🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi

“All this time in medical school, are you going to throw it away to be, what?” “A psychiatrist?”

Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the “Perfect Immigrant Daughter”:
- Enroll in an elite medical school
- Snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend
- Surround self with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends

Within a click of the fingers everything she has worked so hard for comes crumbling around her. First she gets a low score on an important exam, her boyfriend dumps her, her best friend distances herself from her and the pressure from her parents becomes crippling.

I always say I read to get a break from the pressures of medical school, and then I read a book about being in medical school… Although, this didn’t feel like hard work reading it and I actually laughed so many times throughout it. I picked the above quote to use in my review because I have heard this exact phrase multiple times! Obuobi hits the nail on the head with what it is *really* like to be a medical student and her witty humour kept the overall tone of this novel very upbeat!

Angela was such a fantastic protagonist to have in this book and it was heartwarming seeing her realign her self worth away from academics, and nourish her interpersonal relationships while creating boundaries with more toxic relationships.

Above I said there are moments of such humour in this book, but there are also moments of such heartbreak as characters in this book cope with illness, loss and grief. These scenes were written in such an emotive way, it was obvious that the author was a doctor herself and has seen the true devastation that lurks within a hospitals walls.

I would recommend this one for everyone, whether you work in healthcare or not!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

⚠️CW// death of a parent, gun violence, addiction, racism, sexism

[ad-gifted book]

the rep in this book >>>

i absolutely adored the writing in this book. there wasn’t a moment where i got bored and wanted to stop reading. it’s pretty fast-paced and the characters are so loveable.

the struggles that our fmc went through as a med student felt so realistic and at times i just wanted to reach out to her and hug her omg 😭 even tho she made a ton of mistakes, i love her sm and i’m so glad she finally got her happy ending

ricky is the perfect man. that’s all there is to say.

Thankyou to Quercus Books for the Arc!

First thing, what an amazing cover! So beautiful
But as a lover of medical shows/books I knew I needed to read this.
Angie is a strong willed, confident and hilarious main character
And the entire cast is filled with brilliant POC which is freshing as I don't tend to read many POC books.
I loved each character, the friends to lovers trope is one that will never grow old and this book smashed it.
Amazing debut, can't wait to read more!

If you like medical dramas, you'll love this book. I thought this was an excellent debut, with great characters and writing. I think the author did an excellent job at portraying real issues, such as immigration and familial pressure to succeed. I'm excited to see what the author is going to write next!

firstly, a thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

I tend to avoid medical romances because they remind me of greys anatomy/use language I don't understand/or I just generally don't vibe with it. if its not a prolific genre, I wouldn't know. but the blurb of On Rotation pulled me in. it read as heartfelt to me. so on I went, requesting this arc, slightly surprised I got it (and quick! whoever approved me had time to spare!). I read it during a quiet weekend at work, desperate to get back to it whenever customers came round.

the story is about Angela, a medical student (dun dun dun!) who's just back a bad grade for an exam she NEEDED to ace and it sort of sends her life spiralling into the story. she meets the love interest, Ricky, while crying over said test and her recent ex (a waste of space tbh) in a garden! now up until here Shirlene HAD me. but then as the story continued to unfold she lost me bit by bit. and it's because of Ricky. of course, if something is going to ruin a romance book, it'll be a damned man. he's just.... there. omitting he has a girlfriend until Angie is about to KISS him, gets upset when she's upset about this, in my opinion gaslights her about the experience they shared and then when they have a fight about defining the relationship he just ghosts her because his ex might be pregnant with his child????? it just felt like a lot of drama and fucking with Angie's head for a man she described as a 'waste man'. I liked their hea but I kinda wished she hadn't taken him back like dude was just fully planning a future without ever thinking of telling her about it WHAT

I liked the medical jargon that was explained. I read it on my phone and the markings didn't just to the explanation so I didn't get some things until the end of the chapter, but it felt unique and I liked it! it's also obvious that Shirlene Obuobi has a passion for medicine because while Angie's life sounded gruelling, she never made it seem bad or anything other than Angie's passion in life. the love for her culture and her roots seeped through the book and just drenched it in love. most of the customs I hadn't ever heard of, but it felt like a warm bath after a long day. I can only imagine how girls from her culture and background will feel when reading this and how seen and loved they will feel.

