Hello everyone!
I am back with another book review, Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott. Thanks so much to Book Sparks for sending me a copy of this book as a part of #SRC2018 and for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
This story follows Kit, the only woman on the renowned Dr. Lena Severin's research team trying to find a cure for PMDD, a widely underresearched medical condition that causes erratic and often violent behaviour in women during menstruation. When Dr. Severin announces that Diane Fleming will be joining the team, Kit is shaken. Because she knows Diane from when they were teenagers. And she knows what Diane did all those years ago - and has had to live with that secret for decades now.
Something we never really get in novels is women in scientific or higher medical fields. Especially in thrillers, we see a lot of female detectives, but not a lot in other more traditionally male-dominated careers. I was really excited to read not only about these women now, but also how they came to these positions with the flashbacks to Kit and Diane's teen years. There is also, of course, some commentary on being a woman in a male-dominated workplace but it never felt overly forced or over the top - just very matter of fact, which I really liked.
I'm not sure I'm fully on board with everything that happened in this book, some things I still don't understand all the way, why certain things happened the way they did, but I still really enjoyed it. I think the writing was very well done and for the most part, I was enthralled by the story. I did find that a little bit towards the end, things seemed a little rushed, or maybe I was just so hyped to see how things ended that I skipped some details, but it felt like there could have been a bit more explanations.
I really liked the complexity with which Abbott writes about each of the women. They have some similarities, but each has her own views on things and opinions. Sometimes characters with such similarities can blend together, but Abbott makes sure each and every one of them shines completely on her own.
Overall, this was my first by Abbott, but it certainly won't be my last!