Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

Do No Harm by Jack Jordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 432

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

My son has been taken. And I’ve been given a choice…
Kill a patient on the operating table. Or never see him again.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?



My Review

Oooft, fast paced/tense! We have Anna, renowned surgeon, Margot who is a theatre nurse and Rachel is a cop. We bounce between the three as the story unravels, we meet the characters, get to know them and from the very beginning - well even the blurb we know the jist. A surgeon is told - kill your patient or you kids dies instead and leave absolutely no room for second guessing.

So talk about a bunch of characters you don't like, meet this lot, individuals who should be trusted but are dodgy. Anna, surgeon, cold fish, unlikeable even a self saboteur in some instances (pre this horrible predicament), Margot, nurse and has some very questionable life choices/work *ethic*.

We bounce from one disaster to another, shady behaviours and choices and I don't just mean the bad guys, offt. Thrilling, shocking, violent, murders it is a very full bag and keeps the reader enrapt and guessing, what is coming next!

I didn't like a lot of the characters but even the dodgy/shady ones I absolutely wanted to know what was coming next. I also wanted to slap a few of them lol, sometimes you love to love characters and sometimes the ones you hate are just as captivating - if not more so, 4/5 for me!

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Worth Fighting For by Lisa Niemi Swayze

Worth Fighting For: Love, Loss, and Moving Forward by Lisa Niemi Swayze
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - as able over 4 days

Pages - 336

Publisher - Atria Books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Wait a minute . . .
. . . there.

I made it to the next moment.

And that’s how you get through a bad moment of grief. You do it one moment at a time.

—from Worth Fighting For


My Review

This is Patrick Swayze's wife book about their time together, pre and post diagnosis, treatment and through his lie and when he passes on. Written almost in diary form, first person, some thoughts lifted and put in amongst the chapters. Each chapter has a photograph at the header. We learn about their relationship, married for over 30 years, how Lisa dealt with Hollywood/fame being mrs Swayze and the heartbreaking diagnosis and journey that followed.

You can tell this book has been a form of therapy, you can feel the emotion outpouring in some of the chapters. The parts dealing with the ins and outs, how Lisa got through each day being there for her husband, keeping on top of the treatments, keeping upbeat, being supportive and dealing with the press. The newspapers and how some people invaded their lives, the crass and disgusting behavior and blatant lies told to sell newspapers. Think of the person you love, dying, trying to keep positive, going through day to day and reading horrific lies, death predictions splashed all over the news. I really do feel for celebrities at times and their families, it is like people forget their are human, nothing is sacred and I felt so bad for Patrick's family and wife, especially at one point his poor wee mum. You can't even imagine trying to deal with a diagnosis like that and keep positive when lies and death speculation is spread all over the papers. Now it would be worse with online so popular and easily accessible.

I hope if nothing else this book makes people think about how exploited people can be all in the name of flogging some newspapers. I loved watching Patrick Swayze movies growing up, I remember being shocked to find out he sang She's Like The Wind - he has such a beautiful voice. I learned more about him as a person in this book and as with anyone, reading about anyone going through cancer - it is an emotive read. If you have lost someone to cancer or had someone diagnoses with it I think you will find some parts of the book hard hitting, if you haven't I think you will still find it an emotive read. 4/5 for me this time, after finishing this I find myself re watching some of the old movies - he was a fabulous actor (in my opinion) and from reading this book he seemed like a genuinely nice human being. I hope writing this brought his wife some peace, your heart goes out to anyone losing someone to cancer and these days it seems most of us have.

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Open My Eyes by Alice Allan

Open My Eyes, That I May See Marvellous Things by Alice Allan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 240

Publisher - Pinter & Martin

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: when adopted midwife Mariam embarks on a project to protect an abandoned premature baby, she is forced to face her own abandonment years before. Time is running out before the baby is sent to the orphanage. Mysterious characters from the city surrounding the hospital will be crucial in determining the baby's fate, as will a workaholic British doctor with whom Mariam finds herself falling in love... Alice Allan's debut novel is an original, vivid and moving story about attachment and loss.

My Review

We are in Ethiopia when we meet Mariam, midwife and very good at her job although outspoken which doesn't always go well with her colleagues. When a baby is abandoned it shouldn't be any different from all the others but this one is. Mariam cannot help but be drawn to the baby and reflect, question and acknowledge her own past.

The book chapters splits between Mariam, A Person, the baby and John a doctor in the hospital, married to the job. As we move between the characters we get a feel for the city, hospital, life for some in Ethiopia and how we cannot out run our past. I do like a book that has health related issues or a medical setting in them and being set in Ethiopia was an added bonus point for me as it is always interesting (for me) to see how things are done in other settings.

