When three friends have to face the night that they don't talk about because their own children are now dealing with a similar situation they start to reconsider how much they are willing to hide. I thought this was a very interesting book and shows how even different generations can experience some of the same life expierences. I thought it was a thought provoking book and was a thriller in some sense.

I liked this but it was really literary and I was expecting one of my simple little suspense or thriller novels. You know, the ones that do not require much thinking. This was actually pretty deep and intense.
I think it would appeal to a more intelligent person

This was a slow burn drama rather than the fast paced suspense story I was expecting but, with the three main characters working in the medical field, I stuck with it. I work in healthcare myself and feel like I don't see enough stories taking place in the medical field so I was kind of invested to see this story to it's conclusion. I just would have liked this book to be more exciting filled with twists and turns rather than slow moving drama.
Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC.

This is what I can tell you..

This was my first book by Christie Watson, but there is not way in heck it will be my last.

Holy power move, Watson, I think you just stole my wicked heart!

This is a dark, soul altering suspense tail that will have even the coldest hearts, beating faster.

I am shook, but I want more.

Excuse me while I go stalk this fan-freaking-tastic author!

Check out this teaser :

When you're trained to protect the lives of others, how far will you go to protect your own?

Ruthlessly ambitious Olivia, anxious perfectionist Laura, and free-spirited risk-taker Anjali couldn’t be more different. Yet their friendship—which began the first day of medical school—has kept them inseparable these past twenty-five years. As wild all-nighters and exam pressure gave way to the struggles and joys of new motherhood and new jobs, their unbreakable bond helped them support each other through it all.

Long ago, they promised that nothing would come between them, and to do anything for one another—including burying that night they have never spoken about: a university party fueled by drugs, sex, and secrets that forced them to make a deadly choice that could have destroyed them. But is there a limit to what we would do for those we love?

When an eerily similar tragedy strikes involving the women’s teenaged children, everything the three friends have built threatens to crumble around them . . . forcing them to decide how far they can stretch their friendship before it snaps.

A taut and explosive novel about loyalty, ambition, betrayal, and revenge, Moral Injuries explores the sometimes-hidden costs of friendships, and the lengths people will go to protect themselves.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

I found Moral Injuries to be an enjoyable read with multi-POVs. However, I do think I would've liked more details on the children in the storyline, vs just the adult friends. Also, I found part of the storyline to be very unrelatable but I won't elaborate on that as I don't want to spoil anything!

3.5 ⭐️’s
Olivia, Laura and Anjali became fast friends in medical school. Bolstering each other through the good and the bad, they have remained best friends for twenty odd years. Each practice in a different area of expertise, and each is in a different place in life, but their friendship remains steadfast. When a tragedy occurs involving Olivia and Laura’s children, they are catapulted back in time, back when a similar situation befell them, one that they have kept secret all these years. Olivia plans for the same scenario for their kids, directing Laura along her chosen path, but this time Laura isn’t going to stand by and follow. This time Laura is going to stand firm in her beliefs, especially when the past rises up to haunt her and she finds out all was not what it seemed. They have left Anjali out of their plans, but when Anjali’s partner finds out what’s going on, she breaks everything wide open, breaking the strands that have held them together for all these years. This book had a bit of mystery and intrigue, but it’s centered around the strong bonds of friendship. It was a good read, but it felt like the story wasn’t quite finished when the last page was turned. Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

It has been quite some time since I've read a novel with a medical setting. Strange, because I enjoy medical dramas on television. This one was a stellar medical drama AND a psychological study into the impact of secrecy and moral dilemmas on three intelligent women.

"Everyone in this world does bad things or stupid things that sometimes have catastrophic consequences. These are the human factors. We are only human."

Three women protagonists who meet while in medical school form a strong bond and are still best friends twenty-five years later. We hear from all three back in 1999 and also in the present day.

In 1999, while at a university party, there was an overdose death. The circumstances around this death are murky - even to those directly involved - for they were stoned or drunk themselves. This event has long-lasting repercussions to the three med students.

2024 and now the women are parents themselves. When a traumatic event occurs at a party where two of their children are present, it would seem like history is repeating itself...

Olivia is a cardiothoracic surgeon, one of the best. She works long hours in a South London hospital. She is happily married and the mother of two teenage children.

Laura is an emergency physician who works as an air ambulance doctor. She is probably the smartest of the three women and works harder in a profession that she lives for. She is a single mother to a teenage son, a caretaker for her mother who suffers from multiple sclerosis, and she has an unhealthy habit of seeking sex with strangers as a coping mechanism.

