The Body Politic was such a clever read. Platzer's writing is sharp and his characters, Tess, Tazio, David and Angelica, give new meaning to the word complex. With the 2016 Presidential election hovering over them, his main characters drove this story forward with every ounce of grit possible. Platzer managed to weave together all of the character's intricate parts by diving deep into their past and present lives. Living with trauma and death is suffocating enough without parenting, alcoholism and illness lingering in the background. I enjoyed the depths of Platzer's characters. Their emotions were raw and completely torn open. Their despair was not sugar coated one bit. Though I couldn't relate to a lot of the struggles his characters endured, I could connect with being a parent, a spouse and a friend and appreciate the level of difficulty these roles encompass. Though the political climate in this book is on the heavy side, Platzer's combination of atmosphere and character driven plot was a smart combination.

The Body Politic is perfect for those looking for a deeper, more intricate read. With tons of political references from the 2016 election and past elections, political junkies will have a field day with his story. President Trump supporters may not jump for joy reading this.
Happy Reading!

Thank you to Atria books for offering me this book in advance to read in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley as well.

The Body Politic is a unique and candid character-driven novel that dives into the complexities of marriage, friendships, careers and how interconnected our physical and emotional selves can be. 

While much of the novel follows main character Tess, we also meet David, Tazio, and Angelica whos lives have been interwoven since their post 9/11 college years. We follow these characters as they navigate mental and physical health issues which are all interwoven with contemporary politics. 

This book is a heavy read with dark topics and quite messy relationships. The characters are imperfect which I found could be quite frustrating at times. The jumps back in time took some getting used to but they ultimately helped build the history that helps us understand the complexities of each of these characters. Trauma and complicated pasts have not only formed who these characters are today but also their paths forward. The subtleties really are what make this book what it is.

Platzer's writing is nuanced and layered and he shines at having his reader examine the gray of what initially could look like black and white decisions. While there are moments of frustration as the reader, this also led to great reflection. The Body Politic was one of those books that felt a little out of my comfort zone but ultimately pushed me as a reader. This would make a fascinating and timely book club discussion and I am glad to have read it. 

Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Body Politic by Brian Platzer is an impactful literary fiction novel that is so relevant to our current times.

The characters are in their mid-to-late 30s, which is not really a time period that’s covered as much. Especially as it’s expected that people should have everything figured out by then. But as these characters display, that idea might just be impossible and people are taking it day-by-day.

A central theme of the story is forgiveness and how it doesn’t always operate in absolutes. But it helps one go on the path of healing and whether it’s emotionally or physically, people just want to fell well. And anyone can relate to that desire.

Final review thoughts: a remarkable and quiet story about people trying to make it all work in confusing and traumatizing times. This one is full of many layers so be sure to take your time with it.

This story touches on the unspeakable among family and friends - politics and how it affects relationships in the modern way. Everyone (at least that I knew) felt VERY strongly one way or the other about the outcome of the 2016 elections and the remnants of all of that still resonates and will for futures to come. These characters popped off the page.

I'll admit to being nervous going into this book. I'm not usually a fan of books about "twenty somethings", I hated The Interestings which it is compared to in the blurb. Luckily, other than flashbacks to their time in college, most of the book focuses on the friends once they've hit their mid thirties. This was a well written book in that it had my emotions going all over the place! At some points I was so disgusted with the characters actions I wanted to reach through the book and slap them, while in the next few pages I was feeling sorry for what they were dealing with. This pacing of my emotions kept me engaged all the way to its conclusion. I'm not going to say that I particularly liked any of the characters other than Angelica (who is not one of the initial trio), but they each had their moments. I thought the nod to politics was very interesting, especially since John Edwards was from my state of NC (so his campaign news was everywhere!). There were even a few references to the current administration thrown in that had me laughing out loud. I liked the resolution at the end for the most part, although the last chapter had me scratching my head wondering what I was supposed to get that I obviously didn't.

An engaging story that will have you switching loyalties right and left. I can definitely see the comparison to The Interestings, although I enjoyed this one much more.

I definitely felt invested in David and Tessa's life and completely empathized with David's situation. Both physically and mentally, he is undergoing extremely difficult situations and after knowing people personally who had to visit all kinds of medical treatment, The grief faced by the patient in here is described very well and how hopeless they feel at that point. How children handle grief on seeing their parents sick was really emotional. I totally felt for him. But Tessa was someone who was never likable for me, she keeps saying how important family is for her and ends up cheating multiple times which just makes her a bad person.

