Book Review: Intensive Care

Click to rate this book!
[Total: 0 Average: 0]

Author: Nicki Edwards
ISBN: 9781760082529
RRP: $3.99

Kate Kennedy is an intensive care nurse in a busy Sydney hospital and she seems to have it all – a career she loves, a successful lawyer boyfriend and an inner city apartment. The ALL that she seems to have comes quickly crashing down around her and after some wise words from a dear friend Kate makes a spontaneous decision that changes her life.

A tree change could well be just what the doctor ordered and Kate finds that everything falls into place for her, like it’s meant to be. Instead of over thinking it all like she usually does Kate changes her entire life impulsively and within a month has signed on for a brand new life in the small country town of Birrangulla.

Intensive Care was an enjoyable read and Nicki’s nursing background certainly shines through. The medical information is indepth and detailed, at times it seemed a little like an information overload because the medical scenes were so descriptive but overall it did help to demonstrate Kate’s dedication to her job.

There was a lot about Intensive Care that I found quite predictable and I could tell you from early on what was going to happen, but I still found it to be an enjoyable ride watching it all unfold. Those with a medical background would probably quite enjoy all the jargon and the blow by blows of what was happening.

9781760082529_Intensive-Care_cover

Kate’s tree change came about after she discovered something about long time boyfriend Marcus. Now, Kate doesn’t like confrontation and arguing with Marcus never goes well, he’s not a successful lawyer for nothing. Instead of confronting Marcus about her discovery she packs up and leaves before he gets home. She refuses all contact from him, deleting his messages unread and unplayed. Yes, this avoids a confrontation. Yes, this removes the temptation to fall for his lawyer speak and be convinced to go back to him. Yes, this avoids hearing him lie and possibly believing him. BUT…. and it’s a big but, it also avoids closure and stops Kate from moving on. It stops her from getting past this heartbreak, forgiving him and removing his power. She is advised this by multiple people but never wavers.

I can understand a desire to avoid confrontation but to walk away from a relationship on those grounds didn’t ring true for me. You could tell it wasn’t going to be over quite so cleanly, there was no closure.

Small town life, what a change it was for Kate from the big city, she adjusted well but couldn’t seem for fit in. Again, not uncommon moving into a small town with a tight knit community but it was definitely something Kate struggled with. She wasn’t used to being cold shouldered for no reason and it left her feeling very isolated, questioning her decisions.

I found it a little difficult to warm to Kate. She seemed quite petulant in the face of advice and her determination to avoid contact with her ex, who of course managed to track her down and confront her.

Intensive Care is an enjoyable light read that illustrates everything happening for a reason. If Kate hadn’t reacted the way she had to her discovery things would have turned out extremely differently for her.

Intensive Care is book #7 for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2015.

You can follow Nicki on Facebook, Twitter and her Website.

To buy a copy of Intensive Care you can head to any of these retailers: MomentumAmazon (Kindle), Amazon UK (Kindle), Barnes and Noble (Nook devices), Google Play (All devices except Kindle), iBooks Store (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac), Kobo (All devices except Kindle)