Scan barcode
megatsunami's review against another edition
3.0
This book started out well - strong, funny voice - but ultimately the elements never really came together.
Spoiler
I just did not find it believable that Georgia would have conceived of the videotape-faking idea. It seemed at odds with her personality and who she was.natcatsbookishcafe's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. I really enjoyed the writing style and the story line. I loved Georgia and Jonah's relationship. I think that the only reason it wasn't a 5 star is because I expected it to focus more on the topic of trans people being denied medical care.
auntiewhispers's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 but I'm rounding up. There were things I liked about this book: a well developed friendship, a woman in a heavily male dominated STEM field, and a focus on LGBTQ+ issues. But there were so many things that really didn't work for me and ended up just leaving me frustrated. For a book that's main plot centers around the discrimination of LGTBQ+ people, specifically trans people, it was a really strange choice to have the main narrator be a straight cis woman. I would have been much more interested in a protagonist that was actually a member of the community being affected. Going off this, the romantic relationship between Mark and Georgia was... weird. It just seemed so randomly thrown in and in reality, it was a pretty basic heterosexual romance with no real meaning to the main plot and message of the book. Overall, I REALLY wanted to like this book and it seemingly checked a ton of boxes for me but it just really fell flat in the end.
mindfullibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
(free review copy) Important and timely topic with extensive medical content. Crucial to note that Martin did use numerous sensitivity readers.
martythyst's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
sci_mom's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book through a Goodreads Giveaway. I loved Jonah's character, appreciated Mark, and wanted to love Georgia...but. Somewhere along the way, this book moved from a 4-4.5 star story down to a 3 as it became too convoluted. I was loving it up to that point. In trying to increase the conflict and tension, the author lost the thread of what made the characters and the plot so special in the beginning. Occam's razor would have served this author well.
kerrylonsdale's review against another edition
5.0
A riveting page-turner that rivals your favorite prime time medical drama. Loved it.
thereadingbee's review against another edition
3.0
I love the way Martin writes. She uses wit and her medical knowledge to put together wonderful stories that have likeable characters and lots of depth. The friendship in this book is like no other, the main characters are ride or die with each other and it made me root for their cause. The ending got a little muddled for me and as much as I enjoyed the writing and the sense of humor throughout the book, it still fell a little flat. I love that it tackled difficult issues, issues that I didn't even realize there were. I always love when a book opens my eyes to new issues and this book did just that.
lucysmom828's review against another edition
2.0
I had such high hopes for this book as it promised to tackle difficult (and current) topics. Unfortunately I felt that the book tried to cover too much ground and suffered for it.
Georgia is a urologist who works at a private hospital. She learns that the hospital is going to stop treating patients who are transgender and are also looking to fire her friend, Jonah (who is gay). Had this have been the main plot, I think this book would have fulfilled it's promises. Unfortunately the hospital's new policies are barely mentioned after this introduction. We only hear about one patient's outcome, and even that was a paragraph later in the book. I wanted more focus on these patients and their lives, and how this new policy will effect them. This is such an important issue, and it's put on the back burner as soon as it's introduced.
The plot lines that were added didn't always make sense. Georgia travels overseas for a conference, saves a stranger on the plane, and eventually falls for him. I cannot figure out why this plot line was included. Was it so they could market it as a romance? To me, this character added nothing to the book except for someone for Georgia to talk to that furthered the plot. The romance wasn't necessary and seemed out of place (not to mention rushed).
But let's not forget the other main character, Jonah. The hospital is planning on firing him due to the possibility that he is stealing narcotics. This is another important discussion (providers that abuse drugs), but I don't think it was handled well. The scenes where the drug allegations are mentioned are convoluted at best. There is video evidence (but wait, is there?! or was it doctored?!), the involvement of providers who may or may not have seen Jonah at the scene of the crime, and Jonah's history of depression. Georgia also gets involved at one point to try to help clear Jonah's name, further muddying the waters. Put simply, there's too much happening for any of it to make sense. Let's not forget that there's also discussion of sexual harassment (again, another important topic to discuss, but it's not given the necessary space to properly discuss this issue).
This book had a lot of potential, but that's all it was. It did not live up to expectations. There are so many important topics introduced, but they are too many topics to properly flesh them all out. The author should have focused on a few and really explored them in depth, and saved the remaining topics for another book (even a sequel).
Georgia is a urologist who works at a private hospital. She learns that the hospital is going to stop treating patients who are transgender and are also looking to fire her friend, Jonah (who is gay). Had this have been the main plot, I think this book would have fulfilled it's promises. Unfortunately the hospital's new policies are barely mentioned after this introduction. We only hear about one patient's outcome, and even that was a paragraph later in the book. I wanted more focus on these patients and their lives, and how this new policy will effect them. This is such an important issue, and it's put on the back burner as soon as it's introduced.
The plot lines that were added didn't always make sense. Georgia travels overseas for a conference, saves a stranger on the plane, and eventually falls for him. I cannot figure out why this plot line was included. Was it so they could market it as a romance? To me, this character added nothing to the book except for someone for Georgia to talk to that furthered the plot. The romance wasn't necessary and seemed out of place (not to mention rushed).
But let's not forget the other main character, Jonah. The hospital is planning on firing him due to the possibility that he is stealing narcotics. This is another important discussion (providers that abuse drugs), but I don't think it was handled well. The scenes where the drug allegations are mentioned are convoluted at best. There is video evidence (but wait, is there?! or was it doctored?!), the involvement of providers who may or may not have seen Jonah at the scene of the crime, and Jonah's history of depression. Georgia also gets involved at one point to try to help clear Jonah's name, further muddying the waters. Put simply, there's too much happening for any of it to make sense. Let's not forget that there's also discussion of sexual harassment (again, another important topic to discuss, but it's not given the necessary space to properly discuss this issue).
This book had a lot of potential, but that's all it was. It did not live up to expectations. There are so many important topics introduced, but they are too many topics to properly flesh them all out. The author should have focused on a few and really explored them in depth, and saved the remaining topics for another book (even a sequel).