I’m going to get a little bit personal before I get into this review and just say this – working full time, going to school, blogging and trying to find time for everyone and everything? It’s HARD. A lot harder than I thought it would be. That being said, I want to give a huge shout out to Lauren for picking up my slack and making this blog what it is. She’s such a great friend, in real life and in blog life. Anyway, on to my review of Gemini by Carol Cassella…
First off, I had HIGH hopes for this book based on the tagline alone – “A stranger’s life hangs in the balance. What if you had the power to decide if she lives or dies?” I expected something a little different than what it actually is, but I was very pleased nonetheless. To me, it’s like two stories slowly becoming intertwined to show a much bigger picture.
When Jane Doe is involved in a hit and run, she is transferred to the hospital that Dr. Charlotte Reese works at, where she works harder than ever to keep Jane Doe alive and stable. When she remains unidentified, Charlotte brings up the subject with her science-journalist boyfriend, Eric. Together, they set out to unlock Jane’s secrets and find out exactly who she is.
Raney Remington lives in the poverty-stricken Olympic Peninsula town of Quentin with her grandfather. A boy named Bo comes to stay with his Aunt and Uncle there one summer, where he meets Raney and strikes up an unexpected friendship with her. The story continues to follow Raney through her life until present time, showing what she’s been through over the years leading up to Jane Doe’s accident.
Right off the bat, I got the feeling that somehow Raney and Bo were involved with either Charlotte or Jane Doe but it takes over half the book to find out exactly what that means. The writing is absolutely beautiful; Cassella does such an amazing job threading everything together. I kept trying to guess what each separate story had to do with the other, and I loved that. I do have to say that the ending held quite a few surprises! There’s an element of science that comes into play as well as the age old question of who gets to decide what happens to a patient in a coma and when. Definitely recommend reading this to anyone that likes a good drama with some mystery thrown in – I rated it 4/5 on Goodreads.
lifebetweenreads.com 