I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy a historical verse novel but I should have known that with the masterful Sarah Crossan at the helm I'd end up reading it in one sitting! As always, she doesn't waste a word, and the historical detail is fascinating rather than getting in the way of the story. I loved it and have already recommended it to both colleagues and pupils.

Set in Ireland in 1846, this is a novel set in verse about a sixteen year old scullery maid who is responsible for providing for her whole family. It is a love story set in a time of hunger, disease and division. I always love novels told in verse and Sarah Crossan never lets me down. Brilliant.

Another fantastic YA title from Sarah Crossan. Set during the time of the Irish potato famine, Nell's family, like the rest of their community, are struggling to survive. Her job as a scullery maid at the local 'big house' and the wages she brings in are a lifeline for her family. Their she meets Johnny, the Master's nephew. Their connection is instant, but the difference in status and the problems in the village make their romance difficult... A fantastic choice for historical fiction and romance fans.

The ease of writing sends you straight back to 1840s Ireland and immerses the reader in the horrendous times of the potato famine. Crossan’s characters are so well-drawn especially for me, Nell & Lord Wicken. The blossoming attraction between Nell & Johnny is beautifully & gently observed in sharp contrast to Rose and Eamon’s relationship. I love the verse format & devour any novel that this author shares with her readers.

I’m a fan of the author. I wanted to read Where the Heart Should Be because it sounded like something I’d enjoy and it’s different from her other books but still written in her verse-style which I always really enjoy. I wasn’t sure how a verse-novel would suit historical fiction but the author successfully pulls this off. I loved the historical details, clearly well-researched and the characters especially Nell. I loved her. I also loved the forbidden love between Nell the scullery-maid and John, the son of a Lord. This is compelling narrative. I found this an emotional read. I was riveted. I’d recommend this.

Where the Heart Should Be is another phenomenal verse novel by the brilliant YA writer Sarah Crossan - and her first work of historical fiction. Set during the Great Hunger of 1845-1851 in which the failure of the potato crop triggered the deaths of over a million Irish people, this is a love story about Nell Quinn, a teenage scullery maid from a tenant farming family, who falls in love with John Browning, the nephew of Lord Wicken and heir to the Big House.

Crossan rails against the searing injustices of this period of history: there is enough food to feed everyone, but the greed of the wealthiest and the decision to continue exporting food lead to widespread destitution. Nell's position working in the Big House gives her a particular insight into the extravagance and waste of Lord Wicken's household compared with her family and neighbours who are starving.

Nell and John's story of forbidden love is also compellingly told and allows us to care deeply about both characters, and as ever, Crossan's use of verse form makes this novel gripping and highly readable, whilst also allowing for moments of profound reflection.

This is a magnificent piece of writing which deserves to be read widely by teenagers and adults alike, shedding a light on one of the darkest periods of Irish and British history. Many thanks for NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Oh my goodness this book took me by surprise and on an emotional journey I was not expecting to go on. It was not something that I usually read (I wouldn’t usually pick up history fiction) but once I got used to the prose writing style I was hooked in and felt so many emotions and feelings towards the characters. The story is told from the perspective of a young girl who gains a job working as a scullery maid in and follows her family and community’s struggles through the potato famine of 1840s Ireland. I had read Sarah Crossan’s other books growing up (One, Moonrise, We Come Apart) so when I saw this as a potential read on NetGalley I was really interested to see if her story telling would still reach me as adult and can safely say it definitely did. ✨ Thank you Sarah and Bloomsbury Publishing for allowing me to read the ebook ARC ✨

“It is hard to tell a love story and also the story of a people being torn apart.”

It might be hard but Sarah Crossan has managed it in this fabulous YA free verse novel!

Myself and Emma have been working our way through Sarah Crossan’s books and just as we ran out, Where The Heart Should Be was announced. We were both lucky enough to get early access through netgalley so we had another brilliant Sarah Crossan buddy read!

Where The Heart Should Be is a fictional story set in Ireland during the famine. I'll admit, my knowledge of the Famine and that time in Ireland is completely lacking but after reading this I am definitely keen to read and learn more.

