I love Christina Mcdonald as an author! I have read all of her books and every time I am pulled right in! Her character descriptions and stories make me feel for everyone in her books! This book, "Do No Harm" was no different! As a mom, it is easy to sympathize with Emma and understand wanting to do anything and everything to save your child but... and this is a big but, that is where my sympathy ends. No amount of sympathy makes doing seething illegal ok!
The Psychology 101 debate, "Does the end justify the means"?! This book took us through it and by the end, I didn't even care anymore. Emma became a person I didn't even like. She got what she deserved in the end (alone with no husband hooked on the drugs she was selling illegally) but I was almost unhappy she got her kid too! Idk?!!
I like when a book makes me think and question things, this book did that. I just didn't love the whole premise and the way it played out.
Read it, see what you think, do you root for Emma or loathe her at the end, like I did?

This book was a very emotional read and I won’t lie before the end I was crying. Emma is a doctor and her husband Nate is a Detective and they have a 5 year old son. As a doctor Emma took an oath to do no harm, but if your sons life is on the line, what would you do? This book was a roller coaster ride that I couldn’t put down . Thanks Netgalley for this ARC for my honest opinion.

Thank you to @netgalley, @gallerybooks, and @christinamac79 for the early gifted copy of Do No Harm, which publishes February 16, 2021!

What would you do if you signed an oath to do no harm, but your child’s life hung in the balance? Could you break that oath to save your child’s life?Emma is a doctor, happily married to her police detective husband, and their 5 year old son, Josh, has just been diagnosed with cancer. He needs a life saving treatment, but the financial costs are astronomical. In order to pay for the treatment, Emma secretly steps into the dark world of the opioid epidemic. She gets wrapped up in a web of lies, drugs, secrets, and murder. The lines of right and wrong are blurred as Emma fights to save her son.

I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to review early copies of all three of Christina’s novels so far, and her books keep getting better and better. I’ve loved her books so much, I don’t even need to read the synopsis—she’s just an auto-buy author for me now! Do No Harm is gripping and emotional, and I hung onto every last word. I very rarely cry when reading, and I CRIED near the end of this book. The opioid epidemic is terrifying, and this novel does a spectacular job highlighting the horrors families go through when touched by the epidemic. It opened my eyes to see the epidemic in a whole new light. Anyone is susceptible to this, and it’s terrifying. Do No Harm is one of the best books I have read this year, and you need to put it on your list for 2021!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Great thriller that took me for a rollercoaster ride. I liked that it wasn't too predictable with the twists. The author made sure to add an extra umph that left me gasping. Overall great book as this is my first by her that the synopsis actually intrigued me, and thank you netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

McDonald has done it again! I could not put this book down. Her story was well thought out with twists and turns throughout. Characters were well developed and the story leaves you questioning morals, ethics and how far you would go for a loved one.

This was a well written book that deals with a very difficult situation. Prescription drug addiction has become an epidemic. Emma is a doctor facing a heartbreaking situation. Her son, Josh, has leukemia and needs a very expensive treatment. Her husband is a detective. Together, they just can’t afford the treatment. Emma turns to unconventional means to help Josh survive. Along the way, some people get hurt and some die. This was a difficult read because Emma was in such a desperate situation. It made me ache for her family!

A mother will do everything to save her child!
When her five year old son is diagnosed with a life threatening illness, Emma does more than everything to save Josh!
Emma is a physician, married to the man of her dreams who happens to be a police detective.
It makes for a gruesome, difficult, heart-wrenching, thriller that I could not stop reading!
There is no doubt that it kept me intrigued and nervous as to "what would happen next" as I turned the pages.
I liked it a lot!!

4.5/5! Really enjoyed this book and devoured it in a matter of days. You have to suspend disbelief for some of the plot but overall I really liked this book. My favorite of Christina McDonalds books so far! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me a galley copy to review

Review Posted on goodreads....Goodreads is not working for me at the moment, do I can't copy my review.

Excellent book, once again by Christina McDonald. She never fails to hit it out if the park!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Do No Harm.

The premise of Do No Harm is a basic, but simple one: what would you do to save your child?

Emma is a respected doctor who rose from a traumatic childhood to be a loving mother, wife and human being. But when her only son, Josh, is diagnosed with a devastating illness and his best chance at survival is a treatment with a devastating price, Emma finds herself pulling her version of "Breaking Bad."

I've read the author's previous books before so I was interested in Do No Harm, but I wasn't a fan of the story, the characters or how the narrative played out.

First, Emma is unlikable. I understand and sympathize the lengths she will go to save her son, the ends justifying the means and all that, but how she goes about it is too predictable, too easy, too coincidental.

How coincidental (and helpful) that her brother is a small time drug trafficker and can help her, and Emma used to 'hang out' with her brother's BFF.

Second, the tone of the narrative especially when the author is constantly describing Nate and Emma's relationship was corny.

I understand the author wants to remind the readers how much Nate loves Emma, and the reason Emma married Nate is because he made her feel safe and secure, unlike how she felt in her childhood, but once or twice is fine. Not almost every other chapter.

The constant references Nate and Emma make about how much they love each other like they're a pair of lovesick teenagers came off as cheesy and pretty silly.

I'm all about well written relationships (platonic and romantic) but harping on Nate and Emma's marriage and their strong bond became repetitive and unnecessary.