Anjali is a GP working in a clinic. She sees all sorts in her work and she is good at it, though one feels her heart is not really in it. She lives with a woman named Donna who works as a nurse on the cancer wards. Anjali and Donna are seeking to adopt a child.

"Sometimes, she thought, the truth was unhelpful. Every now and then, the most ethical thing to do was to lie."

Written by a medical professional, the plot reeks of authenticity, as do the characters.

Secrets and lies. Secrets that fester. Guilt that ravages the soul. Betrayal that devastates lives. Ethical dilemmas - medical ones and moral ones. All these factors come into play in this intense and compelling novel.

Highly recommended!

4.5 stars rounded up

Three woman became inseparable during med school and have stayed friends through their new jobs, marriages, and struggles. When tragedy strikes it reminds them of what they buried in the past.

My favorite part about this book was all the fascinating medical components. Anyone interested in medicine will enjoy this book. I wish I had known more about the characters’ past from the beginning. I had to wait a while to be told what was going on and it felt dragged out at times. I enjoyed the three women and their relationship, especially in the younger years.

“They complimented each other, pulled each other up if they were out of line, their friendship making better versions of each of them. It felt extra ordinarily precious.”

Moral Injuries comes out 6/25.

Three best friends meet in medical school, and one night things go terribly wrong. Twenty five years later their secret is coming back to haunt them.

Olivia is the perfectionist who comes from money and is determined to have it all—the best job, the best house, the best husband, and the best kids. Her ambition knows no bounds, and she will do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves. Anjali is the anthesis of Olivia, easy going and free-spirited. She and her wife have just started the adoption process and her past isn’t going to help their cause. Laura is the perfect student and now the perfect doctor. Her humble beginnings and traumatic past have shaped her personality in a profound way. These three women somehow connected with each other through their shared school experience and maintained their bond for years afterward despite some rocky bumps along the way.

Though there is a lot of medical terminology, it isn’t distracting from the story. It is obvious author Christie Watson has a medical background. This is promoted as a thriller, but the twist was not shocking. In fact, the book reads like a very long melodramatic episode of Grey’s Anatomy, that is to say it was still engrossing. The three main characters were definitely very interesting, but it did feel a little over the top. The author seems to have added all the issues into one book: drug use, domestic violence, same-sex couple, interracial couple, adoption, anxiety, euthanasia, sex addiction, classicism…this list goes on. I think with a few less triggering storylines, the main narrative might have shined more. That being said, the title was spot on.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper, and the author Christie Watson for the advanced copy of the book. Moral Injuries is out now! All opinions are my own.

This was a unique, character driven story. The three MCs were fully fleshed out and interesting. I didn’t know where the story was going to it kept me hooked but ultimately, it was a bit of a let down at the end and seemed to fizzle out.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins/Harper for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful literary thriller by Christie Watson. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Olivia, Laura, and Anjali meet during medical career, each carrying distinct motivations fueled by their pasts. While very different, they form a tight bond that still sees them as best friends 20+ years later. During med school, an event at a party forced them to make a choice. In the present, a similar tragedy happens and forces them each to reevaluate their actions and friendship.

This book is a bit hard to review without giving anything away, because I liked not knowing where it was going. I really found myself gripped in this slow burn thriller and the way it told the story in both past and present times, letting the reader see the characters' reasons for their present actions or inactions. I liked the medical setting and depth, and especially the medical ethics dilemmas overlapped into this story. Plus, once these characters had families, it was interesting to see how their values and ethics changed or didn't. Great book!

A literary thriller following three best friends since medical school and the twenty-five-year-old secret that now threatens to shatter their lives.

This was...fine? I wanted to love it but it just didn't do it for me. The plot and the characters were decent, I just couldn't get into it.

This story is medical drama with mystery. Three women share a dark secret, Olivia, Laura and Anjali. Twenty five years later an event changes their lives forever. Will their secret be revealed or will they stop at nothing to being exposed?

I enjoyed the story, however it did have a slower pace.
Thank you so much Harper, Christie Watson and NetGalley for the opportunity.
Release date June 25, 2024
3.5 raised to 4

Olivia, Laura and Anjali have been friends since medical school. At a party at tragic accident bonded them for life. Years later they are raising their own children and working as doctors. Their children are teenagers now and an eerily similar situation happens at a party. How do they deal with the trauma? How far do would you go to protect your children or your friends. This book explores the gray area of morality. Almost anyone is capable of doing something stupid or bad. Does that make you bad or just human?