Where The Heart Should Be manages to capture the horrors of that time but in a way that's not completely traumatising for younger readers. It highlights the differences between the rich and poor and the lack of support offered by the English Government but never feels too heavy. The romance storyline between Nell and Johnny lightens the book and shows that happiness could still be found even in the most harrowing and difficult of times.

Another outstanding, thought provoking book by Sarah Crossan. How she can make you feel so much using so few words on a page will always amaze me!

I should have known when I decided to read ‘just a few chapters’ before bed that I was just fooling myself, I have always been incapable of putting down a Sarah Crossan novel once I’ve started it and of course this was no exception. Beautiful, heartbreaking and informative, I can’t get over how much feeling Sarah always manages to masterfully portray and yes of course I was in tears several times. Simply brilliant, Sarah’s writing somehow manages to draw you in instantly and keeps you utterly spellbound to the very last word.

I'm a huge fan of Sarah Crossan's books and her style of writing and this book was as I expected it to be, amazing!
It is set in Ireland, during the potato famine in the 1940s and follows Nell, a girl working as a scullery maid in a big house, owned by the rich British Lord Wicken, landlord of all surrounding homes.
Nell meets Johnny, nephew and heir of Lord Wicken, but is afraid of people discovering their friendship and the impact it could have on her family.

This book was so quick and interesting to read - I loved how the chapters were short, but still filled with all the information needed.
As always, Sarah Crossan has written a fascinating and emotional story that pulls at the heart strings.

A young adult novel in verse set during the Irish famine. 16-year old Nell takes a job as a scullery maid in the home of the local English landlord. There she meets Johnny, the nephew of and heir of the landlord. Nell and Johnny fall in love while conditions for Nell's family and others around them become progressively worse.

I'm not generally fond of young adult novels (or novels in verse for that matter) but I had read Sarah Crossan's adult novel, Here is the Beehive, and loved it so was keen to read this. It didn't disappoint. This is a heartbreaking, beautifully written story that captures all the heightened emotions of first love, while never failing to accurately portray the devastation and cruelty of the famine.

Wowsa!! What a book!! This book grabbed my attention, and my heart from the very first word!
Sarah Crossan always has a way of going in and getting right to your heart. There's no 'ease-in', there is no wasted words, it's just BOOM, hits your heart and gets you right in the feels!!

Initially reading the blurb, the plot didn't really excite or intrigue me - it was Crossan's name that made me want to read. I always enjoy her books. This one was no exception.
Sarah Crossan's writing is so filmic, and I could picture everything - it would make a great film/tv series. There's nothing 'fluffy' and overdone in her writing, yet she creates such an atmosphere and such deep emotions for the reader.

This book will definitely stay with me long after reading. Absolutely stunning!!

I wish there were ten stars to rate this book, I don't have the words to describe how much I loved reading it. Sarah Crossan is an incredible storyteller and I love how immersive her verse is. But I did not expect being unable to put the book down, I read it all in less than a day and I just had to know how the story ended. I think for me the most extraordinary aspect of reading this book was how Crossan masterfully gave us heartbreak and joy in equal parts. I fell in love with Nell and her family from the first page and the descriptions of the life, hardships and ultimately loss and grief were so real, I felt like I was in that cabin with her. The way we witness her fall in love with Johnny took me back to my own first experience of falling in love and I related and relived those feelings with her. I don't know much about Irish history but I'm grateful this time in history was highlighted because I think it's important to reflect and consider what a point in time was really like (especially during these turbulent times), this story might be fictional, but these things did happen and not much information is available to us.

"Where the Heart Should Be" is historical fiction with the softness required to write a story or an incredibly dark time in Ireland's history. We follow the story of Nell as she takes up her new position in the big house, meets a boy and falls in love, all while the failing of the potatoes has reached her families small plot of rented land and they face the prospect of starvation.
Juxta-positioning the throes of first love against the devastation that the famine caused makes for a heart-breaking read. Again and again, with great nuance Crossan manages to show the startling difference between how the peasant Irish were forced to lived compared to the landed gentry.
Her verse is beautiful, a sparse and lyrical style, where every word serves it's purpose.
Overall a very solid read, that I devoured in two days and look forward to recommending to others.

