While the research in this book was interesting as a whole, this was very difficult to get through. The author's continued comparison of the ending of a relationship with the death of a loved one felt as though the author had a serious lack of self-awareness.

This book was well written unfortunately it just was not my cup of tea. I really wanted to like this book because it sounded so wonderful.

This was a book that I couldn't bring myself to finish. From the very beginning, I had several issues with it. The author's constant comparison of her heartbreak to the profound grief one experiences when losing a loved one didn't sit well with me. It seemed like a trivialization of genuine grief and a way to elevate her own pain above others'.

But what really bothered me was the author's behaviour towards her ex-partner. It was nothing short of stalking and harassment. I couldn't understand why someone thought it was a good idea to publish a book that glorifies such toxic behaviour. It made me question whether the same leniency would be given if the roles were reversed and a man was writing about relentlessly pursuing and harassing his female ex, despite her pleas for him to stop. It's important to call out such behaviour regardless of the gender of the person involved.

The author's manipulative and narcissistic tendencies are evident throughout the book. She completely disregarded the fact that her ex chose to end the relationship for valid reasons, and she failed to respect his decision. Instead, she acted as if her own desires and wants were more important than his, refusing to leave him alone. This lack of respect for boundaries and personal autonomy was deeply troubling.

In a society that emphasizes consent and respect in relationships, it was disheartening to see the author's complete disregard for these principles. It's important to remember that no one is entitled to another person's time, attention, or affection. Each individual has the right to end a relationship and move on without fear of harassment or intrusion.

Overall, "Heartbroken" left me with a sense of disappointment and concern. I believe it's crucial to critically evaluate the messages and behaviours portrayed in literature, especially when it comes to relationships and personal boundaries. Unfortunately, this book fell short in that regard.

This wasn't a book for me and could not finish it. It was more like a research paper than a memoir.
Sorry for the short poor review.

A memoir about a middle-aged woman whose long distance partner of 6 years suddenly ends their relationship. She is overwhelmed with grief like heartache that takes over her life. She persistently texts, emails, and calls him even after he is forced into ghosting her. Honestly I'm extremely surprised he didn't get a restraining order against her given that her near daily emails to him go on for years, where she acts as though they can just pick things back up where they left off. I loved the way the author interspersed medical, psychological, and historical data about heartbreak and grief throughout her accounts of her own heartbreak. That said she was clearly struggling with her mental health, and likely narcissism, and is definitely extra if you know what I mean. The prose was beautifully written, and I was cheering for her to find herself and her happiness, but after a while it becomes apparent that she's not willing to even try to find herself. She is only interested in having a death-hold grip on her past.

3.5 stars rounded to 4, because although this wasn't really for me, it was so beautifully written that I know it will be enjoyed by many.

A heart rendering memoir by Laura Pratt written in lyrical prose as the author invites us into her heartbreak spanning a sudden end to a six-year relationship of the heart with no warning, just left to wonder what on earth happened to end her bliss. Also written as somewhat of a grief diary as Pratt conjures personal memories of her heartbreak. In this palpable writing, we feel the heartache along with the author as it is entwined with psychological research on conditions of the heart - broken heart syndrome, exuding love and the psychological heartbreak effects. In her telling, we learn that not everyone can just 'move on' from deep love lost.

This book is an observation of love and heartache in its pure rawness, vulnerability, and the festering of ongoing grief when the heart doesn't reach acceptance.

This book was very difficult to read. I forced myself to get to page 125 to ‘give it a chance’ but couldn’t force myself to read it again.

The writing doesn’t flow. I understood the idea of the book. It’s part memoir about her breakup and how she dealt with it (incredible horrible) and part educational as we learn about the psychology, theology, and actual medical information that comes from being heartbroken. But there was no flow between the two different parts. She would be thinking of Sam and then BAM some facts that just didn’t seem to fit. The idea is pretty original but was not executed properly.

I will not be posting this to any of my online pages as I did not finish it.

