I loved this book! Ailsa Rae is so strong, funny and real as she tries to learn what normal life looks like. She is one of those characters I feel isa friend. I became totally absorbed in this book - perfect for a summer vacation. Stephanie Butland is now firmly on my list of favorite authors.

Lovely feel good story. It was well written and flowed well. Easy to read and hard to put down. Perfect on these summer nights

I loved The Lost for Words Bookshop so when I had the opportunity to read Stephanie Butland’s newest novel, I jumped at the chance! The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae was everything I had hoped it would be!

Centering around (almost) 30 year old, Alisa, who after being born with a serious heart problem has just successfully gotten a heart transplant. Throughout this novel we get to see Ailsa go through the journey of finding her new normal.

From the moment I started this novel, I found the storyline and characters absolutely endearing! Stephanie Butland did a great job with organically educating the readers on the transplant process (both physically and emotionally)! The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is a 4.5 star read that definitely warmed my own heart! I am already looking forward to reading what Stephanie Butland has up her sleeve next!

After reading and loving Lost For Words, I knew entering into Stephanie Butland's world would bring joyful characters and a feeling of home. I wasn't disappointed - Ailsa and her mother definitely found their way into my heart (no pun intended for those that have read the novel - or the synopsis). Ailsa has been ill all her life with a heart condition that would have rendered her DOA had she been born in an earlier time. Instead, she makes it to 28, when she receives a heart transplant

She is one of the lucky ones - she knows this not only because of statistics, but because she watched her first love die of liver failure. Suddenly, she has to navigate the world of being an adult - living on her own, finding a job, navigating a complicated relationship with her devoted mother - and perhaps, even finding love again.

If I had one suggestion - this book may be a little too long/dense. There were times I just did not reach for the book because I did love the character development, the action/drama was a very slow burn.

In the end, I was pulling for the ultimate happy ending for our Ailsa and her new beau - but as she's learning, life tends to be a bit more complicated than that.

Thank you Netgalley for this preview!

This would make a great romantic comedy movie. The topic was serious but the plot had many light moments - interspersed with some very serious ones. It was a great vacation read. I loved the inclusion of her blog and the exchange of emails (of course I love all epistolary novels so any imbedded letters or emails are good:) I also loved that she named her new heart; it was a great literary device (I won’t say more).

One caveat - 4 stars for chick lit with a serious topic. My ratings take into consideration the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early release of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Curious Heart of Alisa Rae by Stephanie Butland is to me a “coming of age story” or a”second chance at life story” for late 20s Alisa.
This is a light read and almost feels like a YA story, however the character is almost 30. In some respects she is still a young adult in the fact that the growth of most of her adult life has been stunted and in limbo due to the fact that she was dealing with the deterioration of a congenital cardiac birth defect. Receiving life-altering surgery, Alisa now has a new life to live.
Dealing with the complete change of now having all of these years ahead of you and not knowing what to do with this time, is a blessing but a challenge as well.
This book deals with Alisa’s new path and the changes of her relationships in respect to that. The complex relationship she has with her mother, Hayley is added to the mix, as well as other relationships in Alisa’s life.
The book is written as Alisa in that she is the main character, however it is not just written inside Alisa’s head, but also through her blog (which is her outlet during this time), as well as email correspondence.
The shaking up of the format added an interesting twist. All in all a good read with a good ending.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Zaffre Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live.

She's only a few months past the heart transplant that—just in time—saved her life. Life should be a joyful adventure. But . . .

Her relationship with her mother is at breaking point and she wants to find her father.
Have her friends left her behind?
And she's felt so helpless for so long that she lets polls on her blog make her decisions for her. She barely knows where to start on her own.

Then there's Lennox. Her best friend and one-time lover. He was sick too. He didn't make it. And now she's supposed to face all of this without him.

But her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it . . .

It was not bad, just more for YA . I finished and just say YA may love it

Jumped on this when Netgalley compared it to Eleanor Oliphant.....and it is NOTHING like Eleanor!
Though cute, sweet and quickly read, it was too maudlin for me. My teen students may like it better than i did.

The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland is the titular character's experience of life both before and after receiving the gift of a new heart via an anonymous donor. This is a sensitive portrayal of an individual's desperation to acquire a life-saving organ, and the multitude of emotions that come as a result of being a successful recipient.

Ailsa has never felt like a proper adult in all of her twenty-eight years, feeling that she has been infantilized in response to her illness. When she meets Seb, however, a donor recipient himself, Ailsa begins to assume a maturity that has been lacking.

I applaud Ms Butland's impressing upon the reader the critical need for organ donors, without ever becoming preachy or judgemental. This is, ultimately, a feel good story as we bear witness to Ailsa's growing confidence that there is value in life, despite the many obstacles that stand in her way.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

An interesting journey of a young woman who receives a new heart. She now must learn how to "live" after being able to only "survive" since she was an infant.
This book helps to understand the desperate need of organ donation and the importance of this selfless act.
Ailsa who was able to obtain her needed organ, but also has survivors guilt when her friend does not get the liver he needs to live.
A quick book that definitely has humor mixed in with sadness.

This was a well-written book that gave me an understanding of the subject of organ transplants. Ailsa Rae was born with a bad heart and she had surgeries to keep her alive. The time came when she had to have a new heart and just in time received one. The book helped me to understand what it is like to need a new organ and to receive a new organ. Ailsa had been so sick as a child that she missed out on so much. She had a best friend named Lennox, who was also sick and needed a transplant. He didn't get one in time so she had to face life without him. After receiving her new heart, she had to figure out living. She created a blog and let her viewers choose through polls on what she should do. Because of the meds and the steroids she needed to take, she gained weight and she worked to get her strength back and to get into shape, every single day. She realized how people could be so cruel, it hurt her but she was determined she wasn't going to give up.
This book has not only given me a better understanding but it also has made me think. As I write this review, I think, you don't just receive an organ and miraculously you are cured. This is something you have to take care of for the rest of your life by taking certain medications. Then she thought her life was saved because someone else died. I never realized all that someone goes through. The book guides you through the process of needing an organ and receiving an organ with dignity, realistically and compassion.
Thank you, Stephanie Butland for writing such a wonderful book. Your book has opened my eyes and heart because I knew I could check a box on my license and become an organ donor but other than that I knew nothing about it. I hope millions and millions of people read this book and think about not only becoming an , donor but what someone who receives one has to go through so that there will be more understanding and compassion and so much less cruelty.