Such a powerful and moving story of upstairs downstairs set against one of Ireland's saddest and most desperate times. I enjoyed the story of Nell and Johnny in what was a well written book.

Another fantastic personal account from Crossan, here enlightening readers on the Irish famine.

I think I've read almost every one of the author's titles. She's not only incredibly readable, with her unnusual style of narration that reads like a series of poems, but she manages to bring us such varied and captivating protagonists and situations.

Here it's a teenage girl unwittingly finding herself and her family in the midst of the real Irish potato famine of the mid 1800s, where readers will soon learn that millions died. Almost unbelievable now, but made very real through the words and deeds of Nell.

Elder sister in a poor household of tenant farmers, Nell is atypical of her time as a girl who enjoys reading poetry and learning, but is now forced by circumstances to work as kitchen maid at the nearby landlord's stately home, to bring home pennies for her family whose potato crops are blighted and inedible.

We see both the appalling conditions and choices the peasant classes had to live within and make, the greed and arrogance of the upper classes (here the English - a good history lesson for KS3 readers as well). And how desperation and grief led to clashes.

In the midst of the tragic setting, Nell meets the landlord's nephew, now his heir, John Browning, a wannabee artist but forced by his own family situation into learning his uncle's estate business. Their like minds lead them to seek each other out, though really a brewing Romeo and Juliet situation is seen on the horizon by the reader...

Engrossing as always, evocative of the period and brings home the real plight of an entire country. I enjoyed the love story, Nell and Johnny aren't silly teenagers of today, we can see how fast young people had to grow up back them and this is reflected more in their language, goals and measured (mostly) behaviour around each other.

A history lesson in itself, this is a fantastic short novel from Crossan and a real insight into a dark period in history.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

"It's hard to tell a love story and also the story of a people being torn apart."

Sarah Crossan's writing is as wonderful as ever as she tells the story of Nell and her families struggles during the Famine while also falling in love.
I can't remember the last time I read a Sarah Crossan book that didn't make me cry and this one was no different in that respect. You are pulled into the already difficult life of Nell and then broken as her remaining childhood innocence is shattered as everything falls apart around her.
A wonderful heartbreaking read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Bloomsbury for a digital ARC in return for my honest review

Sarah Crossan’s prose is beautiful and powerful in this story set at the onset of the famine in Ireland. This is a quick, compulsive read that tackles most of the major issues that led to the famine and will justifiably sit alongside classics such as Under the Hawthorn Tree.

Have always been a fan of Sarah’s writing, it’s unique. Sarah lets you and your imagination do the work which I think is great. I read this in about 5 hours, it’s very addictive and heartfelt. I had to know what was happening and I also needed to know how it ended too. My heart broke for Nell and her family and for the village. I like it when a book can make you feel all the emotions and this book really did, choked me up at some points. I would definitely recommend this book.

This is the first YA novel by Sarah Crossan I have read, I loved her adult fiction, Here is the Beehive so was excited to read more of her work. This novel is set in 1846 during the famine sweeping across Ireland as the potato crops failed. It follows teenager, Nell whose family is a tenant on the estate of Lord Wicken a wealthy English aristocrat, as she begins to work as a scullery maid in his home. It is here she meets John Browning, the nephew and heir of Wicken and quickly a star-crossed romance blossoms between them as the world around Nell falls apart.

I loved this story and devoured it in a few short bursts over a couple of days. The narrative deals with some harrowing circumstances surrounding the suffering of the Irish tenants and the losses they were forced to bear but is handled at the perfect level for a YA audience. I loved Nell’s character; she is clever and brave, and Johnny’s compassionate nature was the ideal companion for her. Where the Heart Should Be is an exceptional story and introduction to a dark part of English and Irish history for YA readers. Highly recommended read! Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for a digital review copy.