This was a rather interesting memoir for me as she shares her story about heartbreak but there is also so much research on heartbreak in this memoir. Like no other memoir that I've read before. I don't think this book was for me, but i do appreciate her thoughts and research that went into writing this memoir

I am not sure who the intended audience for this book would be.

This one was not for me. I struggled to get through the chapters and to relate to the author. I have been through break ups and never had this reaction, so I was unable to connect. In fact, portions of it made me uncomfortable that he had asked to be left alone and she persisted over years.

I feel that the author has a beautiful writing style and had this been a fiction book I might have enjoyed it. However, contacting someone after they ask you to stop is not okay.

This is not be a book I would be okay recommending.

This is a well written work, and has a lot of interesting and well done research, about well, heartbreak.
I however, am not in a season of heartbreak.
I have been, and a lot of this resonates with me, but I honestly found it a bit of a slog.
I didn't want to pick up and read more about Pratt's terrible time.
Perhaps it would be better suited if you yourself where having a terrible time.

First I’d like to thank @netgalley the author and @penguinrandomca for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This memoir followed the author through a breakup in her 40s which was her first relationship after her divorce.

Things that worked for me were that it took place between Toronto and Montreal so I really felt like I could see the locations the author was talking about.

And the first ~15% of the book was so gripping. I really could feel through her writing the overwhelming heartbreak after their initial breakup.

What didn’t work for me was the amount of studies and theories that were referenced when I really wanted more of the backstory of the relationship. I felt through the rest of the book the proportion of theory/research to their relationship was inverted to what I wanted.

This definitely brought me back to what breakups in my 20s were like when they were all consuming for a long period of time.

This book published January 10th.




#bookstagram #bookish #bookworm #bookwormsofinstagram #igreads #booksofinstagram #crimewithaclaw #thepageflippers #bookishbabesengagement #paperbackengagement #bookishbunch #heartbroken #netgalley #netgalletreview #penguinrandomhouse

Heartbroken is Laura Pratts beautifully written memoir about her sudden breakup with an ex.

Her writing is seriously beautiful - I love her writing style, she conveys gut-wrenching emotion so flawlessly it’s hard not to be heartbroken for her as she deals with her grief. The amount of research that went into this book is evident and the studies, facts and quotes are woven in to the story almost seamlessly throughout. I think the balance between personal story and facts was perfect.

Like many others, I do take issue with some content in the book. While the author is heartbroken and desperately seeking answers and closure, she needs to be aware that there are two people involved in a break up and they both have needs. She bordered - or quite frankly, completely jumped over the line of - harassment. Everyone grieves in different ways and on different timelines but the author’s behaviors were obsessive and unacceptable - imagine a man behaved this way after a break up?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Canada for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review

Heartbroken is a memoir about just that, heartbreak. The author, Laura Pratt, writes about how she felt when her 6-year relationship came to a close suddenly. Pratt writes about her process of dealing with this separation and uses research to back up her feelings.

Like a lot of people, I'm conflicted about this memoir. On one hand, I completely sympathized with the author's pain and how heartbreak can be an incredibly difficult thing to deal with. She conveyed beautifully how heartbreak is not just a simple status change to singledom, it's also a grand life change that has many repercussions.

On the other hand, I find that sometimes it felt like she needed to back up the way she was feeling with research which in some cases worked, but in most, didn't. Some of the philosophical and psychological points were extremely interesting and insightful but others didn't quite hit the mark such as comparing heartbreak to death which is quite the risk for criticism.

I personally had a hard time accepting her devotion to this man that clearly wanted to move on. It pained me to read about someone so in love with another person that didn't seem to feel the same way back. I would have liked to read about how she tried to move on from the separation rather than how she stayed in this state for so many years after the breakup.

Overall, it was still an interesting read of a personal account of heartbreak.

“Such is the arc of heartbreak: feeling sorry first for the loss and then, by degree, for the person who suffered it.”

Laura Pratt spent 6 years in a long distance relationship before it unexpectedly all came crumbling down. As an investigative journalist and having suffered her own heartbreak, Pratt deep dives into literary, psychological, philosophical, and scientific background of love, heartbreak, and recovering in the aftermath.

