The Antidote for Everything by Kimmery Martin

Book Summary:

“In this whip-smart and timely novel from acclaimed author Kimmery Martin, two doctors travel a surprising path when they must choose between treating their patients and keeping their jobs.

Georgia Brown’s profession as a urologist requires her to interact with plenty of naked men, but her romantic prospects have fizzled. The most important person in her life is her friend Jonah Tsukada, a funny, empathetic family medicine doctor who works at the same hospital in Charleston, South Carolina and who has become as close as family to her.

Just after Georgia leaves the country for a medical conference, Jonah shares startling news. The hospital is instructing doctors to stop providing medical care for transgender patients. Jonah, a gay man, is the first to be fired when he refuses to abandon his patients. Stunned by the predicament of her closest friend, Georgia’s natural instinct is to fight alongside him. But when her attempts to address the situation result in incalculable harm, both Georgia and Jonah find themselves facing the loss of much more than their careers.”

Publication Date:

February 18th, 2019

Genre:

Medical Fiction

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

My Review:

I was very intrigued by this book after reading Kimmery Martins’ debut novel The Queen of Hearts. While I enjoyed a lot of the storyline, I struggled with some of the stereotypical language the author chose to include when describing some of the patients and it was off-putting as the reader.

When I read the premise of The Antidote for Everything I was very curious to see how she would handle a topic that is important but also something that I hoped would be spoken about with compassion and understanding. The Antidote for Everything takes on the issue of discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community specifically in the healthcare world.

I applaud Martin for taking on this highly relevant and important topic and it did seem as though she did her research to connect with people who are actually living this (because yes, this does still happen and without legal ramifications in place!)

This is a medical drama written by someone who obviously knows her stuff as she is a medical doctor herself. There is a certain amount of medical jargon throughout the book but not so much that someone that doesn’t work in this field would feel completely confused.

As far as the connection with the characters, that is where it got a little lost for me. I often long for more backstory and I just wanted a little more and to feel more of an understanding of who they were as individuals and in relation to one another. I felt strongly about the topic but unfortunately, things feel a little flat with the actual plotline because I felt I was analyzing things more than getting fully pulled into the writing.

So I have mixed feelings about the Antidote for Everything. It was an intriguing storyline that just lacked a strong connection with the characters for me. I do appreciate that she took on this highly relevant and timely topic that hopefully will help raise awareness of something that is still going on right now in our non-fictional world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.