Stevie‘s review of The Antidote for Everything by Kimmery Martin
Medical Fiction published by Berkley 18 Feb 20
I requested this book ages ago, based on the blurb, but when I finally got around to reading it, I got a good chunk of the way in and then had to go back and recheck that the blurb matched the story I was reading. There’s an awful lot about our main protagonist, her work, and her unsatisfactory love life before we ever get around to seeing much that resembles the real bones of the plot. There’s also one short description of a minor character early on that I found problematic, especially given the plot’s central theme. Having said all that, I suspect that readers picking up the book based on the author’s previous works are being given a chance to get to know and like our heroine, before the difficult parts are thrust upon them, and if that gets more people to sympathise with the plights of Georgia, and – more especially – her friend Jonah and his patients, then so much the better.
Urologist Dr Georgia Brown works in a church-funded clinic attached to a community hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, as does her best friend, Jonah Tsukada, who specialises in family medicine and is particularly popular with patients from the LGBT+ community. While Georgia is finishing up on her last day at work before heading off to an overseas conference, and already preoccupied with worries about her beloved dog’s veterinary appointment and with the fact that her latest boyfriend just dumped her very publicly, she receives a series of disturbing texts from Jonah, implying he’s worried about losing his job. More rumours circulate around Georgia as she sets off for home, but she puts them out of her mind in favour of conference preparations.
Then on a flight to the Netherlands, Georgia has to deal with a medical emergency and finds herself leaving the airport with her (highly attractive) erstwhile patient. The pair have a merry few days together, Georgia’s conference all but forgotten, and it’s not until she’s nearing the end of her trip that she learns that her best friend really is in need of her assistance. The new hospital board has taken action against Jonah on moral grounds, both because of his sexuality and because he treats so many trans* patients. On top of that, it looks like he’s being framed for a series of thefts from the hospital. Georgia – aided by her new boyfriend – resolves to do everything possible to help Jonah reverse the board’s decision to fire him (and turn away his LGBT+ patients) and to clear his name over the theft accusations.
As I intimated earlier, the main plot of the book had lots going for it. However, I really didn’t need Georgia’s love life superimposed over it. Jonah spent quite a chunk of the story sidelined, either because Georgia was elsewhere or because he was literally, or medically, unavailable to take part in the plot. Yes, this could have the potential to bring the issues before a wider readership and raise awareness of the issues dealt with in the story to a wider audience, but I do wonder how many of those who need to be made aware would be put off by the blurb, just as I felt that the blurb misled me over the genre of story to expect.
Reading the author’s notes afterwards, I do get the impression that she picked the issues to dissect after she’d already fallen in love with her heroine, and so, while her decision to run with the central theme is admirable, I personally would have much rather have read Jonah’s story – and a version of it in which he was fully involved with the action, at that – rather than watching Georgia try to make a go of juggling her romantic- and friendship-based relationships at the same time of trying to hold onto a job where she had to answer to a lot of really unpleasant people.
Grade: C
Summary:
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.
Read an excerpt.
