When Charles Dickens himself thinks your book is too long (the AUDACITY of him, honestly) ... it might be a bit too long.  However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much depth Elizabeth Gaskell was able to infuse in the pages of North and South.  Great discussion of class, labor conflicts, gender roles, and the role of unions in Victorian Britain that is often lacking in books from a similar time (for example, I can't stand Charles Dickens).

This might be marketed as a love story, but it really isn't, at least at its core.  It's so much more than that!

I can say that I enjoyed the reading experience, although it took me a couple of chapters to get really into the story. I often heard the book described as "Pride and Prejudice plus socialism" and, honestly, it's not such a far-off description. 

I really liked the characters' depiction and their growth over the course of the story, I appreciated how the author portrayed even the ones that I didn't find particulary pleasant. There were a lot of tragedies and misfortunes that kept occuring (maybe too many, give us a break Elizabeth Gaskell please) and that really took me by surprise and moved me.
I'm not immune to a good romantic plot but I can say that I really appreciated that there was more to the novel. I really enjoyed the description and the reflections on the social reality of the time, the strike and the conditions of workers. 

Still, there were some aspects that stopped me from giving full marks. There were maybe a bit too many mentions and reflections on religion that bored me a little and in part flew over my head, but that is more of a personal preference as someone who is not much of a religious person. 
I can also say that the pacing felt a bit off. At times the story dragged on a bit and moved quite slowly, then, 
instead, the ending felt rushed, the long-awaited resolution came very quickly and the novel ended rather abruptly.

This is one of my absolute favourite books. I have read this book a few times before, and this time listen to an audiobook. It was even better than I rembered it being. The beginning is very slow and quite difficult to get into, but sets up important context which pays off later in the book. I think this is, objectively, a good book, but I'm also aware that probably the reason I love it so much is because it hits a lot of my personal preferences: class and social issues, rural villages, industrial towns, a variety of interesting family dynamics, friendships, characters learning and growing, and seemingly-unrequited romance. The characters are all really well developed, as well, and Mrs Thornton and Mr Thornton are probably two of my favourite characters of all time. The story is sad at points, but I had a big smile on my face at the end.