A powerful psychological drama that had me on tenterhooks the whole time! Loved the dual timeline element and the way the author depicted the characters’ moral dilemma.

I’d like to thank Orion Publishing Group, Weidenfeld & Nicolson and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Moral Injuries’ written by Christie Watson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Three women, Olivia, Laura and Anjali, met in Medical School twenty-five years ago and throughout the years have remained close friends. Early in their careers they went to a party where there was copious amounts of drink and drugs and a boy was seriously injured, the event of which they kept quiet. Now in the present time, Olivia’s daughter and Laura’s son are at a party when a similar incident occurs and they both have differing opinions of what happened. As the mothers support their own child, secrets emerge and their friendship starts to break-down.

‘Moral Injuries’ is a story about three ambitious women in the medical profession, their enduring friendship, love, secrets, life and death. I read the author’s previous novel ‘The Courage To Care’ which I thoroughly enjoyed and although I have no doubt this latest novel is well-written, I’m afraid it didn’t have the same hold over me. The characters are well-described and the storyline thought-provoking but I kept feeling something was missing. I’m sure other readers will enjoy this book and although I didn’t find it as gripping as I’d hoped, it’s an interesting read nonetheless.

An extraordinary novel about three friends who meet when much younger and eventually go to train as doctors. Full of twists and turns which kept me enthralled. Also because it so was well written and descriptive I just felt back working in a heart surgery ward which I thoroughly enjoyed. Accidents happen along the way which they try to either cover up or forget about them.

Olivia, Laura and Anjali couldn't be more different. Their friendship began at medical school and has endured for 25 years.
They promised each other nothing would come between them and there is one secret that they all shar.e which could even now tear them apart.
But then it happens to their teenage children and will the friendship survive?

An intense novel of friendship and how far you go to protect your secrets and loved ones.. Anjali, Laura and Olivia met in the 1990's whilst studying medicine at University. Straightaway they formed a close bond despite being totally different characters.
The novel is told from all women's perspectives both in 1999 and 2024. I didnt find it confusing though as the writing flowed. There is an underlying secret that the women hold from 1999 that impacts their lives in present day. They always said nothing would come in the way of their friendship but is this latest drama going to implode those thoughts?
I really enjoyed this novel, the women were strong and ambitious but also flawed. The storyline is solid. The medical side to the book is also very descriptive. A great read

This is an amazing debut and the author’s medical background certainly helps with the detail which makes it all the more convincing. Three women, Olivia, Laura and Anjali meet as medical students in 1999 and become lifelong friends. A tragedy occurs involving their teenage children and the timeline moves back and forth between the present, 2024, and their backstories over the years. It works well and each character is distinct. One is ambitious, another a perfectionist and the third a risk taker, they bond and their friendship is unbreakable. But they share a guilty secret and promised that nothing would destroy their friendship.

The story very cleverly explores the bonds that tie. What does it take to destroy friendships, who will remain loyal and who will be betrayed? Who is out for revenge and how far will people go to cover their tracks? I found it easy to escape into this taut psychological drama which is intense but also has moments of genuine compassion. Very well written and superbly plotted.

If you're looking for a thriller that will keep you up all night, look no further. This one had me glued to the pages until dawn, superb offering from the author!!

I really enjoyed this book about 3 best friends who met in their first year of medical school at university. I enjoyed their close friendship a lot, they were each very relatable. Their friendship thrives through thick and thin but there are secrets unravelling and as they get older and start families of their own, history starts to repeat itself and everything may not be as it seems. The beginning of this book was very doctor-y with lots of medical descriptions and jargon and I did question whether it would be for me, but I soon got engrossed with their story and the medicine was a thread that ran necessarily throughout the story. I would definitely recommend this book!

As others have said, this book has a great premise but for me it just wasn’t executed well. There are three main characters and the book is told from their different points of view over different timescales, which can get quite confusing. I also felt it took an age for anything of real consequence to happen and then it all happened at once. I’m sure others will enjoy this book but it wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author for the chance to review.

A complex story revolving around three friends who meet up at medical school. Their story, told over two main timelines, takes a bit of concentration to keep track of, there are so many twists and turns. Very involved and very complicated. Everyone will like a different character.

I think this book had a really good premise and the potential to be very good. Unfortunately it needs a lot of work to get there. I found a lot of plot holes, the timeline was not accurate (the past storyline was all set in 1999, but really it should have been over 4-5 years), the personalities of the characters were not consistent.

The descriptions and comments about the characters' weight really bothered me. Every two pages there was a comment about it, most of the times completely unnecessary.

I liked the insight in the medical profession, although I have a background in medicine and science, and it probably would have been too much if I had no clue on these things.

Unfortunately, this was not the book for me.