I sincerely applaud Pratt’s writing style as she has a lovely poetic and descriptive tone that works well for both the memoir and research elements.

There were some points near the end of the book where I felt things dragged on just a tad and got off track. While some of Pratt’s personal way of dealing with heartbreak may make the reader uncomfortable, there is still a lot of the material that one can not only relate too but learn from.

I do not always like to review biographies, who am I to judge? Sometimes you can learn from a biography which is why I like to read them. In this case there are red flags of what not to do after a breakup. In Heartbroken Laura Pratt writes about getting over a breakup. It takes her six years! She writes a lot; she has a lot to deal with. Everyone deals differently. She continued to write and email her x perhaps therapeutic for her but maybe harassment for him, hmm.

Pratt is a beautiful writer; she is very descriptive, and her prose is strong. As she states it is a hybrid style. She adds that the personal threads of the book are sewn into a wide range of material that draws deeply from academic sources: social science, psychology, physiology, history, and philosophy. It’s a lot! She quotes literature and poetry, this is nice. Note as she writes not only is she learning but she is teaching. She does provide a lot of information that many readers may find useful.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I really tried to sympathize with Laura when her partner of 6 years, Sam, tells her it’s over. That being said it was extremely difficult as the years go on and she’s still texting and emailing him. It feels that she’s only taking her feelings into account and not Sam’s. He deserves to have the chance to move one and she never seems to actually care about his feels or needs.

This book was not for me at all. I needed up skimming the enormous amounts of details about grief as I really just wanted to read about their breakup and not everything else.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a wonderful book, with both insight and research going hand in hand. I can’t say enough about Pratt’s ability to weave her personal experience into her sources on love and its many aspects as she finds them. She is a beautiful writer, if of the grandiose style, who has an incredible knack for a telling metaphor as well as a pithy statement. Her essays are a combination of free flowing research and personal memoir. From her opening, with echoes of Elizabeth Smart’s classic of heartbreak, Pratt gives you wave upon wave of quotes and thoughts on love, from Roland Barthes to medieval lovers, Heloise and Abelard. Almost every page has a reference to a stage of love or its demise, so intricately woven into her memoir, that it resonates within the reader. It is of a florid style, but so genuinely expressed that I couldn’t help being won over.

Pratt shifts effortlessly from the ultra personal to dispassionate reference, never off track and always informative. Her topics range from obvious stages of love and heartbreak, to spin-off topics inspired by her relationship, such as music or memory. In each case there is an in depth exploration of the topic in culture, with references literary, scientific, historical, etc. She discusses how her heart is literally broken.

That said, I am going to buy this book and highly recommend it for anyone who has or will be lost into love’s swirling craziness or needing to research what indeed all the fuss is about. Her insights about grief and its manifestations are valuable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for a chance to read an Arc in exchange for an honest review. I wish Heartbroken well.

Beautiful Writing style. Very vulnerable and relatable. I can see why this book gets so many good reviews.

This book wasn't my cup of tea but I can appreciate the good things this book has. Would try another novel by her. Quite good for a non fiction read !

Congratulations to Laura! And thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc

I’m feeling a bit conflicted about this book. This book contains so much heartache, but so much love as well. I liked it and would recommen it. 3.5

I loved the combination of memoir with fact / studies / information. What a great way to tell a story and teach important concepts and principles.

I enjoyed studying the topic of heartbreak, being on the other side and working through some more recent grief. I learned a lot and solidified some things i already knew.

What a story of grief! I can't imagine being so heartbroken for so long, for so many years over something that is less of a devastation for the majority of the population.

As others reviewers have stated, at what point do the emails, mail and texts become harassment..... I questioned Sam's sanity as well. Why didn't he change his number? Return to sender? Did by just keep accepting everything the author threw at him? How could he have moved in in life with these bombardments coming at him, out of the blue with some regularity? Of course the author never told us his response, only that there was no response from Sam. I'm sure if he had returned to sender, she would have said as much. Sam is a better man than I (and I'm not a man). I am so curious as to his response to the book!