overall, this was just a lovely novel about a woman trying to figure her shit out in life and the love with which it was written is palpable. I'd absolutely recommend this book, if only so I could rant with someone about Ricky. I would've hunted him for sport if he hadn't proposed at the end of the novel

REVIEW: It wasn´t my favourite. I liked the first part of the book, but the second part not so much. I found more chemistry between Angie and Ricky at the beginning and too much drama at the end.
It was nice the part about the friendship. But the romance, apart for the beginning, I didn´t like it, too many comebacks for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

-----------------

RESEÑA: No ha sido de mis favoritos. Me gustó la primera parte del libro, pero la segunda no tanto. Encontré más química entre Angie y Ricky al principio y mucho drama al final.
Estuvo bien la parte sobre la amistad. Pero la parte de romance, excepto por el principio, no me gustó, muchos que sí que no para mi gusto.
Gracias a Netgalley y a la editorial por dejarme leerlo a cambio de una honesta reseña.

I really enjoyed On Rotation. I loved the interactions between Angie and Ricky. You could relate in some aspects to what Angie was going through. Looking forward to reading more from Shirlene Obuobi

4.5*
Wow.
Did I request it on NetGalley simply for the fact that the cover is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING and because it sounded like a medical drama series in book form? Hell the fuck yes and I'm very happy that I did so because On Rotation was BOMB!

Thank you to Quercus Books for sending me the e-ARC of On Rotation!
My review is going to be pretty spoiler free, mainly because I want to entice all of you and get you to read this fantastic book.
Read this book if you love a group of badass women doing badass things (like baking and medical school), if you love drama and romance and angst and chemistry and friends to lovers and the shit that you go through when you're in your early 20s.

Let's start by the things, and elements, that I loved about On Rotation:
. The entire cast is made up of people of color, which felt very refreshing to me since I unfortunately don't read that many books with a predominantly POC cast, mainly because there aren't that many of them on the market or they simply don't catch my eye like this one did.
In this one, I absolutely enjoyed the hell out of Angie, our main character! Strong, stubborn, confident, knows her worth, hella smart and just cracked me up.
I loved Ricky for the majority of the book, even though he really got on my nerves multiple times when he was indecivie as fuck and made a couple of bad choices, but in the end he made up for them in the epilogue by making me CRY!
. The supportive characters were actually quite fun, if a tad one dimensional for my taste. Nia was a fun character, until she did what she did which made it hard for me to move on and forgive her for said thing by the end. We had Michelle, who's Koren if I'm not remembering things badly, who's also a medical student. Angie's sister who was just a bitch if you ask me, and her parents who really got my nerves but also reminded me of MY parents who are also refugees (rather than inmigrents) so I kinda got how she was feeling for most of the book, having such pushy parents.
. The writing was surprisingly beautiful, and I said surprisingly because I simply don't have big expectations for writing in romance books, since I'm there for the romance lol.
. The character dynamics were absolutely fantastic! The friendships, the complex familial relationships, the multiple romances, the whole shebang.
. I very much enjoyed how dramatic this book got at certain points, and how hard it made me laugh and snort throughout my reading experience.
. The friends to lovers trope was used very well here. The explosive chemistry between Angie and Ricky was just incredible, but it also gave way to a truly beautiful and meaningful connection that those two shared. It was just masterfully done.
. The damn writing, especially scenery wise, really made me want to move there lol.
. The epilogue made me cry.

Now with the very few things that I didn't enjoy about On Rotation:
. The eventual argument/fight between Angie and Nia didn't make sense to me?!?! It was over something silly that could've been fixed by a simple conversation, but Nia just went above and beyond to seperate herself from her alleged bestfriend for life and I had a hard time forgiving her for it.
. The eventual third act conflict that breaks up the main character and the love interest, while expected, made absolutely no sense here... It was hinted that Ricky was up to something but turned out that he wasn't so it just made no logical sense to me.
. The side characters being kinda sorta one dimensional, which was rather disappointing to me.

I strongly, strongly recommend this book, friends, so I hope my review has convinced you to give it a try!

Angela Appiah: high achiever. Medical student, boyfriend with a good career, close group of friends.

But it starts to unravel - relationship ends, a less than stellar exam performance, fallout with her best friend. And her parents are on her back. Constantly.

So it's lovely when she meets Ricky, and has a male friend who's just that.

Or is it?

