Sunday, March 9, 2014

Gemini

A Novel

Carol Cassella



Dr. Charlotte Reese works in the intensive care unit of Seattle’s Beacon Hospital, tending to patients with the most life-threatening illnesses and injuries. Her job is to battle death—to monitor erratic heartbeats, worry over low oxygen levels, defend against infection and demise.

One night a Jane Doe is transferred to her care from a rural hospital on the Olympic Peninsula. This unidentified patient remains unconscious, the victim of a hit and run. As Charlotte and her team struggle to stabilize her, the police search for the driver who fled the scene.

Days pass, Jane’s condition worsens, and her identity remains a mystery. As Charlotte finds herself making increasingly complicated medical decisions that will tie her forever to Jane’s fate, her usual professional distance evaporates. She’s plagued by questions: Who is Jane Doe? Why will no one claim her? Who should decide her fate if she doesn’t regain consciousness—and when?

Perhaps most troubling, Charlotte wonders if a life locked in a coma is a life worth living.

Enlisting the help of her boyfriend, Eric, a science journalist, Charlotte impulsively sets out to uncover Jane Doe’s past. But the closer they get to the truth, the more their relationship is put to the test. It is only when they open their hearts to their own feelings toward each other—and toward life itself—that Charlotte and Eric will unlock Jane Doe’s shocking secret, and prepare themselves for a miracle.

Filled with intricate medical detail and set in the breathtaking Pacific Northwest, Gemini is a riveting and heartbreaking novel of moral com­plexity and emotional depth. (from Netgalley)

My Thoughts


This is the story of Charlotte, Eric, Raney and Bo. We meet Dr. Charlotte Reese as she accepts responsibility of a Jane Doe who was the victim of a possible hit-and-run. The patient’s injuries are serious and life threatening. Charlotte has been in a relationship with Eric for several years. For some reason she can’t figure out, they seem stuck in one place and can’t seem to move their relationship forward.

When we first meet Raney and Bo, they are very young teenagers, both somewhat misfits, and they form a very close bond. The basis of Gemini is Charlotte trying to find out what happened to her Jane Doe. We follow then Raney’s life from early teen through early middle age. At first I kept wondering - how will these characters connect? But oh, how they do.

This book is ultimately a love story, but the trip we take to get to the end is filled with heartache and sadness. The author moves the story quietly along as Charlotte works to be a voice for her patient until hopefully she can be identified and family can be found.

It did not take long for me to get caught up in this mesmerizing story. The author’s writing is descriptive and magical. She really digs deep into the psyche of her characters and I couldn’t help but become attached to both Charlotte and Raney. Ms Cassella is a MD, and she writes the medical pieces of this story in clear, understandable laymen’s terms. Honestly, I thought this story was beautiful.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read yhis in exchange for an unbiased review.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for reading GEMINI, and for this lovely review. This novel has deep roots in my own life, and my hope is that it touches readers on both a literary and personal level. I appreciate your blog for connecting all of us.

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    1. Hi - Thank you so much for leaving your comment. I read Oxygen and was thrilled to see that you had written another book. I also posted my review on Goodreads and Amazon. I'm looking forward to your future books!

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