The Queen of Hearts

 Book 110 of my 2023 Reading Challenge

read from November 25 - December 1

The Queen of Hearts

by Kimmery Martin

Summary (via the book jacket)

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 and successful careers - Zadie as a pediatric care cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Caroline, 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 during her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her. Nick's unexpected reappearance at 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.

My Opinion

3 stars

This was a really strong read.  The chapters were fast, the scenes were grounded, and the characters were realistic.  Reading about friendship between powerful women with great careers and decent home lives was nice.  I would definitely read this author again.

A 3 star review isn't bad but doesn't really match what I said in the paragraph above.  The first issue I had was the length of time the novel covered in the present; if the book had stayed the same but all the events happened in the span of a few weeks it would've felt more believable in how long it took for Emma and Zadie to finally talk. 

The ending is what really took me out.  I can't talk about it without spoilers but the reveal from the past was SO MUCH (especially the aftermath with the emails) that it felt out of character and hard to accept that there had been zero fallout and nobody caught on to any part of it.  It felt like too big a leap to feel like the present day relationships were solid when the transgressions were huge and ongoing.

I've jumped around trying to say things without saying things so I think I have to accept this review probably won't make sense.