This book was a slow burn and a little strange at the beginning which was hard for me to get into, but I kept with it and thought that this book was well thought out and original. I went into this book completely blind and only requested it because of the cover and title.

This book is about Randall Archer who is a very smart and brilliant 16 year old who is mistreated at both home and school in Philadelphia. His guidance counselor gets him a full scholarship to Harvard which allows him to follow his dreams of becoming a pathologist.

During his time at Harvard, he meets physicist Adam Wakefield one night in his lab and they start working together with Wakefield's revolutionary microscope to try and change the medical field forever. They start to secretly look at different microbes and specimens from humans without the proper paperwork and approval and while what they discover could change medicine forever, it is a dangerous discovery as they are currently in a depression and a lot of big medical companies could lose a lot of money from their discovery.

Overall, I thought this was a good book. I listened to it on audio. The book was multi-layered and the character development was good. I wouldn't necessarily classify this book as a thriller. This book was not my favorite, but it was a good book.

Thank you netgalley and Books Fluent for this free audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Boring. This felt like a fictionalized version of a non fiction story. The ending was underwhelming along with the whole book.

This is a tough one to rate because I loved the story but hated the ending. I like a nice wrapped up satisfying ending which I did not get in this book. As the ending drew near I just kept thinking that I wanted more and that maybe there would be a sequel? Leaving me with difficulty rating this book, I wish we could do halves, I would rate it a 3.5 if possible. Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

What a different book. I went in blind. It took place back in the 1920s and gave us a view of terror back then.

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Fluent for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I unfortunately DNF this book at 30% simply because I did not find it interesting. I really struggled with the pacing of this book in the first third. It felt like it was constant exposition without anything significant happening. I’m not sure if the pacing evens out later in the story, but I did not have it in me to continue reading to find out.

While listening to the audiobook I felt like if I missed even a single sentence I was missing so much information in the very beginning because things happened so fast with little explanation. In only the first chapter, it was established that he was in an abusive home life, a school counselor managed to get him a full ride to Harvard when he was 16, and then he shows up at her house later that night and apparently they have sex? All this happening with little emotional reaction from the characters.

To me it felt very “tell” without any “show” and I prefer to be able to feel the emotions of the characters I am reading about and this unfortunately felt very flat.

The Human Trial has a worthy premise, but the book just doesn't deliver. The basic story has been told many times: poor but brilliant student gets out of abusive home, goes to prestigious Ivy League University, marries woman of a different social class, has many temptations, and on and on. The clever chapter titles are perhaps the best thing about the book, along with the narrator, who did a more than credible job, although all his characters were voiced pretty much the same. The author fails to develop the characters fully and parts of the story were glossed over without explanation. Aside from being housed in an unheated room, there is no sense of the real economic struggles Archer must have had to endure during his 12 years from college through medical school and residencies. There is almost no sense of any social life, explained away, I suppose, by his impoverished state. Basically, he has no friends until he meets Adam and later Elizabeth. There are the bones of a good book but there is not enough meat on those bones to make this book a rich and thoughtful experience for the reader.

This was a much needed break from my typical thrillers, though I would argue this is more of a historical fiction than a mystery or thriller.

The narrator gave this audiobook the dated and old-timey feel that this book needed, and helped set the tone.

I thought the author did a great job of contrasting a boy born in Pittsburg and raised to work in the steel industry with the generationally wealthy families whose children go to Harvard. The scientific procedures and policies outlined were also interesting to follow along, and the relationships formed whether good or bad.

I will say, I am not a prude but the sex scenes and insinuations did not really feel necessary or add to the story at all.

Since this is outside my typical read, I am unable to form a concrete decision on how to rate this. But since I enjoyed it and the story kept my attention for the most part, I am rounding up to 3 stars.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this book about 40% in. I’m really sad that it didn’t work out for me. I love the premise of this book but found it to be rushed and lacking some more detail. I listened to the audiobook version and there was also some audio issues in it where some sections were echo-y. I’m not sure if that was a technical problem or a deliberate choice. I would like to come back to this, maybe with a physical copy to see if it is more enjoyable for me. However for the time being, I couldn’t keep with it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Books Fluent for the free audio book in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by Narrated by Scott Graff who does a great job!

This is such a different historical fiction tale! Randall Archer is poor but brilliant 16 year old who is abused at home and in school in Philadelphia for his small stature, intellect and just not fitting in. A guidance counselor helps Randall obtain a full ride to Harvard where he studies medicine, specifically pathology. There, Randall meets a physicist named Adam Wakefield who is in process of inventing the microscope. The two partner up to make discoveries that will change medicine and potentially threaten drug companies.

The setting of the depression which this is a different take on that period of time. I really enjoyed seeing Randall’s growth professionally and personally along with the aspect of the medical thriller.

Highly recommend.

The author has a good style in regards to creating imagery. However the book fell apart for me on the following :

-The part where the counselor decided to jump into bed with her student.

-The fact that the counselor was 21, female, had connections that can get a student into Harvard in a week, and was even in that role when the story is set in the 1920's. (Was a sexist era.)

-That every character basically is mean and obnoxious towards the protagonist. (except the "Counselor").

On a side note, the narrators character voices were too over the top and made it hard to stay connected to the story.

I would say, drop the sex scene, make some characters a little nicer even if only just briefly, and this could be a book worth finishing. Lost me by chapter four.

OH HELL NO.

I wanted to quit the book after the rape in the first few pages. Not only was this rape unnecessary for the story, it made no sense. Why would the "hero" turn on a dime and rape? It wasn't explained but rather a cutesy it-is-kinda-love offered. ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Let me be very clear: Any adult who has sex with a child or teenager is a pedophile rapist especially if that person is in a position of power and is triplely disgusting when they are aware this child comes from an abusive home.

Yet my dumbass kept reading and it only got worse. Bullying at school and then lots of boring blah blah. I am relieving myself from this dreadful book at 17%

Interesting story of a brilliant young man who was badly mistreated by his family. Randall overcame his background and through the help of a teacher is able to attend Harvard in hopes of becoming a pathologist. There, through his intellect, he rises to the top. The story of his involvement with a scientific development lends a bit of a thriller element. I particularly appreciated the historic background of the Depression.