Book Review: The Queen of Hearts

Author: Kimmery Martin

Publication Date: February 13, 2018

Publisher: Berkley

A debut novel set against a background of hospital rounds and life-or-death decisions that pulses with humor and empathy and explores the heart's capacity for forgiveness...

Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. Now they're happily married wives and mothers with successful careers--Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years.

As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie's life--both professionally and personally--throughout a tragic chain of events in her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her. Nick's unexpected reappearance during a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at the beginning of their careers. As it becomes evident that Emma must have known more than she revealed about circumstances that nearly derailed both their lives, Zadie starts to question everything she thought she knew about her closest friend.

This book follows a dual perspective between two best friends who are also doctors, Zadie and Emma. These two fit the true definition of lifelong friends – their friendship is intense and full of support and love – sign me up! This story follows their careers, their home lives as mothers and wives, and all the up’s and down’s that come with all of the above.

I loved following these two women and I couldn’t tell you which was my favorite because they were both enjoyable to read about. They had traits and experiences that made them different from one another, but their friendship was the beautiful that made them so alike. Not only do readers get a look into their current lives, but also a fascinating look into their time in medical school. This has to be my favorite part of their story because it gave me a look at who they used to be versus who they are now – great character development by Martin!

As a debut novel, Kimmery Martin’s writing was surprising, not overwhelmingly great, but enough to make me crave more of her work. The biggest complaint I have with her writing was that there was not much differentiation between the parallel story lines. Sometimes I would forget which woman’s perspective I was reading from because Martin did not vary enough between their voices. However, I will say that sometimes this book covered some heavy topics and Martin did an excellent job at providing comic relief just when needed. Martin does a great job of writing likeable characters and writing hospital drama, compared to Grey’s Anatomy. I will definitely give her another read!

You can’t reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.

I’ve devoted my professional life to the study of hearts, to their intricate, indefatigable machinery, and to their endless propensity to go awry.

I’ve had to build a mental fortress, a no-fly zone where none of it can get in. And now my wall was crumbling.

At times, it was obvious that this was a debut novel because of the certain depth that parts of the story lacked. However, there were parts of this book that were so expertly written that I completely understand why people are going crazy about this book. I am looking forward to more from Kimmery Martin in the future and I hope more people will pick up her new book and be as enthralled as I was/am!