I
had difficulty getting into this novel. It did not capture me in the
initial fifty pages. If I had not agreed to review it, I probably
would not have finished it. I could not identify with the characters
at all nor did they elicit my compassion. The author's writing style
is mostly long passages of prose interspersed with short bursts of
dialogue or action. Much of the prose is character thoughts. In that
sense this is very much a character driven novel. The pace picked up
near the end of the book but that did not make up for the slow pace
for the rest of the novel.
I
found the change in points of view disturbing. Meghan's section is
first person, from inside her head. Other sections, such as Becky,
Meghan's mom, Zach, one of Meghan's doctors, are in the third person,
from a universal point of view. I felt the changes distracting and it
did not work for me.
There
is a great deal of medical information included in the novel. I
learned about mitochondrial disease and Munchausen by proxy, for
example.
I
would have appreciated this book much more if 50-60 pages had been
edited out. Readers who appreciate long passages of character
ruminations might enjoy this book. It was just not the writing style
I like. I did enjoy the intense suspense at the end. I do wish there
had been more of it throughout the entire book.
You
can read an excerpt here.
My
rating: 3/5 stars.
Daniel
Palmer is the USA Today bestselling author of ten novels. He
published his first novel after a decade long career in e-commerce.
He is a recording artist, accomplished blues harmonica player and
lives in New Hampshire with his wife and two children. You can find
out more at http://www.danielpalmerbooks.com/home.
Macmillan
Publishers, 384 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My
comments are an independent and honest review.
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