn about Ailsa’s life while she was waiting for a transplant, her relationship with Lennox, and her complicated relationship with her mother. Ailsa is a blogger. and she often runs polls on her blog asking advice from her followers.

I enjoyed the varied structure of The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae which includes 3rd person narrative, blog entries, emails, flashbacks, and news articles. The variety in the format helps make this a fast, engaging, and easy read, and it reflects real-life communication. I appreciate the humorous email exchanges and the good balance between light and heavy tones. Overall, it comes across as realistic, and the content appears well researched.

Although the story includes themes of a mother/daughter relationship, searching for bio father and a bit of romance, this is mainly an issue-centered book. It reminds me of Left Neglected by Lisa Genova where we learn about living with a traumatic brain injury. I appreciated experiencing life from Ailsa’s perspective as a heart transplant patient. We also meet Seb who is healing from a cornea transplant. I think the author did a wonderful job of helping us understand a transplant patient’s challenges and fears. I cheered for Ailsa, loved her sense of humor and courage, mentally voted in her blog polls, and hoped that she wouldn’t be hurt in the pursuit of her new relationship and new endeavors. Readers will be definitely realize the importance of becoming an organ donor.

If you’ve read The Lost for Words Bookshop by the same author, you know that Stephanie Butland has a talent for creating realistic characters. Ailsa Rae is definitely a likable character! I love that she names her heart and shows a great deal of concern and sensitivity for “Apple’s” well being. An especially interesting aspect of the story is Ailsa’s struggle with survivor’s guilt. Ailsa had been very protected throughout her childhood by her devoted mom, and I admire Ailsa for gently but firmly asserting her independence and for the small, brave risks she takes toward living a “normal” life. A few important steps she bravely navigates are to enroll in a dance class, to consent to an interview after winning a blogging award, and to explore a new relationship. I appreciate her growth throughout the story from living a sheltered life to considering living life to the fullest. Ailsa’s motto is “Do your best with the cards you’re dealt.” Can you relate?

Ailsa also has thoughts on bravery:

“It’s not bravery spending months in a hospital…it’s the absence of choice.”

“I always thought I was going to be brave and fierce, and it turns out that I’m average. Ordinary.”

Although the main theme revolves around waiting for and living with a transplant, The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae also includes thoughtful themes about being the mother of a special needs child, searching for a bio dad, grief, living a protected life, taking a risk on love, asserting your independence, finding your voice, bravery, living a “normal” life after a protected childhood, and a strong message about the importance of organ donation. I did not see the necessity for Ailsa’s negative self talk about her weight (which is probably the result of inactivity and meds).

Content warning: if you know someone on a transplant list or waiting to be placed on a transplant list, this could be triggering; there is also some negative body image/weight gain talk

I highly recommend The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae for fans of Lisa Genova, for readers who appreciate heartwarming stories from unique perspectives, for those looking for engaging and compelling contemporary fiction, and for book clubs. Readers will definitely feel convicted about becoming an organ donor!

Twenty-eight-year old Ailsa Rae has never moved out of her mother’s flat. She barely graduated college. She’s never held a job. Until recently, Ailsa didn’t know if she would live to see the following day. Born with a heart condition that was a death sentence to babies born just a few years before her, Ailsa has spent more time in the hospital than out, has been through multiple surgeries, and has blue-tinged skin as a result of the lack of oxygen her body is receiving.

Everything miraculously changes when she receives the news she never expected to hear: she’s going to receive a heart. That someone had to die so that she could live is something Ailsa tries not to dwell on; instead she blogs. Blogs about life in the hospital, blogs about her condition, blogs about her dearest friend – her first boyfriend – who recently lost his own battle. But now that she’s suddenly received the gift of life, what is she going to do? What do you do when you never expected to see tomorrow, let alone a lifetime from now?

The initial chapters left me hesitant. I honestly wasn’t sure I even wanted to continue with the book. Ailsa comes across so much younger than her 28 years – but I realized that’s completely understandable. She never got to experience a normal childhood, her time at college consisted of what she termed “after parties,” hot tea in the morning while her friends detailed everything she missed the night before. Her mother is practically attached to Ailsa’s hip (again, understandable, as she’s spent nearly three decades expecting her daughter to die any day). She’s never had a job, never been more than a few hours away from home in case of an emergency. Naturally she would have led an extremely sheltered life.

Once I pushed through those beginning chapters, however, I breezed through this book during a workday (shh!) That this 400+ page novel was such a quick and engaging read that I was able to read it while working should definitely say something! I think it certainly helps that the majority of the novel is comprised of Ailsa’s blog posts.

After receiving an award for her blog, Ailsa is invited to do a radio appearance and meets a fellow transplantee: a wildly famous (aka unknown to Ailsa), ridiculously good-looking actor named Sebastian, who until recently was on a Dancing with the Stars-esque show. He blew off an itch in his eye as nothing, a bit of dirt perhaps, until it got worse. Seb nearly lost his eye, were it not for a cornea transplant.