This kind of writing belongs in a romance novel, not a tense, taut thriller about addiction, a drug ring and a very sick child.

Third, I find it really hard to suspend disbelief that Nate's superiors and colleagues have no issues with Nate investigating his wife's felonious brother. No conflict of interest there at all.

There were too many moments of suspension disbelief for my taste, and the characters were not likable, Nate was okay, but the book was just okay for me.

I do think many readers would enjoy Do No Harm.

Emma is a doctor who has huge student loan bills, so while she and her detective husband, Nate, are comfortable, they cannot afford any calamity. Then her five year old son, Josh, becomes ill and is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
As any mother can relate and understand, Emma is desperate to save her son's life. Josh needs a costly procedure that her insurance will not cover and Emma decides to get the money herself. She will do anything necessary to save him, even sell opiods.
Whew! What a read.
I admit I have mixed feelings about this one. I am a huge fan of the author. And when it comes to descriptions and laying out the scenes, she did not disappoint. Christina McDonald made me visualize everything Emma and Nate were facing. I felt their panic, their pressure and their love for their son. What I didn't get about Emma's character was how she beelined toward the decision to sell opiods so quickly.
She was twisty and at times, cold. I found some of her actions really horrible all the while saying, the ends justifies the means. So, while I had to read what would happen, I didn't like how she was comfortable lying and using the men in her life to get her way.
So many things happened that made this read emotional and intense but again, there was no redemption for this character. I read it quickly, tore through it but even now, I am not sure how I feel. I look forward to more from this author as her skills are off-the-charts.
Thank you #Netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Do No Harm. This novel has crazy high ratings here on goodreads, so I guess I am in the minority. I found it incredibly predictable. Every twist and turn was painfully obvious to me. I understood Emma would do anything to raise money to save her son and pay for his treatment, but the lengths she went were just a little far fetched to me. And her husband is a detective investigating a drug ring that may involve her brother and/or her clinic, and none of his superiors find this a MAJOR conflict of interest? Ugh I just couldn’t enjoy this one, it was way too crazy nonsense. Every character was just ridiculous.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast-paced novel that explored what you are willing to do for the ones you love. The main character was a doctor whose son has just been diagnosed with cancer. Worried about astronomical hospital bills, she becomes involved in selling opioids. I enjoyed the pace and plot, but I didn’t care much for any of the characters and found it hard to relate to the protagonist. Decent writing and plot, however.

I have apparently been waiting for a book like this my entire lite. It is truly amazing in so many aspects and is 1000% heart wrenching.
Where is the line that defines good from bad? Right from wrong? Does it matter if the one doing the “bad action” is doing it for “right reasons?” Does it matter if what they are doing may or may not help save the life of a child. I can’t stop to wrap my head around this one. I want to honestly say “I WOULD NEVER!” and walk away all wounded and embarrassed but the truth is, my kids need me, I’m there. A mother’s love is endless and this book proves it time and time again.

Christina McDonald made me actually think about a lot of real life situations. Having a daughter myself, who was gravely Ill last year, this book really hit home for me. It really made me lucky for the (awful) situation that we were in so that I didn’t have to follow Emma’s footsteps. I can’t imagine.

This book was so well written. It was so thoughtful. It was compassionate and loving but it was also full of secrets and people who wanted to keep said secrets hidden. There were characters who were good people, but living with things you wouldn’t normally see. I really enjoyed the medical aspect of this novel and enjoyed that it wasn’t a tutorial thriller. The author really gives us so much more and I can’t wait for her to keep writing, as everything she comes up with is pure brilliance.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this electronic arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an advanced readers' copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved previous books by this author, but this was a sentimental stinker. Melodramatic and the opposite of thrilling. Shmaltzy. You can skip it

Christina has done it again. I just finished this whirlwind thriller and I’m not sure where to begin! Let’s start with the basics; Emma and Nate have the perfect family of three. She is a doctor and him a police detective, being married to a cop myself, I was drawn to this book.

When their son Josh is diagnosed with leukemia, the treatment plan is not covered by insurance.

The town is currently in an opioid crisis with overdoses, which means one thing, there are lots of buyers. Will Emma cross the line to save her son and push illegal narcotics around?

Thank you #Netgalley and #GalleryBooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unputdownable! Christina McDonald has truly outdone herself with newest novel Do No Harm! This domestic thriller tackles several rock-and-a-hard-place senerios that will have you contemplating what you would if you were in the position! Christina McDonald has a gift for getting her readers emotionally invested — so much so that I could not get this book off of my mind for days after finishing! Do No Harm is a 5 star novel that I have already texted friends and family to make sure they preorder because it’s just that gooooood! ALL of Christina McDonald’s novels must reads and I am already excited for her next novel!

This is an amazing book!! Ms McDonald has written a page-turner with very real characters in every day dilemmas. I can’t say enough good about this book or recommend it highly enough. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Gallery Books. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really liked the premise of this book. I thought it sounded really interesting and unlike nothing I had read before. However I didn't enjoy the writing/tone of it. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it would have been better if it was written in the tone that Karin Slaughter writes her books. It needed to be meatier, grittier. And it wasn't.

This novel felt timely and relevant with the opioid epidemic being a huge problem in a lot of communities. It also examines moral and ethical questions and you have to determine if the ends justify the means and how far you would go to save your child.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.