AT LEAST YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH
By Madi Sinha

I love reading about characters in the medical field and this immediately got into my radar when I read the blurb about a mother, a wife, and a Gynecologist trying to balance the complexities of each of her role - the perfect life to an outsider looking in. Dr Maya Rao leaves her job in the hospital and moves to a concierge service, Eunoia Women’s Health, catering to the rich and privileged, ran by Amelia where vitamin infusions and crystals are curative outside of medical science and cost.

The writing was fabulous and I really enjoyed the characters and side characters. The representation of women of color in the healthcare industry, as well as, the nuances of healthcare was wonderfully addressed. I really enjoyed this take on traditional and alternative medicine that tends to be misunderstood by many.

I really enjoyed this one.

Dr. Maya Rao has it all - a loving and supportive husband, three beautiful children, a long career as a gynecologist. But is she happy? In fact, Maya is stressed and feeling pressure in ways she has been hiding for years. One day at work she insults a patient and ends up having to carve a new career path. She had previously been offered a job as an exclusive concierge service where she can further utilize her talents.

However, as Maya's story evolves, this book addresses some very serious issues. These issues include sexism, racism and classism. With traditional Indian parents a lot was expected of Maya when she was growing up. These expectations have bled into her adult life, her job, and even her family.

Meanwhile, the deeper Maya gets into her new job, she more she realizes how different things are now, and this includes feeling comfortable with alternative medicine and treatments.

I enjoyed the serious nature of this book. The only issue that I found would be the writing style seemed a bit inconsistent. However, that paled in comparison to the excellence contained in this book when it came to the challenges that Maya faced on a daily basis. As Madi Sinha is a new author for me I did truly feel honored to read this book.

Please also enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/syjwp3HgQSU

A witty and relatable read about a frazzled working Mom always striving for more for her family. Dr. Maya Rao is a gynecologist trying to balance a career, marriage, and taking care of her three children. On paper it seems like the perfect life however after growing up to immigrant parents, she always has this sense of needing more. Her daughter attends a prestigious private school where she meets Amelia DeGuilles who runs a private health care company and just in time after Maya snaps at work with a high end patient at the city hospital. Not all is as it seems though while working with Amelia, a seemingly perfect job comes with mystery and leaves Maya questioning her integrity.

I received a copy of this book on Netgalley and I am giving an honest review.

I can see how it would be easy to get pulled into the world of private schools, specialty doctors, and the parents of the students. That is exactly what happen to Maya. She loses her job and gets offered a job by a fellow parent, a parent that runs the school, and finds that the prestige and the money make it hard to say no. She says yes, and her world changes. Her values are pushed and her husband who has always supports her begins to question her choices.

I liked that Maya’s life was not perfect. She knew that her race was something that set her apart from others and something that she had to do work hard to get past. The balance of work and family had her making choices that were best for her family and not always exactly what she wanted. She was trying to put her family first but in making some of those decisions she put her own values at risk. I liked that she took risks both in her career and personally and accepted that they did not always work out the way she had hoped.

This is a story of family, racism, classism, and work-life balance. I enjoyed that Maya had a real life of 3 children, a husband, a job, and the want to be part of the school life for her children. Her life was crazy, complex, fun, loving, and busy.

Maya is a gynecologist trying to be a triple threat. A good doctor. A good mother. A good wife. Unfortunately, a bad day with the wrong patient pushes her out of the hospital she's known and loved for many years. Maya finds an unexpected opportunity in a woman named Amelia, owner of Eunoia Women's Health. Eunoia serves the upper crust, wealthy women who want the best natural remedies money can buy, with the blessing of a doctor just like Maya. As Maya joins Eunoia and begins seeing clients in their homes, she seeks to educate and heal them, particularly when their crystal rituals fail to deliver. Amelia's daughter eventually takes ill, and Maya is tasked with healing her, but on the way to a cure, Maya's darkest secret may be unveiled, painfully, against her wishes.

I found myself quite engaged with this story, not just because of its semi-unique premise, but also because of its humorous take on natural remedies and their appeal across the socioeconomic spectrum, including the very wealthy. Maya is Indian, and she feels somewhat abashed that she drives around a humble Honda when all her clients are driving around snazzy vehicles. Despite her reservations with Eunoia and its embrace of unproven natural remedies, she looks up to Amelia, but there is a dark side to Amelia's gilded life.

