Nothing special about the plot, the writing, or the characters. I likely won’t remember it in a few weeks. Not a stand-out in any way. At least not for the first 50%… 

This is exactly the kind of novel I call an airplane novel. Solid 2.8. Better as a script to a made-for-tv movie which would be over in half the 4hrs it took to read the book.

It became quickly obvious that the novel was a type of unreferenced/unsupported essay directed at the obi-gyn medical practice, particularly maligning the men in the profession. Very Misandrist. The one person we know the author wants us to think badly about is the doctor in this case.

Leo (the teenage brother) is the best character in the novel. He’s the most genuine voice. Everyone else seems to be trying too hard to fill a role and expectations that go with their roles. But I guess that’s pretty genuinely life-in-suburban-middle-class-neighbourhoods these days innit…

This is an easy read BUT IT’S PROPAGANDA.

Halfway through things start to get a bit thicker, people start to become more interesting… a little. Meredith becomes more interesting—even though she’s still useless. She keeps a list of hospitals she won’t trust and OBGYNs she won’t recommend. She’s not a doctor, but she acts as though she has more qualifications than the medical staff. I’m not saying this isn’t a thing in the USA, but it is, in the USA cos it’s all a money-making industry (praise  capitalism)… so that at the end of the day, an uneducated Doula gains more praise/accolades and respect than people in the medical profession who have studied for 7-10 years and will be paying for those studies for the rest of their lives. Way to go America.

It’s a very specific culturally-engrossed plot as it’s entwined around the idea that the medical profession and the studied doctors within it are not trustworthy nor to be respected. That’s mostly a new generational line of thought in western nations. I can’t see any of my Thai or Dominican friends bothering to read this one, though…

Feingold—a Jewish doctor, cast as a misogynistic, patriarchal, patronising man who laughs (actually out loud busts a guffaw) during a labour of a woman. This is ridiculous, unlikely, and anyone reading this novel might think that a harsh stereotype. And perhaps so they should… (On a personal note: it’s because of an older Jewish OBYGYN that I lived through my own birth, so perhaps I’m a bit biased.)  The Doula is painted as the more knowledgable and wiser person in the medical situation. This is an exception to the norm, I’m sure.

PS: Kate is ridiculous, judges before knowing facts, and is suspicious according to appearances, but overly trusting and naive to the point of incriminating fault. And she is a terrible driver* (that scene is supposed to be some kind of tricky foreshadowing, ooh). She also has a drink in her hand every time we see her. We’re meant to like her, but I find her really very dumb for supposedly being a smart and educated person. She trusts her faulty feelings and instinct more than her education or an educated evaluation of anything she might have perceived with careful observation. Kate is the overall problem actually.

Meredith: quite annoying, but faithful to her husband, actually thinks Josh is an angel. She comes across as a ‘nice’ person, but she’s high on herself and her own judgement, thinking that what she decides and that her own wisdom is best for herself and for everyone; she’s not particularly smart, but she thinks she is, which is kind of dangerous…

Anyways…

There are some astonishingly dumbass characters in this novel. I know writing a novel isn’t easy, and you have to obsess over the details, but when you’re writing a story like this, the devil is in those details, and if you’re writing about mysterious devilish acts, you better dang-well get those details right. Kubica misses the mark on several inconceivable details. She writes social-media-culture-hot cookie-cutter personalities to paint cliche characters that are one-dimensional and lacklustre. And dumb. Have I mentioned how dumb some of these people are? Even the ones we want to care about are dumb as dirt. Leo is probably the only authentic self-aware voice in the whole novel, and tbh is the saviour of a whole star in this rating.

The list of characters is long, which works in the author’s favour as she wishes to cast doubt throughout on several of these narcissistic morons. Point to Kubica.

However, the ending was so terribly eye-rollingly, omg-ingly, head-shakingly implausible I laughed out loud. And this weren’t no comedy, folks. But it was funny.

Thing is: I know at least 3 people in my book club who really enjoyed it. So there you go—depends on your likes, but this one is definitely not going on my best-reads list.

Can’t say I’ll be reading  more from this author. She has three of my friends as followers now, though. So, keep writing. Some love it, even if I didn’t.