The Next Thing You Know, By, Jessica Strawser

This was an engaging story, on the surface, on a very sobering subject. I am someone who is aging  (62) and I felt the discussion of how and why one ends their life, was 'mishandled' and screamed commercial fiction. The Author clearly researched the subject matter and provided a Cliff Note version of what a Doula actually does. 

I understand this was a work of Fiction, however, the subject matter, 'the MAGNITUDE of death and dying' was not aptly conveyed in this book.  I found the book to be a trite, glossed over, 4th of July fireworks- explosion of thoughts and ideas as to the 'nature' of death of dying. I would have preferred a more in depth exploration.

An end of life Doula, Nova Huston's job-her calling, is to help terminally ill people make peace with their ensuing death. Her job, at "Parting Your Way-End of Life Doulas" is to work with 'young' people who are dying.

Mason Shaylor, an Indie favorite Singer, has an arm/hand injury that he believes will ruin his career and struggles, to envision his life without the opportunity to play the guitar. His deteriorating condition makes playing his guitar physically impossible-as far as he is concerned, he is dead already. 

We are then subjected to "Then","Now" and "Before Then" (???) forays back and forth throughout the book. It was a frustrating, difficult story to follow. 

In my opinion, neither character, Nova or Mason, are fully developed, and they appear flat on the page, bolstered by glorified theories that are scattered throughout the Novel, i.e. Kirlian Aura Photography.The premise is that leaves can be photographed and then cut, leaving an aura,residue or presence where the leaf was cut. The theory was not explained, ( I researched) to understand what she was talking about. 

I believe her point was (?), humans leave a "presence" or imprint in the world, simply by "being." The existential question of the human condition.  I wish she would have explored this point in depth rather than tossing them out here and there, without discussing them in depth. 

Unfortunately, the Kirlian photo theory is a hoax. The Author could have made the point much stronger with a proven theory.

In the end, all loose ends are left untied. I was left frustrated and distraught and somewhat angry with how the subject matter was handled. 

The intention of this Blog is to review books that I believe deserve promoting, and for whatever reason, have not received the accolades or marketing money to bolster their presence in the literary world. I read about 40-50 books a year (audiobooks, books in print & Kindle). I review the books I like.

This is the First negative review I have written. I felt compelled to write it. My intention is to raise awareness that there are some, very, very, VERY good books out there but, unfortunately they may not have the commercial cliche, that a book like this offers.