*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.
About the book-
From neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice comes a powerful exploration of regret, forgiveness, freedom, and what it means to be alive.
An accomplished concert pianist, Richard received standing ovations from audiences all over the world in awe of his rare combination of emotional resonance and flawless technique. Every finger of his hands was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and striking each note with exacting precision. That was eight months ago.
Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce—his divorce.
He knows his left arm will go next.
Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture from the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead. But she still hasn’t moved on. Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it.
When Richard becomes increasingly paralyzed and is no longer able to live on his own, Karina becomes his reluctant caretaker. As Richard’s muscles, voice, and breath fade, both he and Karina try to reconcile their past before it’s too late.
Poignant and powerful, Every Note Played is a masterful exploration of redemption and what it means to find peace inside of forgiveness.
My thoughts-
You probably have heard of Lisa Genova because of her excellent book turned movie Still Alice. What you might not know is that she has so many other great books, all dealing with different neurological issues such as Huntington's Disease, Autism, and in the case of this newest book, ALS. Every Note Played is a book full of emotion and hard truth. Not everyone that has a degenerative disease was a great person before their diagnosis, and I appreciate that Genova takes us through Richard's internal struggle of dealing with the past that now haunts him as his imminent death weighs on his mind. We see Richard from the beginning of his disease and watch it progress and get to be in his head to see how he is feeling about it all. Another aspect I really appreciated about this book was the focus on the primary care giver. It is never easy to be the care giver for someone so ill, so it was interesting to follow Karina's journey as well. Every Note Played is another great book from Lisa Genova. I hope that this one is given the Still Alice treatment and that we get to see it come alive on the big screen some day as well.
Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.
About the book-
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova comes a powerful new novel that does for Huntington’s Disease what her debut Still Alicedid for Alzheimer’s.
Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease.
Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?
As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate.
My thoughts-
During Oscar season, I always have a goal of going to see all of the movies nominated.This year, I saw so many movies I feel in love with and several that were adapted from books that I now feel like I need to read. One of my favorite movies that I saw was Still Alice, based on the book of the same name by Lisa Genova. After seeing the movie, I knew I would need to read the book and found out what else the author had written. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Lisa Genova is a neuroscientist and her "thing" is writing about neurological disorders. This fascinates me and makes me want to read all of her books. I was excited to see she had a new book coming out and that it was about a subject I know little about, Huntington's disease. The book starts off as Joe starts to show some of the anger symptoms that can come along with Huntington's and then flash fowards to a few years in the future when he finally realizes something is wrong. The book mostly focuses on Joe's kids and how they deal with learning of their dad's diagnosis and with who he has become as a result of his diagnosis. It also is about how each kid deals with the fact that they have a pretty big chance of getting the disease themselves. I thought this was a really interesting story because it shows several points of view and things can be seen so differently by several different people. It also was a beautiful story in which Joe learns the truth about his own mother, whom he always thought died an alcoholic. Stories like this with heavy subject matter are always an opportunity to help explain something to the masses that we may not have previously known about. Genova does a great job giving us a peak into the life of a family with a Huntington's diagnosis and also as an advocate for the cause. I recommend this book to anyone who likes learning about new things, who is interested in neurology or who likes a good drama.
Inside the O'Briens will be available April 7. You can pre-order it on Amazon.com.
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