I learned a lot from this book but it was very sad! I have read several by this author and she does a good job exploring the nuances of various illnesses and their effects on the affected and their families, and this book about the protagonist's struggle with Huntingdon's disease delivered. It was very sad, though (not surprisingly).

I finished this book not quite knowing how I felt about it. I loved the whole thing until I got to the end. I understand why the author did what she did and I get the message that the author was trying to send, but as a reader, I felt like the story was unfinished. However, I would still highly recommend it -- it was a great book!

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

Did not have time to read this book - still on my TBR. Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not getting to it.

I'm so sorry for the delay on reviewing this wonderful novel. Dear reader, do yourself a favor and read this heart wrenching but ultimately inspirational novel of a family dealing with a genetic disease with devastating results. Highly recommended. And read Still Alice, another wonderful novel from this author.

Once again neuroscientist/author Lisa Genova has tackled the effects of a life-changing disease in a sensitive, gut-wrenching, and realistic manner. Middle-aged Boston police officer Joe O'Brien begins to experience neurological episodes of forgetting here he is, an inability to do his job, acting strange around his family, and more. He is eventually diagnosed with Huntington's disease. A fatal brain disorder that interrupts brain function.

Once he receives his diagnosis, he learns that this is s genetic condition. Now he not only needs to worry about the effect of his eventual death on him, but could he have passed the gene onto his own children. Each of them has staked out their own niche in the world. They fight their own demons of love, becoming independent, careers, and their relationship with their siblings. That is why Joe takes his time in telling them what they may be facing.

As expected, each sibling reacts differently. Do they get tested? What will they do if they have the gene? If they marry and have children will they be able to live long enough to care for them? What if they pass the gene along to their children?

All of the confusion, disappointment, fear, and concern for themselves and their father and mother is dealt with a very realistic approach and a concern for each of the characters. The author uses her expertise and her heart to create a very compelling story. This is right up there with Still Alice and Left Neglected.

Simply put - I'm not the right audience for this one. I have dubbed this type of book as "tragiporn" and they are not for me : (

Having come from a large catholic family, the characters felt real and relatable. The choice that each of the grown children has to face is whether or not to find out they have the HD gene. Lisa writes in a realistic fashion and not in the way of a movie. One may sense a disconnect in certain reactions but isn’t that the way it often is in real life? I feel this book makes a perfect complement with The Immortalists.

Lisa Genova does an excellent job of combining medical and scientific fact with fictional characters to create a compassion-inspiring book. This was an excellent read, right up there with Srill Alice.

I enjoyed reading this book, as I have with Lisa Genova's other books. I purchased a copy for my classroom. It is most appealing to strong readers with emotional maturity.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease.
Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?
As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate.

I don't really like leaving one-star reviews unless they are bad across the board - plot, characters, grammar and punctuation...this one does the language part right, at least...

The biggest problem for me was that nothing really happened. Lots of talking, lots of wondering what to do next...but it just didn't really go anywhere.

Katie was one of the more annoying characters I have read recently. "My dad is sick. I could have it. Should I check? Maybe I will do some yoga. Oh look, Huntington's. More yoga. More internal dialogue about getting tested. More yoga. HD, HD, HD..."

I am beginning to wonder whether Lisa Genova just happened to luck out with Still Alice - cos everything else I have read is lacking in plot and features lots of stereotypical characters. Maybe I think I will give her a miss from now on...


Paul
ARH

Inside the O’Briens really does get inside a Boston family that harbors a tragic illness. It also asks the question, “To know or not to know?”
Joe is the father of the family. He is a Boston PD cop who has been experiencing strange symptoms that are ultimately diagnosed as Huntington’s Disease. This is a catastrophic, incurable disease that is carried in a gene. It can be diagnosed early but not cured. The book introduces us to the various awful symptoms and the fact that it is ultimately fatal.
Joe’s family must bear the burden of Joe’s condition and his children have the horror hanging over their heads of the disease manifesting itself in them and their children. Since the disease reveals itself in middle age the four children, who are young adults, must decide whether to enjoy life as is for now or be tested to determine whether they will become ill and die from HD.
This is not a happy book but it is informative and emotional. Another good book from Lisa Genova.

