Thank you to the author, publisher Bantam Press, and online book club The Pigeonhole for the chance to read this. This is an honest and voluntary review. 

 

I am blown away by this novel. It takes the really emotive subject of vaccinations and deals with all sides of the debate in a fair and insightful way - even, briefly, the internet trolls who spread hate and spark the flames of debate 

when they have no personal stake in the matter.

 

Set in 2019 the focus is on childhood vaccinations rather than the COVID-19 ones, but of course the correlations are obvious. It is clear early on that a child has been hurt or killed and that the question at the centre of the debate is whether parents who make the choice not to vaccinate their child are damaging the herd immunity (the bulk of people being vaccinated then suppressing the spread of a disease) which is relied on to protect children who can’t be vaccinated because of other health conditions.

 

This is no glib, they’re right/they’re wrong, look of the issue. Instead it’s told through the impact on two families whose children are unvaccinated for seemingly very different reasons.

 

This book had me understanding characters who initially angered me and left me in floods of tears as it approached the conclusion and people understand the reasons behind and impact of their own decisions.

 

Superb book which I highly recommend.