Additionally, how can Maya balance her duty to medicine and ethics while hearing out her clients' desires for "natural", potentially dangerous treatments? At Least You Have Your Health is the story of a woman who happens to be a doctor trying to find balance in a new life with patients who put more stock in crystals than x-rays. Recommended for readers interested in the quirks of natural remedies, parenting issues, and unexpected gynecological humor.

At Least You Have Your Health is the story about Maya, a working mom trying to juggle being a gynecologist while raising 3 kids. Maya starts a new job at a wellness clinic where things aren’t what they seem. Oh my, did this one hit a little too close to home with the struggles of working full time and being a mom. It is the perfect balance of a very, all too true look at how much falls on working moms to be both the default parent and also the breadwinner combined with the hilarity of the moms at her daughter’s school and the absurdity of the wellness clinic. I vacillated between laughing out loud and hugging my kindle. The book delves into inequities in medical treatment based on wealth and race, misogyny in the workplace, disparities among women’s health issues and men’s and ethical dilemmas facing doctors. And Maya’s patients and her middle son add some much needed comic relief throughout the book to alleviate the mood of the heavier topics. The entire book is filled with so much emotion and sharp wit and I just loved it.

Discussed on All the Books (Book Riot podcast). Transcript below.

Madi Sinha is a physician and the author of the White Coat Diaries, and this is another novel from the perspective of a doctor.
Maya Rao is an Indian American gynecologist who is trying to make her way up in the world.
While her husband, Dean, is content with their life, Maya is determined to give her kids the best possible life, which includes expensive private schools and the kind of extracurriculars that get you into a college -- even if her oldest is only 9.
Both at work and in the social group of upper class moms, she struggles to fit in.
She’s overbooked and regularly deals with racist microaggressions from patients.
And next to the perfectly put together moms at her kids’ school, she feels like an outsider.
I’m white and not a mom, so I can’t personally relate, but the beginning chapters describing Maya’s everyday life had my skin crawling. It just sounded hellish.
In particular, as she goes to pick up her kid at after school care, she pulls up out front and leaves the two younger kids in the car as she walks the literally five feet to the door, only to be told off by a white, wealthy mom and told to park around back and not leave the kids unattended -- and then is also assumed to be their nanny.
After half-heartedly arguing with the other mom that she can see her kids the entire time, she wrestles the baby out of the car seat, picks up her four year old in her other arm, and goes inside.
There, as the baby screams and everyone turns to look at her, the teacher’s aide signing her kid out tells her she should have just left the younger kids in the car. That’s what all the other moms do.
That’s just one example of Maya constantly being caught between two bad options, and she’s always exhausted and feeling like she’s failing.
Then, she makes an unexpected connection with the queen bee mom of the school, Amelia.
Amelia is running a concierge women’s health service and wants Maya on staff.
The pay is better, and her job at the hospital is already at risk because she told off a VIP patient for being racist.
So she signs up, and finds herself pulled into a GOOP-style clinic where they will provide clients with whatever treatments they desire -- even if they’re not scientifically proven or even safe.
The description of this book makes it sound like a thriller to me, but it’s really more of a quietly building tension and feeling of dread.
Maya is initially skeptical of this organization, but begins to buy in.
It’s supposedly about choice, about recognizing women’s health when it’s so ignored and misunderstood by the medical system, but it’s also only for extremely wealthy clients, and it will sell you healing crystal and thousand dollar vitamin treatments with questionable benefits.
It also becomes clear that there’s misogyny built in here, too. It’s just of a different kind.
Meanwhile, Amelia’s teenage daughter is slowly getting sicker from some mysterious ailment, and Amelia asks Maya to be her doctor.
We get to see both Amelia and Maya’s backstories, including how Amelia wasn't diagnosed with her autoimmune condition for five years, which is why she started a women's health organization.
There’s also an interesting thread about Maya and her assistant, Esther.
Esther is a Black woman, and although they both face racism in their work, they also have different experiences with it.
I won’t spoil anything, but it was an exciting ending for a slowly building story, and there were some nice moments of symmetry that tied things up.
I do want to recognize a few drawbacks to this story, especially around cissexism: obviously because this has a gynecologist main character, there is a lot of discussion of reproductive organs, and there really isn’t any recognition of the difference between sex and gender.
There’s also a reference to someone being “wheelchair bound.”
I also want to draw attention to the trigger warnings here, including racism, and a chapter from the perspective of a racist character.
Also, trigger warnings for medical trauma, pregnancy and childbirth trauma, and children and babies in danger.
This book has a lot going on, and I think it would make for a great book club pick. I’ts definitely one I would really enjoy discussing with people.

