Helpful Score: 2
I have not yet read Lisa Genovas two previous books, but I certainly will now. The OBrien family is one that most people can relate to. The father Joe is a policemen. Oldest son JJ is a fireman, and he and his wife have just gotten pregnant with their first child. Daughter Meghan is a ballet dancer. Katie teaches yoga. Patrick, the youngest, is basically a goof-off. Typical family, until Joe starts dropping things, begins having violent outbursts and involuntary muscular movements. He finally is diagnosed with Huntingtons Disease.
According to an Internet site, Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disorder that affects the brain. Each person whose parent has HD has a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder. Onset of symptoms range from 35-50 years old. Juvenile cases occur in people less than 20 years of age. Symptoms are mild at first and are often barely noticeable but usually worsen over 15-20 years. Physical symptoms may include: abnormal body movements that worsen over time, including sudden jerks or uncontrolled movements of the limbs or trunk, facial grimacing, walking that is unsteady or dance-like; difficulty with eating, dressing, sitting, and caring for oneself; difficulty swallowing, grunting or poor articulation of speech, weight loss.
Lisa Genova did an amazing job of writing how Joe slowly descends into a life obsessed with HD. With great sensitivity, she explores how each member of the family deals with the news. Each of the children struggle with the decision of whether to be tested or not. The fear the entire family has that the unborn baby may have inherited the gene felt so real. Ms. Genova also has the family learning to depend upon friends in time of greatest need. Joe, once a very proud man, now has to deal with the horrified looks he gets from people due to loss of control of his own body. But his fellow police buddies have his back. Joe actually comes up with a humorous way of dealing with peoples stares. Loved it!
The courage of the family and how each member chooses to deal with the future was just so realistic. However I thought I would feel, some member of the family describes feeling the same way. These characters are so very real. They are not perfect; they reveal their fears, their anger, their confusion. They could be our neighbors, our friends, or they could be us.
According to an Internet site, Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disorder that affects the brain. Each person whose parent has HD has a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder. Onset of symptoms range from 35-50 years old. Juvenile cases occur in people less than 20 years of age. Symptoms are mild at first and are often barely noticeable but usually worsen over 15-20 years. Physical symptoms may include: abnormal body movements that worsen over time, including sudden jerks or uncontrolled movements of the limbs or trunk, facial grimacing, walking that is unsteady or dance-like; difficulty with eating, dressing, sitting, and caring for oneself; difficulty swallowing, grunting or poor articulation of speech, weight loss.
Lisa Genova did an amazing job of writing how Joe slowly descends into a life obsessed with HD. With great sensitivity, she explores how each member of the family deals with the news. Each of the children struggle with the decision of whether to be tested or not. The fear the entire family has that the unborn baby may have inherited the gene felt so real. Ms. Genova also has the family learning to depend upon friends in time of greatest need. Joe, once a very proud man, now has to deal with the horrified looks he gets from people due to loss of control of his own body. But his fellow police buddies have his back. Joe actually comes up with a humorous way of dealing with peoples stares. Loved it!
The courage of the family and how each member chooses to deal with the future was just so realistic. However I thought I would feel, some member of the family describes feeling the same way. These characters are so very real. They are not perfect; they reveal their fears, their anger, their confusion. They could be our neighbors, our friends, or they could be us.
I really wanted to like this story as Genova's past books have been fascinating and interesting. I am hugely disappointed at how awful this story was. First off, if you read any of Genova's stories, you know that she writes about rare genetic conditions that her main characters struggle with and you actually feel you can relate to them. I am not sure if because this story the main character is a male cop with Huntington's Disease, it did not hold my interest me or allow me to feel any compassion for him; it was plain depressing. His behaviors were something he could not control and he had a 50/50 chance of passing it to his four grown children. The story felt like it is written for a movie with the choppiness from one chapter ending to the next of them finding out whether they had the disease.
**SPOILER ALERT***I felt lost as each child's fate was revealed but there were no details and you never hear about each person's feelings surrounding it. Instead, what really irritates me is the story centers around the youngest daughter who goes back and forth determining whether she should find out whether she has it, and just when I am working toward getting her to find out, you don't. I was really pissed at how the story ends, am I supposed to guess? ****
I feel robbed of my time in reading this when there are so many loose ends and unfinished feelings with this story. I would not recommend this book at all.
**SPOILER ALERT***I felt lost as each child's fate was revealed but there were no details and you never hear about each person's feelings surrounding it. Instead, what really irritates me is the story centers around the youngest daughter who goes back and forth determining whether she should find out whether she has it, and just when I am working toward getting her to find out, you don't. I was really pissed at how the story ends, am I supposed to guess? ****
I feel robbed of my time in reading this when there are so many loose ends and unfinished feelings with this story. I would not recommend this book at all.