Fabulous, well-rounded characters who you totally believe in and are rooting for

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
As a big Grey’s anatomy fan, I was instantly drawn to this book. It has all the drama, relentless motivation and medical jargon I was hoping for. I loved Angie; she shows us that hard work and determination will get you to your goals and the people loving enough the stick around are worth your time. A very quick and enjoyable read!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Quick read 🤓
Character built
Grey’s anatomy

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘎𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘢𝘯-𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳."

𝘌𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵: 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 "𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳," 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴. 𝘚𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! A WOMEN IN STEM, ROMANCE story featuring a BLACK, FEMALE DOCTOR?! As soon as I saw this book I had to share this with my friends and we all added it to our TBRs.

On Rotation centres around Ghanian-American medical student, Angela, whose life seems to be falling apart. She bombs one of her exams (every medical student’s worst nightmare), her boyfriend breaks up with her, and her best friend seems to be distancing herself from her. However, as one door closes, another one opens, and in enters Ricky Gutierrez, a complicated but compassionate man who appreciates Angela for who she is. Angela may not think she has time for Ricky, but he seems to have other plans…

First of all, thank you so much Shirlene Obuobi- you have made my dreams come true! It has been really emotional for me to see a Black medical student in a romance book and teenage me definitely would have appreciated this before embarking on her medical school journey. I loved learning more about Ghanaian culture and footnotes at the bottom of pages definitely helped explain things. Obuobi captured so many aspects of medical school accurately; the late night studying, the sacrifices that family and friends have to make as well as yourself, the grilling from seniors, the seemingly endless hoop-jumping you have to do, the stories and patients that stay with you. Everything included in this novel was written so thoughtfully and I think every medical student can relate to some part of it.

I fell in love with Angela. She is a hard-working, outspoken woman (who I could definitely relate to) but she wouldn’t have made it as far as she did without her supporting friends and family. I also loved Nia and Michelle who contributed so much to the novel as supporting characters with their own storylines which featured LGBTQIA+ and East Asian representation. Most of all I loved that Angela existed outside of her romance. Most books in this genre mainly show the female characters when they interact with their love interest but nope- Angela had a life outside of Ricky and it showed; she was studying and working exactly like she was doing before him!

A well needed romance book, I’m excited to see what Obuobi writes next ❤️

Read: if you enjoyed The Love Hypothesis and TV medical dramas 🩺

I feel that this book is going to be important to a lot of people, there are so many things that this book did right and needs to be talked about more. This book may look like a medical romance but it is so much more than that, its more about learning to balance career with relationships and the messiness of it.

Angie is such a relatable main character, she deals with not feeling like her best is ever good enough for her family and the boundaries she puts in place to protect herself. This is something that I think a lot of us do but is never really represented in books, and the book shows how it is healthy to have boundaries with your parents.

Furthermore, relationships is one of the main themes throughout the book, with Angie being from a Ghanaian family and the love interest Ricky being Hispanic the book looks at the cultural differences, and acceptance from family. This adds a layer to their complex relationship; it makes it feel more real, as this is something that a lot of people face.

Communication is something that they both struggle with throughout the book. Both have been in previous relationships recently and struggle to move on in their own ways. It takes time for them to listen to each other, and understand what the other person wants but again I feel that this is something that a lot of people can relate to.

One of the other things I loved was how Angie is portrayed as being assertive and determined. Angie has to produce research during her 3rd year as a med student, her supervisor gives her a list that she could pick from, though she struggles to find one she loves, instead she proposes a research project looking at the treatment of black people within healthcare. Her supervisor suggest this may hold her back, but she goes ahead with it regardless. This shows that if you are determined you can succeed, and to go with your heart and study something you have a true passion about.

On Rotation follows Angie, a American/Ghanaian doctor-in-training studying in Chicago, navigating the highs and lows of her loving but critical parents, her friends, her dedicated school schedule and worst of all, her love life.

My favourite parts of this book was Angie’s time spent during her training at the hospital. These scenes were powerful and descriptive, really putting me in her shoes and all together reminding me of the better days of Greys Anatomy.