The interesting part was the current politics and the character's strong opinions on that. This is completely different from most of the books and refreshing but if this is something you personally cannot tolerate, you will not like it. Anti-Trump sentiment is strong and it also establishes how current day political climate can affect lives of so many normal people in their homes.

This has some serious content and is not a light fun read but you will get interested in the lives of all the main characters and their messy relationships. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel,

So many feels come from one book and enlightens the mind on so many topics of marriage, friendship, careers and how we evolve over time. I saw the politics, the common core knowledge of the landscape and appreciated the amount of intelligence that was placed in writing a book that looks all over the spectrum. Then the book went beyond and focused on a friendship, marriage, life choices, how particular influenced people and their decisions. I was emotionally intertwined and captivated.

This Body Politic begs the question that everything is inherently political. This book portrays that November 5, 2016 gut punched feeling in an extremely visceral way. The book covers a lot of ground in 320 pages. The characters are frustrating and the relationships are messy, but I think the strongest part is the depiction of chronic dizziness (own voices!) and mental health. How hard it is to live with it, how hard it is to be with someone living with it and the depression with knowing that things are just going to kind of be like this from now on. Platzer’s writing is unique and engrossing. I loved it and will be checking out his other work for sure.

Loved this interesting book. It would be a great book club choice with so much to discuss. I will likely be including this in an upcoming Book Riot list.

After reading this book, I took awhile to write my review which was different for me. I had conflicted feelings of the book and had to sit on it for a bit. I will admit to reading some reviews to see if anyone had the same feelings and although I saw some same sentiments, most reviewers had some similar feelings but praised the book. I on the other hand just didn't love this one.

For this book, if you can't connect to a character or two its hard to continue reading. With a book that is more character driven, for me it is essential that I care about the characters and care where they will end up - I didn't with this one. Although the therapies that David was partaking in were interesting, it wasn't compelling enough for me to want to keep reading. I was intrigued by Angelica and the things she was going through, but not enough to not get distracted by other things.

I wanted to love this book like so many others did. I wanted to get invested in their lives and care about their journeys, but this one just didn't work for me. It could be the season of life that I am in or the moment in time, but this one wasn't for me.

This felt like an honest and candid book about the complex relationships often experienced in life - friendships, marriage, with parents and colleagues. There was no sugar coating here. Tess and David are struggling though the effects of David's accident. Both Tess and Angelica are healing from prior wounds. Tazio is complicated and also dealing with his past. I thought the effects of the current state of politics on each of the characters was interesting. Regardless of where you lie on the political spectrum, we are all affected by politics and can have strong emotions towards politicians and their supporters and it felt realistic to read about how these characters felt politically. The writing and timeline felt a little choppy to me. I had hard time fully understanding the sequence of each of the characters life events, since there were various flashbacks. I also ultimately did not connect with the characters as much as I need to to fully enjoy a book. But I did appreciate the honest and seemingly realistic portrayal of these four middle aged characters dealing with complicated and traumatic pasts.

This is a unique, unusual novel. The characters and their circumstances are complex. David, Tazio, and Tess have been good friends for years. Tess and David got married, but the last several months of their married lives have really given a lot of meaning to the “in sickness” part of their vows after David takes a fall and is chronically dizzy and fatigued, leaving Tess to be the breadwinner and the caretaker of their young boys and also her husband.

Part of what makes this book different is there is a lot of modern-day politics in it. I’m not used to reading fiction that talks a lot about Trump and other men guilty of sexual assault who do just fine financially without ever being punished. Oh, boo hoo, you got fired from Fox News with a $38 million severance after years of destroying innocent women’s lives.

This is not a fun book, but it’s intriguing. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES MARCH 3, 2020.

This is the story of four interrelated characters, each facing a set of personal and professional challenges as they come to the end of their 30s. Each of the central characters are navigating their way through the legacies of their pasts and the dynamics of their relationships. This is all set against the backdrop of the current moment in history. The author does a terrific job of weaving this all together in a very engaging story. Recommended.

This book sounded fascinating from the description, and for the most part lived up to it. The four characters, two men and two women in a group of friends/acquaintances go back and forth from their Post 9/11 College/early adult years to their Post Trump election middle-age years. They are just about exactly my age so a lot of it was relatable. The characters were well developed with complicated histories and motivations. . I definitely invested in the characters and the story and really enjoyed it. It was on track to be a five star read, but the ending didn't really bring it all together for me.

I simply could not get involved with the characters. I tried to read it several times, but found it dry and the characters were impossible to relate to or gain sympathy. .

Thanks Netgalley for this opportunity.