Maya is a married mother to three children and drives an old van. She’s an ob-gyn but doesn’t attend births anymore, instead practising as a gynaecologist at a hospital medical centre.
With her daughter transferring to a new school, all Maya wants is to fit in with the other mothers. Women like Amelia, the chic and much-admired owner of a women’s health service that offers bespoke at-home services. When Maya is offered a position at Amelia’s wellness clinic, it may help her social standing but at the cost of having to compromise some of her beliefs.
This was a clever, witty and timely read, shining a spotlight on the wealth gap in healthcare and wellness misinformation. Maya was a refreshing character whose motives were understandable as her ethics were tested.

Unfortunately, I feel that I am unable to finish reading this book all the way through because the pacing felt so off to me. The first few chapters were just rapid fire events and I felt overwhelmed trying to keep up with the different character names, professions, relationships, etc. It wasn't grabbing my attention and if anything I felt distracted by the pacing.

I was intrigued by the book's description so I think it's a great storyline. Hopefully others could enjoy it.

This is one of those pieces of contemporary fiction that works in some outrageous elements but in a way that feels as if it could really happen. The over-the-topness comes from the ultra-wealthy parents orbiting Hamilton Hall, a prestigious school for elite children. Our protagonist is Dr. Maya Rao, who has an ambitious vision for her children at the school. Conscious of not only her relative lack of wealth but her brown skin in a sea of white, Maya is still determined to make things work. An entitled "VIP" patient at the hospital in conjunction with a pandering administrator obstructs Maya's gynecology career with complaints, so it seems like a tremendous shift in fortunes when fellow Hamilton parent and top tier social mover Amelia DeGilles offers Maya a position at her "concierge/boutique" women's health clinic. Maya seizes the opportunity and has her eyes opened to all that wealth can buy in terms of health care, from privileged access and instant gratification to bizarre pseudoscience and dangerous demands.

This isn't in the sphere of my normal genres, which made it a particularly fascinating read. I admired the way the author takes a firm ethical position while providing nuanced characters with shades of grey. Dr. Rao is a prime example, juggling motherhood, her career aspirations, and a niggling suspicion that she hasn't yet met her potential. She makes many mistakes while also bearing heavy burdens and making brave choices. Her employer is another example, blind to her privileges but with many facets that are uncovered throughout. In terms of messaging, I appreciated the author's take on the myriad problems in US healthcare. She addresses race, class, and privilege in terms of the quality of care available and the intersection with women's health. There were many delightfully snarky asides, particularly from medical assistant Esther, and her conversation with a mansplaining, oblivious expectant father gave me life.

This is a thoughtful piece of fiction that will stay with me. It has clever and heart-warming moments interspersed with tense drama and incisive commentary. It has a pleasing conclusion for Dr. Rao as well as a view into a better medical future with context-dependent, informed healthcare and doctors trained on the history of their field with all its social implications. Thanks to Berkley for my copy to read and review!

Dr. Maya Rao quits her job as a gynecologist because her new boss's wife was ugly and disrespectful which puts Maya and her husband in a tight spot financially. When Amelia, owner of a concierge wellness clinic recruits Maya to work for her, Maya thinks she has her dream job. Soon she realizes she needs more help, so Maya winds up hiring her former assistant to help her.

When red flags start showing up at her new job, Maya slowly starts to realize she has some difficult choices to make.