I loved reading this book, but the romance aspect didn’t take me by storm. But instead I loved Angie’s growth and journey through this book. She goes from feeling like she’s missing out on love to finding peace with being on her own, all the while learning and growing in her career, and beginning to stand up for herself and learn to trust her own gut.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus book for this arc 💗

I loved the sound of this one but I only read to 30%, the main character felt very flat and the footnotes really didn’t not work in the ebook format unfortunately

You should read this book if you like coming of age, learning to love, complicated evolving friendships, drama and learning about different cultures as well as their customs and tradition. while their was a lot I did enjoy about this book I did struggle with the fact that there where symbols scattered throughout the chapters that had additional parts of information and thoughts attached to them placed at the end of the chapter which was just annoying and inconvenient, especially when what was written could've just as easily fit into the book. I do feel like it wouldn't have as big a problem if I was reading a physical book and I did find myself wanting to just skip over some part but after the first 20-30% the book did pick up pace and I enjoyed following along as Angie tried navigating relationships and her schooling in her new found adulthood.

This book was wonderful. From the first few pages I loved the tone, and the moment the author mentioned Saartjie Baartman I was in love. The writing is beautiful - explosively self-reflective, real in all the best ways. The one complaint I had, and it wasn't enough to bring down the rating, and I'm about to get killed for it...I didn't love Ricky. I loved that Angie found herself in her time alone - that she truly enjoyed her own company. I don't think enough books do that, and I was grinning ear to ear. Ricky was lovely, sure - charming and sweet, but he also chatted up a stranger in a garden whilst he had a girlfriend. She was awful, yes, but it doesn't excuse his behaviour. He didn't communicate, he didn't talk, and he ran when she brought up commitment. I was happy with their comfortable relationship by the end, but there was a big part of me that wanted her with her friends at the end of the book, strong on her own feet - and preparing to specialise in ICU, where she'd found such passion. Honestly, though, I can't recommend this book enough, and it'll be one of my top books of the year, for sure.

On Rotation deals with grief, romance and mental health in the most perfect way possible.

Angie is a woman currently going through medical school as a woman of colour. This perspective bring to life the type of prejudice she faces and a black woman in medicine and the heavy expectations that were brought to her by her parents. Despite her main focus being medical school, she forgets to cherish those around her, making parts of her life difficult to handle.

Incomes Ricky, a Latino how brings her adventure and happiness to her life. Although the romance between the two of the becomes one of the main parts of the book, Shirlene Obuobi doesn’t stray away from the important themes she raises throughout the story.

Something that I think Obuobi brings to light is that the world can be a very lonely place when we get wrapped up in ourselves and the stresses of life. We have people all around us whether it’s friends, family, colleagues or neighbours. Sometimes it is okay to need them and lean if them when you need support in the dark times. Also, sometimes people will need you to support them. It works both ways.

Overall, this book is beautiful written, bringing in diversity and the challenges that come from being a part of those backgrounds. The themes that were captured were demonstrated in a great way. This is a book that shouldn’t be missed

4⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed this! I love finding new books from authors I haven’t heard much about and Shirlene Obuobi did not disappoint.

I loved how strong willed Angie was and wasn’t afraid to go for what she wanted.
I really enjoyed reading about Angie and Ricky’s relationship grow throughout the book, cos goddamnnn he sounds so fine.

Highly recommend to anyone looking for a rom-com read

On Rotation was nice and I enjoyed the majority of the story. It had the perfect balance of inner monologue, dialogue and descriptions.

Learning about Ghanaian culture was really interesting and helped add depth to the story, we really get a feel for Angie and her family.

The friendship groups and Ricky were lovely characters to read and felt authentic.

All in all though, this wasn't a great book for me. It was good, but it wasn't great.

One aspect I didn't enjoy was the formatting, there were asterisks dispersed throughout the book, which didn't lend itself to an ebook (paperback would be fine) The explanations came at the end of the chapter (most often), and by then I had forgotten what the asterisks related too, especially when there were 3-4 listed at the end. Made reading the story rather disjointed.

I went into this expecting to enjoy the book. And although I related to Angie in so many ways, especially in coming to terms with identity and her relationship with her family, I really struggled to remain engaged. I skipped ahead a few times and really tried to get into the book. And honestly, I was engaged with certain aspects of the story, but time and time again felt myself wanting to turn ahead.

I think my two main issues with the book were characterisation and writing style. The characters, although strong, failed to draw me in and develop a connection. I really struggled to like Ricky and found myself annoyed with both his and Angie's characters on too many occasions. Something about their relationship felt very juvenile.

Unfortunately this one was a miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.