Books like this are difficult for me to review. I thought it was well-written, but I can’t exactly say I “enjoyed” it. It educated me, it illuminated me, it broke my heart. I was aware of Huntington’s disease, but didn’t know enough about it to fully realize just how devastating a diagnosis of Huntington’s would be, not only for the patient, but for his friends and especially his family. Genova goes into great detail about the progression of Huntington’s, and while some readers seem to feel overwhelmed by that detail, for me it served to help me feel how overwhelmed a Huntington’s patient must feel with both the diagnosis and the progression of the disease. Equally overwhelming is the decision family members must make - as a hereditary disease that genetic testing can help to predict, would you want to know? A fair amount of the book is spent on Joe O’Brien’s children and how they react to his diagnosis, and whether they want to live their lives knowing or not knowing. It left me thinking about my own life, and how I’d react to that type of decision. All in all, while I may not have enjoyed reading this one, I’m definitely glad I read it, both for what I learned and what it made me think about and feel.
Copy provided by Netgalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an unbiased review.

When Joe O'Brien finds out that his clumsiness and often short temper are caused by Huntington's Disease, life changes in ways he could never have dreamed. Not only does he have to suffer the effects of this horrifying disease, but his four children each have a fifty percent chance of having it, and if they are positive, their children have the same fifty percent chance. The unimaginable suffering of Joe and his family and their reactions make this both a heartbreaking and hauntingly touching book. Wonderful characters and a tragic storyline!

I never had a chance to review this before it expired. I'm sorry!

This was a DNF for me. The book didn't grab me, so I stopped reading it halfway through. The writing and the story just weren't my cup of tea, but I'm sure that others will love this book.

I received an ARC of this novel thanks to the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. My thanks for the opportunity.

I was aware of the author Lisa Genova from the success of her book, Still Alice, so when given the opportunity, I was pleased that Netgalley and Simon & Schuster provided me an ARC of her novel, Inside The O'Briens, in exchange for an honest review.

Prior to the opening chapter, Genova introduces us to the symptoms of Huntington's Disease (HD). Here is one of those horrendous illnesses which slowly robs the "victim" of control over various neurological functions worsening over time until they reach their inevitable death. Not only is there no cure, but there is little known about medical treatments to halt or lessen the symptoms. To make matters worse, since this is a genetic disease, the children of an infected parent have a fifty percent chance of also contracting HD. Symptoms don't usually occur until the age of 35-45 with a life expectancy of an additional ten to twenty years. However, there are instances of early onset of this disease, robbing the individual of several decades of symptomless living.

A heart-wrenching topic which I normally would avoid (since ignorance is bliss), I was unwillingly drawn inside the life of the O'Brien family. Joseph and Rose began their relationship at the young age of eighteen, forced to marry when Rose became pregnant with eldest son JJ. Remaining in the same neighborhood where they spent their own youth, not far from historic Boston, the loving couple raise four children steeped in the Irish Catholic traditions of their ancestors. The opening chapter features a thirty-five year old Joe, a member of the Boston Police Department, having a melt down, expressing rage when he can't find his keys and will be late for work. Fast forward ten years and Joe's weird behaviors prompt his wife to take him to a neurologist for a check up. Joe insists his troubles stem from an old knee injury and dismisses the possibility of anything serious. When a diagnosis of the rare Huntington's Disease is confirmed, the life of the O'Briens is irreconcilably changed. Not only does the family have to watch the symptoms slowly creep and take control of their father/husband, they also have to deal with the fact that all four offspring could have inherited this genetic marker. The story is told from the viewpoints of Joe, Rose, and youngest daughter Katie, revealing how siblings JJ, Patrick, Meghan, and Katie and their parents deal with the progression of the disease and their individual future prognosis.

Genova has a unique gift of sensitively dealing with the strength of character and human foibles required of individuals and families dealing with the crisis of life changing diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Autism, or Huntington's Disease. What is so compelling about Inside the O'Briens is that Genova brings us into the world of this family, making us care about their daily struggles. It's a family not unlike many others filled with an underlying love of a life filled with badly cooked meals, mismatched dishes, old furniture, and the jealousy, squabbling,and closeness shared between siblings. While this might sound boring, it creates an entertaining "fly on the wall" peek at Sunday dinners and other family events. We feel the disappointments and triumphs of the characters as they deal with their day to day trials and tribulations. Even while we root for success, the reality of the inevitable ending is never a secret. Yet the focus is on life, and not death, despite the expected insecurities of all involved.

While I whole heartedly give this book four stars with a strong recommendation, my one complaint is a bit of repetition within the plot and the introspections of the main characters. The ending is also abrupt, resulting in an "oh no, you didn't", leaving us wanting more. Yet the results of Genova's research is evident, easily leading to her heartfelt plea for donations towards research in this field, which with only 35,000 cases (versus 3 million individuals with breast cancer) does not receive the attention it deserves.

This review also appears on my blog, Gotta Read.