A review by ebbie_casuallereading
On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi
4.0
Between 4 and 4.5
Look, sure this romance isn't the best of the best. But even though I was big frustrated against the MC a lot of the time, I still felt for her, for the other character, for what was going on in their lives.
I've worked as a program administrator and I still work in a job related to dealing with medical education, so med students doing their clerckship, match, residency, all that stuff is very close to my life and I feel for the students a lot of the time. It's hard out there. And a lot of them go through this with a not completely formed frontal lobe like wow. I felt closer still to the struggle premed, med students, and residents go through (it's always so important to keep yourself aware of the hardships the people you work for, with or give a service to, go through).
So yes, private life might get messy, and yeah, you might not have found yourself just yet and be out there trying to manage relationship or situationship or friendship or family. So beware: this book is about mess. BUT, it's a mess that is surrounded by a lot of love, compassion, giving yourself and other grace, knowing that everyone is struggling.
BUT I would have like a little less anger in the face of vulnerability and/or messiness, and of course, a little less almost-miscommunication-ish stuff. That being said, you do know it's going to be all good in the end, even if you cry your real tears when it happens because some stuff hit close to home, looking back at your younger self or at past mess you've been in.
I see how this is not just romance but "coming of age" adjacent as you see a progression in maturity from the MC, how she deals with things at the early stage of the book vs towards the end, and how people around her grow as well. The whole thing about the study on outcome in diverse patient, the struggle associated with taking up this kind of subject in a state that you have to lick them boots and be extra just to be noticed, where you can step on the wrong toes and be casted like "that one" for maybe the rest of your career, etc., I really enjoy reading about that. Even more so in the light of the workshop I took last fall with an extraordinary black woman MD that's working on these issues, in Texas no less.
So there's a lot in this book. I won't say it's for everyone, as for the genre it's in, it goes through some tropes without being groundbreaking. BUT, again, if you give it a chance, I think some of you might be surprise at where it go, for once regarding the growth of the characters, and then how it pulls at your heart, even if it's not perfect.
Look, sure this romance isn't the best of the best. But even though I was big frustrated against the MC a lot of the time, I still felt for her, for the other character, for what was going on in their lives.
I've worked as a program administrator and I still work in a job related to dealing with medical education, so med students doing their clerckship, match, residency, all that stuff is very close to my life and I feel for the students a lot of the time. It's hard out there. And a lot of them go through this with a not completely formed frontal lobe like wow. I felt closer still to the struggle premed, med students, and residents go through (it's always so important to keep yourself aware of the hardships the people you work for, with or give a service to, go through).
So yes, private life might get messy, and yeah, you might not have found yourself just yet and be out there trying to manage relationship or situationship or friendship or family. So beware: this book is about mess. BUT, it's a mess that is surrounded by a lot of love, compassion, giving yourself and other grace, knowing that everyone is struggling.
BUT I would have like a little less anger in the face of vulnerability and/or messiness, and of course, a little less almost-miscommunication-ish stuff. That being said, you do know it's going to be all good in the end, even if you cry your real tears when it happens because some stuff hit close to home, looking back at your younger self or at past mess you've been in.
I see how this is not just romance but "coming of age" adjacent as you see a progression in maturity from the MC, how she deals with things at the early stage of the book vs towards the end, and how people around her grow as well. The whole thing about the study on outcome in diverse patient, the struggle associated with taking up this kind of subject in a state that you have to lick them boots and be extra just to be noticed, where you can step on the wrong toes and be casted like "that one" for maybe the rest of your career, etc., I really enjoy reading about that. Even more so in the light of the workshop I took last fall with an extraordinary black woman MD that's working on these issues, in Texas no less.
So there's a lot in this book. I won't say it's for everyone, as for the genre it's in, it goes through some tropes without being groundbreaking. BUT, again, if you give it a chance, I think some of you might be surprise at where it go, for once regarding the growth of the characters, and then how it pulls at your heart, even if it's not perfect.