Book Review: The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts

by: Kimmery Martin

Date Published: February 13, 2018

Date Finished Reading: March 28, 2018

Publisher: Berkley

I received a free copy of The Queen of Hearts from the publisher.  All opinions expressed below are my own.

Synopsis:

The Queen of Hearts tells the story of medical school friends Zadie and Emma.  Now, both are practicing physicians (Zadie is a pediatric cardiologist and Emma is a trauma surgeon) living in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The big kicker is that a former colleague moves to town, turning their happy world and friendship upside down.

The Queen of Hearts has its fill of steamy hospital drama (think Grey's Anatomy) with a more in depth look at how solid our relationships are - with our best friends and with our spouses.  Can the entrance of one (returning) character change everything?  What relationships will survive?

For the Goodreads synopsis, please click here.

Review:

I'll admit it - I was first drawn to The Queen of Hearts because of the gorgeous cover.  It is seriously divine!  It will easily be among my top covers of the year!  Then, when I read the synopsis, I knew it would be a good fit for me.  I met my (now) husband when he was starting his second year of medical school and I was starting my 3rd year of audiology school.  We attended a fairly small medical-based university and while experienced much less drama that is portrayed here, it is easy for me to imagine all of these events.  

Do you enjoy books that keep you in the dark about events that happened in the past, while slowly revealing to the reader what happened?  I feel like I have read several books recently where this is the case.  As the reader, we know that a huge event has happened in the past, but we aren't sure what and/or the details about the event.  Then, the author slowly gives us pieces of the puzzle until the big reveal.  Overall, I can't decide if this plot is something that works for me or not, but it DID work in The Queen of Hearts.  I loved the slow reveal where I gradually figured out what happened.  Plus, there are some shocks as well.  

The Queen of Hearts was told with alternating narrators (friends Zadie and Emma).  Zadie is the friend you love to have - someone who is eternally upbeat and loyal to a fault.  Emma is a bit moodier, but very devoted to Zadie.  I loved getting both of their perspectives and the flashbacks to them in medical school helped me learn more about what shaped their current personalities.  I'm personally a big fan of alternating narratives, maybe because if I don't mesh with one character I can still find another character to relate to.

Overall, I loved the theme of female friendship and the enduring relationships in the novel.  I found Kimmery to be a talented writer and thought the plot was engaging and motivated me to finish.  I'm already plotting how to teach my (unborn) child how to talk to me like Delaney - if you haven't read this one, you'll have to read to find out what I mean!  The Queen of Hearts manages to both break your heart (several times) while also making you feel happier in the end. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Queen of Hearts and am now anxiously awaiting Kimmery Martin's next releases! You can check out my Q & A with her here, where she notes that her next two will also involve female physicians.  You can definitely count me in!