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was more of a medical drama rather than a thriller. It’s perfect for fans of greys anatomy!

Thanks netgalley for the advanced readers copy of this book.

Anjali, Laura and Olivia all meet in medical school. They instantly become friends. As their lives go on, the three promise to always stay friends, regardless of anything, but 25 years later, it's not so easy.

As with stories of this nature (friends and secrets), it's easy to fall into tropes. This, unfortunately, does just this.

The secret is always something fairly obvious. OBVIOUSLY, it would happen to be at/because of a party. Of course, there is drinking and drugs. Of course, the secret ties the women together and then is pushed back into the discussion when something similar happens to one of their children.

I think I'm just tired to reading the 'students with a secret' genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for the ARC of Moral Injuries. Olivia, Laura, and Anjali have shared a close friendship for twenty-five years since their first day of medical school. Olivia now works as a cardiothoracic surgeon, Laura is part of a helicopter rescue team, and Anjali is a general practitioner. They have supported each other through thick and thin, even keeping a shared secret from their past. However, they have also harbored secrets from one another. When their teenage children face challenges that could impact their futures, the trio tries to shield their children, setting off a chain reaction that disrupts their carefully constructed lives.

The story is told through the multiple-POV three main characters, switching back and forth between present-day 2024 and 1999. While the novel begins with momentum, it loses steam along the way, feeling somewhat forced and slow-paced as readers anticipate the big reveal amidst a flurry of other hidden truths—the major secret surfaces late in the narrative, with other revelations proving equally significant.

The medical aspects of the story are well-crafted and engaging, likely to captivate readers who enjoy medical dramas. However, interpersonal conflicts tend to drag the pace and become repetitive. Watson's strength is depicting medical scenarios rather than delving into emotional complexities. Additionally, even though the book was only 272 pages long, it felt more drawn out than its length would suggest, which may not bode well.ARC of Moral Injuries.

I found this book to be a bit of a head scratcher. It kept me wondering. What happened in the past and what was happening in the present? The lives of the three friends are intricate and really revolved around an incident that happened in medical school years ago. However, in the present a similar situation has happened but with their children involved. It starts to bring back memories. It was a good book with an interesting storyline and triple POV. So, really had to focus to keep track of who I was reading about.

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson is a recommended medical/domestic drama following three best friends since medical school and a twenty-five-year-old secret.

Olivia, Laura, and Anjali have been best friends for twenty-five years since their first day of medical school. Now Olivia is a cardiothoracic surgeon, Laura is a doctor on a helicopter rescue team, and Anjali is a general practitioner. They have been there supporting each other ever since they met, including keeping a secret from their past. They have also been keeping secrets from each other. When their teenage children face a situation that could affect their future, they try to protect their children which causes all the carefully placed dominoes in their world to fall.

The narrative is told through the point-of-view of the three main characters. The novel started out strong but soon lost steam and began to feel a bit contrived and slow moving as you keep reading, waiting for the big secret to be revealed while other secrets are flying around the room. Readers must wait until late in the novel to learn the big secret, but it seems other secrets were just as important. Actually, it was a stretch for me to believe these three women would remain friends for so long.

The medical portions of the plot are well done, interesting, and should appeal to readers who enjoy medical dramas. The personal dramas, however, seem to slow the pace down and were repetitious. It is obvious that Watson enjoys writing about the medical action more than the emotional issues. It was also a surprise when done reading to see it was only 272 pages because it seemed much longer which isn't necessarily a good sign. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

The premise of Moral Injuries really intrigued me. The idea of a medical drama turned thriller piqued my interest right away and I couldn’t wait to dive into this story.

Moral injuries follows three women who met in med school in the 90’s. The story flips back and forth between their time at school, and their present day life as they balance growing families and stressful careers from the POV of all 3 women.

This novel features a wide cast of characters and all of them seem to be holding onto a secret of their own. I found myself struggling to remember all of the characters (especially the teenagers) and their particular issues. While I appreciated the parallel between the women’s past and their children’s present, I felt that the narrative would have been stronger if it were more streamlined with fewer subplots. The inclusion of frequent medical jargon was also distracting for me as a lay-person. It served to demonstrate the character’s medical expertise, but I found it to be too frequent and detailed for a fiction novel aimed at a broad audience.

As a character-driven suspense novel I did find this book to be enjoyable overall. It’s worth noting that this novel has likely seen further editing between the edition that I received and the final version which will be published on June 25.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.