What I loved about this book: This book deals on heavy duty topics like respect for women and for professional women who do not fit into society's stereotype. I like Maya's representation of Indian culture and felt that author Madi Sinha handled the themes of racism, elitism, mental health, women's healthcare, work and family balance, and finding your own voice. Although the topics are serious, they are handled with respect and humor in a journey that I am sure you would enjoy as much as I did. Highly recommend as Maya's journey is one we can all relate to!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and author Madi Sinha for this digital review copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my reviews are voluntary and my opinions are my own.

#Berkleybuddyreads #berittalksbooks #berkleywritesstrong women

This is a hard book to review because while it is fiction it is quite realistic and clearly has a lot of basis in real life experiences. I wouldn't call this an enjoyable read because it is actually pretty heavy, but it is well written, engaging, and very interesting.

I really appreciated the Own Voices aspects of this book more than anything. The main character is not only Indian but also a female physician (just like the author) and both of those together mean she often doesn't get the respect she deserves.

I also appreciated the insights into how many women really don't understand their own bodies. I also was pleased the author used her platform to talk about how hard it is for females to get a diagnosis for an autoimmune disease. Chronic disease and pain are incredibly challenging and I know because I've been there.

This book deals with so many difficult topics and isn't an easy read but I do think that it ends up being inspiring. I think it reminds readers that there isn't always one right way to find your place and that it is okay to learn from mistakes and that all experiences help shape you. It also has a very positive message about the benefits of counseling and therapy.

This story has tons of triggers. I tried to list them all on StoryGraph, but if you are sensitive please check reviews and message me.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I adored this book! Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for the eARC of AT LEAST YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH.

Look, if y'all enjoyed Happy & You Know It as much as I did, be sure to pick this one up. The unfailingly honest story of a woman trying to provide for her family, live up to her parents' expectations, and stand by her values.

The synopsis on this is pretty accurate, except it doesn't mention how funny I would find these patients- I'm sorry, clients. The absurdity of what they request seems to know no peak until one patient asks Dr Rao to assist with delivering her breach baby....on a beach.....in Belize....with no other doctors present.

Also this patient's boyfriend keeps saying that childbirth isn't painful and I had to laugh to keep from screaming.

I adored this and loved Maya's character growth as she learns what is important to herself and who she wants to be as a doctor.

I am usually not as excited about lighter fare but this one was a real treat! A gynecologist quits her job after an insulting interaction with a patient, then receives a curious offer from one of the ultra-rich moms at her daughter's elementary school: A position as a concierge clinician, making house calls to the richest of the rich. This job brings not only her values, but also her medical training into conflict.

I loved reading about another working professional mom with very young kids and all the chaos that comes with that. I can relate! I thoroughly enjoyed watching the character's arc, learning how her upbringing in a conservative Indian family led to her career path -- which she begins to question is even the right one for her. I liked the candor about her mental health issues due to a traumatic incident on the job, from her past.

I think readers will really enjoy the sneak-peek into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and how they handle their health care. Another selling point is the debunking of some "Goop"-style wellness ideas/procedures which have not been proven (or have been disproven) by western medicine.. This was a really creative read with a lot of interesting points that made it a page-turner. I will highly recommend to anyone looking for a lighter summer read with a little bit of meaning, mommies who work, and anyone in the health field!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this awesome book.

Cute slice of life novel. Keeps you reading, characters are fierce and three dimensional. Love this authors voice

Dr. Maya Rao is a busy wife and mother trying to juggle daily life and her career as a gynecologist in a prominent hospital. She feels guilty as she constantly has to pick up her children late from their after-school programs and day care. She feels excluded and looked down upon by the other mothers at her daughter’s exclusive school. One day, after refusing to give in to the dangerous request of a privileged patient, Maya finds herself arguing with the patient. Refusing to apologize, she resigns.

Later, at her daughter’s school, Maya meets Amelia, who runs a successful concierge wellness clinic that specializes in house calls for the wealthy. Maya accepts a job at this clinic and soon finds herself trying to emulate Amelia, who seems to have her perfect life all together.

Maya suddenly finds herself accepted by the mothers at the exclusive school and soon she is even drawn into trying some of their outlandish ideas, much to the chagrin of her husband and children. As Maya begins dealing with the often bizarre requests of her pampered patients, she ignores a warning voice in the back of her mind about what is the best medical practice.