It isn't medical heavy so if that isn't your thing don't worry about it, I just mention is as I enjoyed those parts. There is a lot of personal issues going on with the characters and we find them, particularly Mariam, going on a bit of an emotion rollercoaster. Work dynamics, relationships and adoption also feature in the story, it has a lot going on but written well.

I also need to mention the actual physical book I have. I am not sure if they are all like this but it has such a lovely feel and the pages are very different from any of the other books I have read. The material is so nice I would love all my books to be made of that but then would maybe be even harder to give them away! I think this is a really well tackled and written debut novel and I am so glad I was sent it as I may well have bypassed it in the book shop. This is my first by Allan but it won't be my last, I look forward to her next offering, 3.5/5 for me this time.

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The Way Back To Us by Kay Langdale

The Way Back To Us by Kay Langdale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days on and off

Pages - 274

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

I am a mess of tears on the train. Can't remember the last time a book broke my heart so much... (Lucy Dillon on Away from You) Perfect for fans of Adele Parks and Maggie O'Farrell.

Since their youngest son, Teddy, was diagnosed with a life-defining illness, Anna has been fighting: against the friends who don't know how to help; against the team assigned to Teddy's care who constantly watch over Anna's parenting; and against the impulse to put Teddy above all else - including his older brother, the watchful, sensitive Isaac.

And now Anna can't seem to stop fighting against her husband, the one person who should be able to understand, but who somehow manages to carry on when Anna feels like she is suffocating under the weight of all the things that Teddy will never be able to do.

As Anna helplessly pushes Tom away, he can't help but feel the absence of the simple familiarity that should come so easily, and must face the question: is it worse to stay in an unhappy marriage, or leave?



My Review

This story centres around Anna's family, her husband Tom and her two sons Isaac and Teddy. Teddy has SMA type 2 and the book gives some education on it without being too heavy in medical jargon or clinical. The bulk of the story is the effect Teddy's condition has on them all, how they interact, cope and go about their days. How the attitude and choices of one impacts on the others and the actions that follow as a result.

I don't know if the author has any experience either with a condition like this or a loved one who has some similar condition. Despite it being a fictional story it has a very real voice on the difficulties of every day life, things we take for granted that someone with a chronic condition could have great difficulty with. Add into that the emotions, strain and focus each family member has, the mother who has to be superwoman, ensuring the rights and safety of her child. The husband who is the bread winner but feels like a spare part at times when it comes to the inner workings of his family and his relationship with his wife. And the brother Isaac, older but still a child himself living with everything revolving around and putting Teddy first at all times.

It is heavily focused on the relationships between the four main characters, marital difficulties, relationships and friendships with those outwith the inner family. Social interactions, those with medical professionals and the outer branch of professionals involved in Teddy's care. The story is multi narrative, all chapters are headed with the person whose view point we will be seeing it from so it is really easy to follow. There is a lot of emotion within the book, it tackles many issues and made for interesting reading, I do enjoy a book where medical conditions pop up. It took me a wee bit to settle into the different view points, easy enough to follow who it is but they have different voices and issues so a wee bit jumpy in some aspects. I did however enjoy the book, Langdale has a nice tone when writing and you can slip into the plot with ease. 3.5 stars for me this time, I have read her before and would read her again, as always my thanks to the publisher.

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The Sleep Room by F R Tallis

The Sleep Room by Frank Tallis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Pan

Blurb from Goodreads

When promising young psychiatrist James Richardson is offered the job opportunity of a lifetime by the charismatic Dr. Hugh Maitland, he is thrilled. Setting off to take up his post at Wyldehope Hall in deepest Suffolk, Richardson doesn't look back. One of his tasks is to manage Maitland's most controversial project--a pioneering therapy in which extremely disturbed patients are kept asleep for months. If this radical and potentially dangerous procedure is successful, it could mean professional glory for both doctors.

As Richardson settles into his new life, he begins to sense something uncanny about the sleeping patients--six women, forsaken by society. Why is Maitland unwilling to discuss their past lives? Why is the trainee nurse so on edge when she spends nights alone with them? And what can it mean when all the sleepers start dreaming at the same time? In this atmospheric reinvention of the ghost story, Richardson finds himself questioning everything he knows about the human mind, as he attempts to uncover the shocking secrets of The Sleep Room . . .


My Review

James Richardson is at the beginnings of his career as a psychiatrist when an opportunity to work for Dr. Hugh Maitland opens up. Maitland is well respected and offers Richardson a unique opportunity to work in Wyldehope Hall in Suffolk, looking after patients with psychiatric conditions and 6 ladies in a sleep room. A room where they are kept asleep with drugs, monitored & woken at arrange interval for brief periods. At first it seems like the dream job however strange and eerie events occur, one of the nurses is behaving bizarrely & James can't stop asking questions.

