A review by booktribe
On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi

emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

     Angela Appiah had what some might call the perfect life. She’s in medical school, with an upwardly mobile boyfriend, and she’s surrounded by successful friends. Until it all comes tumbling down. She doesn’t do well on her latest medical exam, her boyfriend breaks up with her, and problems emerge in her friend group. How will she pull it together and how will this new man, Ricky, that she has her eye on factor into her life?

     The first sentence I read of this book cracked me up! I was into it from the beginning because the easy flowing, but engaging writing really caught me. Some of the scenes were very relatable and others were incredibly cute!  I enjoyed the secondary characters a lot. Especially Nia and Shae. We all need friends like them! My favorite part of this novel though was the conversations on medical racism. It is SO important that we bring attention to this because every Black person that has been around hospitals or doctors enough knows how we are treated. As someone who has experienced medical racism across years of my life, I’m so glad it was talked about prominently in this novel! I also loved other important things that were mentioned in the book like the way we as Black people are treated by Asian store owners, or how African children are often bullied in American schools. This novel brought up so many important things that must be talked about more.

     But there were some things about this book that I didn’t like. The first thing that I didn’t like was the footnotes. This isn’t personal though, I just ALWAYS hate footnotes, it doesn’t matter what book it is. Footnotes always take me out of the story. And I feel like every footnote could’ve either been omitted or added to the text in an actual sentence. They always distract me. But my main problem with this book was the love interest, Ricky. He was just trash! One of those “nice guys” that will do you wrong, but then act like the victim when you call him out and gaslight you into thinking you’re wrong. He’s fun, sure, but he is not someone you take seriously because he changes his mind every two seconds. And the fact that Angie was so dumb for him, made me not like her either. Girl stand up!!!!!

     I did enjoy this book, the main characters were just so exhausting that it was hard for me to read. I would’ve enjoyed it so much better is Ricky hadn’t been so terrible. The book was definitely more good than bad though, so I’m giving it 3.5 stars and rounding it up to 4.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyage and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: medical racism, addiction, talks of illness and hospital related injuries
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