A friendship slowly develops between the pair: Seb is able to be just a regular guy, Ailsa is free to share her worries and complaints (just because she has a new chance at life doesn’t mean she’s happy every waking minute). Their friendship-turned-romance was really sweet and Seb genuinely seemed to care for Ailsa, despite tabloids pointing out he could have his pick of any model.

Tango lessons, a production of Romeo and Juliet, flashbacks of time with Lennox in the hospital, and learning how to become an adult all received plenty of screen time so to speak. One subplot I didn’t care for was Ailsa’s search for her biological father. She never knew him growing up and once she learned she was actually going to have a future, she decided to track him down. I really didn’t care about this, especially when the end result was so lackluster. The other aspects of the story, however, were great.

Don’t let the size of The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae scare you off: it’s an extremely fast read that I was able to get through in a sitting. While at work! Blog entries, newspaper articles, and emails all make this a breeze of a novel. While I could have done without one major subplot, I enjoyed the time I spent with these characters – though any time Ailsa’s condition was highlighted, I kept thinking of Diane Chamberlain’s The Dream Daughter, one of my favorites of 2018 and a novel that also featured a daughter with a fatal heart condition. Despite the age of the characters, I can easily see The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae appealing to a YA audience, due to both the voice and subject matter: growing up, first love, and hospital romances seem to be a favorite trope of the genre.

With a new heart after a heart transplant, Alisa Rae is finally learning to live a normal life—or is she? Her friends have deserted her. She and mother are at an end point. She wants to find her father. She also wants to figure out what to do about Lennox, her sick friend and one-time lover who never made it. How can Alisa ever make it without him? The story follows Alisa after her heart transplant, with a mixture of blog entries, news articles, emails and more. The author has managed to tie it all together in an uplifting serious, yet sometimes a bit light, story of one young woman’s return to normalcy, or, more accurately, her beginning of a normal life as most of us know it. I thoroughly enjoyed, this sweet, easy reading story, told in a gentle and sometimes humorous vein, that left me heartened. One thing I did like seeing was the idea that, though needed, transplant organs are not as readily available as they should be, which I took as a social commentary. This is a pretty uplifting book as well as an enjoyable one, and anyone looking for something a bit different but feel-good will enjoy it. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

This was a heartwarming, endearing story.
The way that Stephanie handled the subject of organ transplant was tasteful. I know people who have gone through transplants and she nailed the feelings and thoughts they experienced with panache.

So many heartfelt thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Griffin, and Stephanie Butland for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book - 5 glowing stars!

Ailsa Rae, 28, has lived her life on the edge of dying - born with a heart condition and now on the heart transplant list. Her single mom has sheltered Ailsa and taken care of her - letting her spread her wings a bit to go to university but still always living at home when she wasn't in the hospital. When her best friend/ex-boyfriend, Lennox, passes away, Ailsa is ready to give up. Until she gets the call that a heart has been found for her.

Ailsa has been keeping an online blog of her health issues and once she's had her transplant and is at home recovering, she relies more and more on her blog community. Never having been faced with a certain future before, Ailsa lets her readers make decisions for her through online polls. The stronger Ailsa gets, she starts pulling away from her mom, wants to find her biological father, and live on her own - which all cause issues.

Just a wonderfully-written novel that I couldn't put down. I love the email/blog conversations and the quirkiness of it all. Highly recommended!

Ailsa Rae has a serious heart ailment and is waiting for a transplant. Not expecting to live very long, she hasn't comtemplated what she would even do if she wasn't ill. Her blog is where she really gets to interact with people, and she has quite a following, calling herself BlueHeart. But after a transplant heart is identified, and Ailsa makes it through the aftermath, she has some questions she needs to answer. What is she going to do now that she has a new heart?

What follows is a sometimes cute and sometimes insightful treatment of how one chooses to live their life after a serious illness, told through a mashup of chapters, blog posts and emails. I liked that about the book as it added some levity to the story. I also really liked Ailsa and how she handled herself through some of the tougher moments she encounters.

I was really drawn into the story quickly, and The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is a quick read that will have you asking what you might do if you had a second chance. I really liked this story and the revelations Ailsa makes throughout. Her mother is a terrific secondary character as well. Overall, a satisfying read from a new-to-me author.

An ARC was provided by the publisher.

Great read! This book is so very well written. Definitely makes you think what would you do if you were given another chance.

Ailsa Rae considers herself to be a lucky girl. Even though she was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and her time is quickly running out, she’s one of the lucky few that receive a gift that’s as precious as life itself – a new heart.

Stepping out of the shadow of death is scarier than she ever thought. With the endless possibilities come new risks. And taking one with the likes of the handsome Sebastian Morley is the most frightening of all.

