Kindle Book: The Laws of Gravity

The Laws of Gravity

by Liz Rosenberg

Length: 289 pages

Format: Kindle book
Price: FREE from the Kindle Lending Library

Author Website: couldn't find one...

Basic Premise: Cousins Nikki and Ari have been attached at the hip since grade school.  Now they are grown with children of their own, but have remained close - so close, in fact, that when Nikki is diagnosed with terminal cancer and told that the only hope for her survival is cord blood harvested from a family member, she turns to Ari for help.  Ari is not nearly as eager to hand over his children's cord blood as she hoped he would be, resulting in a nasty and highly-publicized court battle.

My Take: 7 out of 10 (scale here)

This book was interesting.  I was intrigued by the premise, though made considerably uncomfortable by the moral issue at stake as the novel progressed.  Any time a novel deals with a big moral issue - in this case, the question of sacrificing cord blood that may one day help heal your child to someone who needs it desperately now - I generally pick a side and camp there, maintaining a continuous inner-monologue with the characters in which I roundly abuse them and their poor decision-making skills.  But this one was harder.  The novel also followed the judge who had ultimately make the final decision, and how his heart and his head never really aligned.  The writing style was good, but I could have used more character development.  I found myself frequently thinking, "Why would she do that?" and "I wonder what drove him to that point."  I felt like the author should acquainted me with her characters a bit better - revealed more back story, been more detailed -  so that I wouldn't have to question.

To be honest, the timing of this novel was terrible.  Within the past two weeks, three friends - one of them an acquaintance, one a good friend, and the other someone I've known and been close to since childhood - have been diagnosed with cancer.  I finished it last night and did a fair amount of crying, and thinking about how very precious life is, and how thankful I am for my health and the health of my family.