Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 45 minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, General Adult Fiction

Publisher: Real Nice Books

Published Date: August 1, 2017

Goodreads’ Synopsis: Still mourning the baby she gave away a year before – and feeling rejected by the same church people who had so cheerfully arranged that adoption – sixteen-year-old Diane seems to find a supportive friend in her gynecologist, Dr. Zeus. Diane is intelligent and bold but often leaps before she looks, and now she questions why he has to examine her so often, and why he prescribes her so many drugs. The state medical board also has suspicions about Dr. Zeus, but the official inquiry inches forward very slowly as its new investigator stumbles over his own hang-ups.

Read Start Date: January 27, 2024

Read Finish Date: January 30, 2024

My Review: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The book is told from the POV of 3 separate characters. The first POV is 16-year-old Diane. She is grieving the baby she gave away when she was 14 years old. The second POV is Dr. Zeus, Diane’s depraved doctor and all-around pervert. The third POV is Frank, a rookie medical board investigator who stumbles across an old case about Dr. Zeus that never went anywhere. When a new complaint (about Diane) comes in from an anonymous source, the Board starts to investigate in earnest.

This book reads a little bit like narrative non-fiction. It was so plausible (even though disturbing and horrible) that, at times, I forgot I was reading a fiction book.

I thought the characters were well-developed and realistic, even if not likable. I was rooting for Frank to take down the deplorable Dr. Zeus (whom, of course, I hated), and I was at times aggravated at the choices Diane made. I had to keep reminding myself that she was only a teenager, and so was thinking with a teenage brain. She didn’t see anything wrong with a 16-year-old dating her 43-year-old doctor, even though every adult immediately realized this was statutory rape and a betrayal of trust. I became really invested in the outcome of the story and was eager to find out whether everything worked out okay.

I would definitely recommend this book; however, I would caution anyone who is sensitive to such stories, especially those who are sensitive about issues of statutory rape, abuse of minors, or other similar triggers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.