“Here’s the thing: Apple has tricked me into feeling like I have a long life – but I probably don’t. That is, immunosuppressants are slowly, surely, damaging my kidneys and my liver. If I’m not careful – and who is 100 per cent careful, 100 per cent of the time, apart from the people we never see or know because they never engage with the world? – I could die of a cold, because my permanently depressed immune system can’t fight something you would shake off in a heartbeat. I’ve a higher chance of cancer. And who knows what wear and tear my body is already carrying, after its years of struggle?
So I’m going to make some decisions about how I spend this life.”

Seb knows a little bit about luck himself. He landed instant notoriety when appearing on the popular show StarDance but had to pull back when an eye infection led to him requiring a cornea transplant to save his sight.

When he meets Ailsa for the first time, he’s intrigued not only by her absurd unicorn costume but by her beauty – both inside and out. They strike up a unique rapport that is more real than anything he’s ever known.

But fame is fleeting, and tabloids are ruthless.

Will he help Ailsa live the life that she swore she would live if she got a second chance or will he be the one to break her brand new heart?

“There’s no such thing as ordinary, just like there’s not really a normal. And there’s no such thing as special, either. Or rather, we bring our own special. We make it. We make it when we dare and we make it when we ask for help. We make our lives special when we choose to forgive and move on, and not to make ourselves the centre of everything. We make specialness by trusting to the music and the dance.”

The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is an unforgettable exploration of life, love and self-discovery. Stephanie has lovingly created characters that have a depth rarely seen these days. I found myself experiencing Ailsa’s highs and lows through every word. And in the end, I was so proud of her for the choices that she made.

It fills you with a kind of hope that makes you smile so high. It even inspires you to look at organ donation in a whole different light.

That’s just one of the special powers of this book….

This book is an incredible, unputdownable read.
It has a heartwarming story, it’s incredibly engaging, and it just feels fresh. The characters are amazing, beautifully developed, and the relationships set between them felt organic. The pacing was just to my liking, so I had an easy time connecting to it all and getting lost in the story. The writing played a really big part in how enjoyable the book was for me, it’s really well written, the text flows beautifully, and it’s well structured.
Overall it’s a great read. I recommend this book.

Set in Scotland, The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is an endearing story of a 29 year old who get a heart transplant after living her whole life without really living to the fullest. Ailsa is a blogger who chronicles her journey before and after her transplant. I enjoyed this aspect of the writing, along with the emails she sends to a fellow "transplantee". It made a grim subject matter a bit lighter. I think this was a great way to inform people of the importance and dire need of organ donation.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

So this book is about a woman who needs a heart transplant and gets it. It's about her life after knowing she is going to live a long life. For the most part I liked this book. There are somethings that were annoying. The whole Apple thing was bizarre and annoying. I just didn't get it and wished it would stop. I also agreed with her mother and Seb about her Blog. I liked Seb even with the thing he did. I also think it was harsh how she went about maybe forgiving him. That left a very unsatisfying ending to this book. At one point near the end Ailsa does recognize that she was still acting like a child instead of the adult she was. I have to agree with that assessment. The whole reading what someone goes through with a transplant was interesting and heartbreaking.


*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

I enjoyed Stephanie Butland's first book and was looking forward to her second book, The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae. And it did not disappoint! It was such a charming, funny, and emotional read! At twenty-eight years old, Ailsa has a second chance at life after receiving a heart transplant. Her best friend, Lennox, wasn't as lucky as her and died before receiving a liver transplant. Now, Aisla has to face her new life without him.

For the first time in her life she gets a job, meets new people, and goes on adventures that were not possible when she was ill. She finds a purpose in life that she never had before because, without a heart transplant, her life had a short expiration date. I've read other books about heart-transplants, and The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is my favorite by far. I shed a few tears while reading this book but was very satisfied with the ending.

The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland is a charming story of a transplant patient. A heartwarming story of Ailsa who gets a new heart and a second chance at life. She goes from being an invalid to learning to do things that she could never do before because of her health. She becomes a brave and fearless woman who is anxious to live her life to the fullest. Butland writes with a loving touch that is sure to tug at your heartstrings and send you on an emotional roller coaster. I started reading The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae not knowing what to expect and was pulled in from the beginning. I did not want to put this one down. I had to know how it would end. The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is a captivating read and I look forward to reading more from the author.

This is an interesting and different story. When I saw it on NetGalley, I thought it would be an interesting story and then I read the comments from others about it. I wasn't sure that I would like this story. Well, after reading it, I really liked it. I liked Ailsa and admired her for all she went through. Her illness, losing a really good friend and trying to become an adult. For so long she didn't think she would be able to grow old and now she has to face the rest of her life. Not a big deal to someone unless they there not sure they would see old age. When she meets Seb, I wasn't sure if he was going to be a good guy or not. Like all people, sometimes he is and somtimes he isn't. I was disappointed that there wasn't a resolution to their relationship. All in all, a good story.