Soon Maya must make an important choice about what really matters—in both family and in her medical practice.

𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨: This is a fascinating book that tackles racism, classism, and women’s health issues all with a good dose of humor! Though I usually choose thrillers, I am glad I picked up this book. The author does a great job detailing the stresses Maya faces, and the reactions of those around her. Read this if you love laugh-out-loud moments and a story that makes you think.

My sincere thanks to @letstalkbookspromo and @berkleypub
for my gifted copy. My thoughts are my own.

This book really goes in to detail about health issues that women face. It is a hilarious and sometimes suspenseful look at the issues of healthcare based on status and class. I loved Maya and how hard she works and cares for her family.
I recommend this book for sure! It is available now wherever books are sold!

"𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺!"

𝗔𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛 is women's fiction that manages to cover everything from inadequacies in healthcare to private school mommy drama in a highly entertaining way.

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘱𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵."

Lines like that literally made me laugh out loud while I was reading!

Dr. Maya Rao is a gynecologist who accepts a job at Eunoia, a concierge medical practice owned by a wealthy heiress she meets at her daughter's elite school. Eunoia caters to the rich and entitled and its practices are more alternative and new-agey than Maya is used to. Through this lens, the author uses cutting wit and nuanced characters to touch on classism, racism, motherhood, marriage, work-life balance, social climbing, and more.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴’ 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹."

This book is snarky, thought-provoking and filled with lots of rich people behaving badly. It's everything I wish Liane Moriarty's 𝘕𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 had been and wasn't, and led to a great discussion in our buddy read.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the copy to review.

Gynecologist Dr. Maya Rao, a busy working mother of three young children, appreciates her job at the city hospital in Philadelphia though she at times despairs of the cost-cutting measures and focus on the bottom-line. She has no plans to leave until she clashes with a rude patient who happens to be the wife of an important new executive. Rather than accept the insulting terms negotiated by her boss, Maya impulsively quits. However, she quickly has the opportunity to join Eunoia Women’s Health, a concierge medical service catering to the ultra-wealthy on the Main Line.

Finally, she can relax—at least a little—about her student debt, her kids’ private school tuition and extracurricular activities, and being the primary breadwinner as her husband completes his doctoral program. As Maya spends more time with Amelia DeGilles, founder of Eunoia, though, her ambition intensifies and her house, car, clothes, and even choice of meals no longer satisfies her. But when patients pay as much as they do for the doctors of Eunoia, they always get what they want, whether it is crystal treatments, unproven supplements, or misinformed regimens. Maya’s situation becomes even more difficult when Amelia’s teenage daughter, Prem, becomes ill and diagnostic tests reveal nothing wrong.

To uncover what’s behind Prem’s symptoms and to truly advocate for her patients, Maya must interrogate her ethics, question her desires, and confront her secret past. And doing the right thing may mean she loses all that is important to her.

AT LEAST YOU HAVE YOUR HEALTH by Madi Sinha exceeded my expectations! I thought it did an excellent job combining several important themes in an engaging and compelling narrative, including Maya’s experience as a First Generation immigrant and the expectations of her family, the impact of socioeconomic class and race on access to medical treatment, the importance of informed choice, not just limitless choice, and the challenges of being a working mother. At times, Maya infuriated me, but her character arc was redemptive! While the topics are serious and significant, they are balanced by a healthy dose of humor—I won’t think about car washes or cloth diapers the same way again!

This book is the second from Madi Sinha, but don't be fooled because this is not a series like I thought lol. Where the first novel, The White Coat Diaries, is similar to Scrubs/Grey's Anatomy, At Least You Have Your Health focuses on one physician.

Maya's struggles were easily relatable as they revolved around pride, status, integrity and finances. She has pressure to have it all: a successful career, perfect family, and social life.

I was hooked reading about Eunoia - a posh women's health company that does home visits to the rich and famous. Eunoia empowers the women to make their own health decisions and avoids traditional medical practices. This created an intense amount of drama in the plot as Maya is torn between her own beliefs vs her client's.

At Least You Have Your Health may not have been the light comedy I was expecting, but it surprised me to find out I enjoyed it just as much as The White Coat Diaries. The plot is still very unique and the characters are wildly entertaining.