The cult plot just wasn’t doing it for me. I can read about real-life cults all day long, but for whatever reasons, I don’t like it in fiction. I absolutely loved Stephanie Wrobel’s debut, Darling Rose Gold. When I saw she had a new book coming out, I was frantic to get my hands on it. It is obvious that Wrobel has an affinity for writing tales about different types of child abuse. However, This Might Hurt did not live up to her debut.

For the second part of the novel, the narration switches from Natalie to Kit. We get to experience Kit’s arrival at Wisewood and the true cult-like teachings that are practiced there. Behind these lessons is a woman named Rebecca, who everyone refers to as Teacher. Kit takes an instant liking to her --- so much so that she signs on to work at Wisewood after her initial time as a voluntary patient is over. As I told before: at the second third we start to read Kit’s and the mysterious fearless lady’s POV. As I start to read those parts, I think I lost my focus. Thankfully at the end: the author wrapped up the entire execution brilliantly. This suddenly led to the first shift in perspectives. This unknown perspective is told from years earlier and is that of a young woman who is raised in a very unconventional household in which her father forces her and her older sister to endure several tests of bravery to gage her level of fear. She is either granted or deducted points based off her performance, leading to an unhealthy and frankly hard to read at times coming of age side story. In a past timeline, there are two sisters who grew up with a deeply depressive mother and a sadistic, abusive father, Sir, who mentally manipulated and controlled them through daily tasks ranging from innocuous to cruel, supposedly designed to position them for success later in life. These girls couldn’t wait to get away from their father, and for 25% of the book while I debated whether to DNF, I couldn’t wait to get away from him too. Parents being cruel to children … grrr. I don’t want to read it, no matter how it serves the plot. It hurts to see someone suffering this much at the cost of doing something great for the rest of the world. Yes, it's our choice to choose this profession but everyone else trying to find fault in what you do just because you make a small mistake or for the inevitable things that would happen, is just insulting and humiliating.With her second novel, the author of Darling Rose Gold (2020) brings more multi-point-of-view fun to thriller fans. Truthfully, some of the circumstances are difficult to read, so if you feel like you could be sensitive to any plot involving significant mental abuse, and at times physical danger, you may want to proceed with caution. At the same time, we see scenes from their past as the girls are growing up with their parents --- a kind mother but an extremely difficult father who is referred to in these passages as “sir.” The girls’ names are not directly given, a fine subterfuge by Wrobel to play into the secrets that will be revealed in the last third of the book. Adam Kay was able to discuss almost all the crucial things in Medicine in the short memoir directly or indirectly. If we read between the lines, we can clearly see the Butterfly effect prevalent in Medicine.

a b c Kettle, Emilia (28 February 2022). "BBC: This Is Going To Hurt full cast list". Denbighshire Free Press . Retrieved 5 March 2022. From the USA Today bestselling and Edgar-nominated author of Darling Rose Gold comes a dark, thrilling novel about two sisters—one trapped in the clutches of a cult, the other in a web of her own lies. stars for being a great read and exposing the very emotional side of being a doctor and not just the practice of medicine. This is a memoir of Adam Kay’s life on NHS front line. This book has the potential to make you smile due to Kay’s hilarious writing and also make you cry due to some of the unfortunate events mentioned.I could really relate to all of this, though overall I believe the NHS program was a tougher place to survive than my program at the Mayo Clinic. Adam Kay has my deepest respect. When Nat arrives on the island, she is clearly not welcome. She gets eerie vibes and feels she is being watched. Someone has been in the room assigned to her. She finds that Kit has become a part of a weird cult with strange rituals and disturbing group dynamics. The cult leader is a woman named Rebecca, and the aim is to bring distraught group members to their 'Maximized Self' through conquering fear and pain. Kit explains to her sister that she has never been happier and intends to remain on the island. She has gained status and prestige within the cult. The characters range from the bland to the easily manipulated and to the deranged. This story has multiple POVs, timelines, and parts. The identity of one character does not get revealed until a good way through the book, which I found a little confusing. I didn’t know that the author was a Gynecologist and funny coincidence is that I read this one while preparing for my Gyne exam. I am mentioning this because I want to point out that Adam was apparently an excellent doctor and that the book was scientifically very accurate. Adam Kay was a junior doctor from 2004 until 2010, before a devastating experience on a ward caused him to reconsider his future. He kept a diary throughout his training, and This Is Going to Hurt intersperses tales from the front line of the NHS with reflections on the current crisis. .

Kay shares his experiences training as an obstetrician-gynecologist, from the gory stories that made me cringe, to the devastating loss of patients, to the destruction of his personal relationships due to the long hours and last-minute demands. It sounds like a nightmare, but he keeps a good humour throughout. Some parts of it are genuinely very funny. Some parts are genuinely revolting. I recommend this book if you’re looking for a slowly-paced suspenseful novel featuring a cult-like group.Some viewers considered the series to be an accurate depiction of life on a maternity ward, but others saw it as misogynistic. Harriet Sherwood for The Guardian reported that some viewers accused the series of depicting birth as traumatic, and women as disempowered, dysfunctional and reduced to "slabs of meat". [37] Milli Hill, author of The Positive Birth Book, and proponent of “alternate” birthing methods, accused Adam Kay and the creators of the show of sexism. Hill criticised the show for misogyny. [37] Some pregnant women reported on social media that they had been advised to avoid watching the show by their midwives. [37] Viewing figures [ edit ] Throughout the book I found myself either laughing out loud, cringing or shedding a tear. Adams diary entries are incredibly raw and a huge eye-opener to how hard medical professionals work and the challenges they face each day. I finished this book with a massive sense of respect for them and I’m much more aware of all the things that can and do go wrong during surgery. I couldn't finish the book in the end. I was about half way through and fading fast, only to come across an vignette about the doctor being called in to deliver a new-born 'mid-wank', which ends with him completing the procedure "still erect". It was genuinely the most horrifying sentence I have ever read. After experiencing Munchausen’s by proxy via Darling Rose Gold I knew I was going to be the first in line for whatever Stephanie Wrobel came up with next. I didn’t bother reading a blurb or anything before requesting an early copy. And then I got one! The gods smile upon me!!!!!! Now all I have to say is . . . . This memoir is for the most part constructed as a series of anecdotes. At first, I wasn’t sure if that would work for me, but it took virtually no time to ditch that concern. During Adam’s training, he would make notes of all the notable events that happened each day, which made it easy for him to put his memoir together several years later. The book does have its serious moments. The young physicians in training sacrificed so much. They frequently worked over 100 hours/week with no extra pay added to their measly salaries. Time worked over what was expected contractually was considered free labor, and that was the norm rather than the exception. That was bad enough, but under no circumstances were these young doctors granted special time off. One woman had to work the morning of her wedding day. Your mother dies and you want to go to her funeral? Tough, if you are on the work schedule. Many personal relationships are broken during these training years. You have essentially no other life.