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szeglin 's review for:
Dancing on Broken Glass
by Ka Hancock
ARC received through the Goodreads First Reads program.
Mickey and Lucy are damaged people. Mickey suffers from bipolar disorder, and Lucy has a devastating family and personal history of breast cancer. Despite these problems, which other people might consider to be deal-breakers, the two fall in love and marry.
There were some things I really really liked about this book. I like how Death appears as a character on the first page, which lets you know from the get-go that the theme of loss will appear again and again during the story. As someone with a chronic illness, the exploration of how a condition can sometimes be considered a third party in a marriage resonated with me. I felt the scenes between Mickey and Lucy rang true, for the most part, especially those that dealt with the need to depend on someone, and the fear you feel when either you a) realize you can't or b) realize how much it can hurt you to be so close to someone.
Now for the flipside. I found the overarching plot to be pretty predictable. In terms of the major themes, only one thing happened that I did not expect. That's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but some of the turns the plot took were a little over the top. But hey, it's a tearjerker--one should go in expecting that sort of thing. Especially after meeting Death so early on.
Another thing that bothered me was the focus on Lucy's relationships with her older sisters. The book bills itself as a portrait of a marriage, but it's really about the sisters. Mickey is important, but he seemed almost tacked-on. Their closeness seemed artificial and almost cloying at times. Maybe this is because my relationship with my own sister is NOTHING like what I see in this book. We're close, we talk, we enjoy each other's company, but she's not the anchor of my life. If I can characterize one person as my anchor, it would be my husband (however, my husband is not bipolar).
Ka Hancock explains in the afterward that the book that I read was not the book she initially set out to write. This explains why the focus on the relationships between the sisters was so strong, and why Mickey, although central to the story, did not get as much time telling HIS story as Lucy got telling hers.
Hancock's background is in nursing, specializing in mental health. This definitely informed the novel--I found Mickey's illness to be completely believable. For me, this warrants enough to add an extra star.
Mickey and Lucy are damaged people. Mickey suffers from bipolar disorder, and Lucy has a devastating family and personal history of breast cancer. Despite these problems, which other people might consider to be deal-breakers, the two fall in love and marry.
There were some things I really really liked about this book. I like how Death appears as a character on the first page, which lets you know from the get-go that the theme of loss will appear again and again during the story. As someone with a chronic illness, the exploration of how a condition can sometimes be considered a third party in a marriage resonated with me. I felt the scenes between Mickey and Lucy rang true, for the most part, especially those that dealt with the need to depend on someone, and the fear you feel when either you a) realize you can't or b) realize how much it can hurt you to be so close to someone.
Now for the flipside. I found the overarching plot to be pretty predictable. In terms of the major themes, only one thing happened that I did not expect. That's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but some of the turns the plot took were a little over the top. But hey, it's a tearjerker--one should go in expecting that sort of thing. Especially after meeting Death so early on.
Another thing that bothered me was the focus on Lucy's relationships with her older sisters. The book bills itself as a portrait of a marriage, but it's really about the sisters. Mickey is important, but he seemed almost tacked-on. Their closeness seemed artificial and almost cloying at times. Maybe this is because my relationship with my own sister is NOTHING like what I see in this book. We're close, we talk, we enjoy each other's company, but she's not the anchor of my life. If I can characterize one person as my anchor, it would be my husband (however, my husband is not bipolar).
Ka Hancock explains in the afterward that the book that I read was not the book she initially set out to write. This explains why the focus on the relationships between the sisters was so strong, and why Mickey, although central to the story, did not get as much time telling HIS story as Lucy got telling hers.
Hancock's background is in nursing, specializing in mental health. This definitely informed the novel--I found Mickey's illness to be completely believable. For me, this warrants enough to add an extra star.