This is a strange wee tale, it starts off relatively fine with James moving in, asking about the predecessor and learning what the job entails. Soon things start to happen to make James question if there isn't some kind of paranormal activity going on and wanting to know more about the patients. James has the task of trying to investigate without seeming like he has lost his sanity or annoying his new boss.

There is a wee bit of everything in this book, death, spooky happenings, relationships, medical chat such as conditions and drugs. It goes along at a decent pace, building up an atmospheric tension as the reader plods along with James trying to grasp what is happening. The end came along a little suddenly for more and I would have liked a bit more in depth explanation however I am one of those readers who always wants more, 3/5 for me this time, I would read this author again.

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The Last Act of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink

The Last Act Of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 243

Publisher - Picador

Blurb from Goodreads

In the summer of 1990 - two weeks before his GCSE results, which turned out to be the best in his school - Cathy Rentzenbrink's brother Matty was knocked down by a car on the way home from a night out, suffering serious head injuries. He was left in a permanent vegetative state. Over the following years, Cathy and her parents took care of Matty - they built an extension onto the village pub where they lived and worked; they talked to him, fed him, bathed him, loved him. But there came a point at which it seemed the best thing they could do for Matty - and for themselves - was let him go. With unflinching honesty and raw emotional power, Cathy describes the unimaginable pain of losing her brother and the decision that changed her family's lives forever. As she delves into the past and reclaims memories that have lain buried for many years, Cathy reconnects with the bright, funny, adoring brother she lost and is finally able to see the end of his life as it really was - a last act of love. Powerful, intimate and intensely moving, this is a personal journey with universal resonance - a story of unconditional love, of grief, survival and the strength of the ties that bind. It's a story that will speak to anyone who has lost someone close to them, to anyone who has fiercely loved a sibling, and to anyone who has ever wondered whether prolonging a loved one's life might be more heartbreaking than saying goodbye.



My Review

I didn't read the blurb from this book when it came through so I wasn't too sure what the book was about. The first chapter sets you straight on that, Cathy is at the hospital, years melt away and we go back to life before the accident. Cathy and her brother are close, teenagers on the brink of their adult life. When Matty is hit by a car and left with horrific brain injury, Cathy and her family have to learn to cope and look after Matty and deal with this new life. From praying for his recovering, learning acceptance of his condition and finally undertaking the heartbreaking decision to do what is right for Matty and say goodbye.

I could have read this one sitting, sadly I had to keep putting it down to concentrate on my essay, however I read it in less than 24 hours. This is an honest and heart wrenching story of a families loss of a vibrant member of their family. Of learning how to give medical care to keep Matty alive and well cared for. To coming to terms with the harsh reality of his condition, trying to cope with loss, guilt, love, emotions, hope and the devastating truth. Medical and legal processes, trying to keep a family together after one of the most devastating life changing events and taking the reading on this brutally honest and emotional journey.

It isn't often after reading a book you want to reach out and hug an author, after this book I did. An honest account of one of the hardest aspects of a persons life and the decisions and thoughts that follow. Rentzenbrink opens up her world of hurt and devastation with such emotion that you can't help but be touched by what their family had to endure. Grief is not always just about death and The Last Act of Love opens up a different view of what the other side can be like. Bless him and his family, reading this tale will make you want to hug your loved ones tighter. Reading this book is a bit of a roller coaster of emotion, you can't help but be drawn into the families heartache and I think this will conjure up memories and personal loss for some readers. 5/5 for me, I feel I could go on and on about this book, it will certainly stay with me long after putting it down. Thanks so much to Waterstones for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review and a chance to read a book I may not have normally considered.

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Inside The O'Briens by Lisa Genova

Inside the O'Briens: A Novel by Lisa Genova
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 352

Publisher - Gallery Books


Blurb from Goodreads

Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease.

Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?

As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate.


My Review

Joe O'Brien is an everyday kind of guy, he's a cop, he has a family and he is fourty four years old. When symptoms can no longer be ignored or be passed off Joe is tested for Huntington's disease and is positive. The story follows pre diagnosis, the introduction to Joe and his family and the progression of the disease and how it can affect a families lives.

I love this author, she takes hard subjects, diseases and brings them to the reader in an informative way that keeps the knowledge and seriousness of the disease at the forefront whilst giving it a human face. You get to know and care about a family and watch them try to deal with this condition, manage it, and deal with their own feelings as well as the aspertions from some of the town folk.

Joe and his family go on an emotional journal taking the reader with them, it packs quite a punch knowing it is a fictional story based around a very real condition. Not only has Genova brought the spotlight to a condition I hadn't had a great deal of knowledge on, she has also set up a fund for it. This lady does fantastic work educating through fiction and I hope she continues to write for a long time. 4/5 for me, thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review, this book is available to buy now.

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