Accidents happen, even at house parties, but sometimes they aren’t just accidents, and sometimes people die. And sometimes people lie about it. A boy, high on drink and drugs, falls down a staircase and suffers a catastrophic head injury. It is unclear at first whether this is a recent event or a historic one, but it echoes another event so must be recent. In 1999, three young women meet at Medical School and become firm friends. By 2024, Olivia is a top cardiac surgeon, following in the family footstep; Laura, from a working-class background, is an A & E specialist and Air Ambulance stalwart; Anjali, once a wildly disorganised and reckless student, is a GP. Their bond of friendship remains strong despite the vicissitudes of their different private lives. Olivia is married with two teenage children, Freya and Miles; Laura is divorced with one son, Rudy, in the same age group: Anjali is living with Donna and is adopting. Their long friendship is based on love, but a central bond comes from their part in a tragedy at a party when they were students. Things come to a head when they discover that Feya and Rudy were at the party where the boy sustained the head injury. The ripples from that event threaten to expose their own complicity in the earlier tragedy.
This is a medical mystery come thriller, clearly written by someone with a lot of inside knowledge (some might find the amount of medical detail a bit of a struggle). The characters of the three women are well drawn, nicely contrasted, and believable as people, although some of their actions are a little unlikely. The story switches between 1919 and 2024, with lots of intervening flashbacks, and the chapters alternate between the protagonists. This requires a bit of effort on the part of the reader, but is effective in helping with character development. Because there is so much detail, biographical and medical, it takes a while before we start to see how the dynamic of the plot will develop. It does pick up the pace once all the background is established. Overall it is an interesting story, though not a particularly demanding plot. I make it 3.5 stars which rounds to 4.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I really enjoyed this book on different levels. The main twisty, complex story about 3 medical students swearing to be best friends forever and the fallout of a secret they keep is a real page turner and the truth is revealed in a very satisfying way.
Also, having spent 40 years working in the NHS I always like a book which celebrates the institution but portrays the staff as human with compassion, skill and flaws. The author also managed to highlight many of the grey areas faced daily and the ethics around many decisions with a light touch and woven into the fabric of the story.
Thank you to netgalley and Orion for an advance copy of this book.

Olivia, Laura and Anjali formed a strong friendship when they met at medical school. When two of their children are involved in a serious incident at a party it threatens to uncover a secret they’ve kept hidden for twenty-five years.

The opening of Moral Injuries by Christie Watson is a party setting, a raucous party with alcohol, drugs and fighting. We learn quickly that someone is badly injured and that people involved in whatever has happened run.

The story then jumps between the three main characters, Olivia, Laura and Anjali, in 2024 and in 1999. We learn how the three women met at medical school and became close friends, maintaining that friendship over the next twenty-five years. Olivia is a successful heart surgeon, Laura is an A&E specialist and Anjali is in general practice. We slowly learn that a teenage boy has been seriously injured at a party attended by Olivia’s daughter and Laura’s son. This then brings back memories for the three women of a similar party and a secret they’ve kept hidden. You then begin to wonder which party is described at the very beginning of the book.

I liked each of the three women. Laura is driven, terrified of failure, becoming a doctor and doing the best job she can is all-consuming. Anjali is reckless, always open to new experiences. Olivia is the most complex; cold, made of steel, and from a family of surgeons so she’s never considered anything else. The women support each other but it’s obvious Olivia is the leader. None of the women are perfect, this story is about the grey areas between right and wrong but because we see the friendship grow and develop over time you feel as if you are part of the group. It’s the events involving their children that makes you begin to doubt the behaviour of each of them.

There are lots of hints about the secret the three women are keeping but I did feel that this part of the storyline was too vague and too slow to develop. The role of them as mothers, desperate to protect their children, alongside their role as doctors, sworn to “do no harm”, brought forward the issue of moral ambiguity. The vagueness made sense to me in the end as all was revealed and made me look at some of the characters in a whole new light, questioning how likeable they actually are.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The twists and turns the whole way through made it a real page-turner. Felt as though there was room left for there to be a sequel, which is definitely something I would be excited about!

A story of three friends who have a secret from their student days but each remembers it differently. As they get older the secret weighs heavily on their family lives and circumstances conspire to bring it all to a head. I was rooting for some of the characters but some I didn’t like. Ruthless ambition at all costs is the motto for one character, another is driven by what she has achieved against her tougher background.
I read this author’s previous book ‘The Language of Kindness’ - this is much better written, seems more disciplined. There is a lot of medical stuff but given the setting and the author’s previous career, not surprising. It isn’t gory by any means. I will look out with interest for the next one from Christie Watson. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a prepublication ebook.

A tale about life and death, and moral dilemmas . A tale about love and friendship, and betrayals. A tale about saving lives, knowing when to let a life go, and deciding whose lives to sacrifice. A tale of atonement...Read it!

I read this book with great interest and wasn’t disappointed. There was so much in the story related to the characters’ work in the NHS, that rang so true of how difficult and draining, both physically and mentally, it can be. The characters we meet are all surgeons or doctors in one field or another. The author demonstrates very clearly how close students/friends can become when studying and working so intensely together. The story also portrayed how the pressures of a career role such as this, can actually destroy those close relationships.
These four friends totally lived for each other and believed they’d be friends forever. Sometimes though, life doesn’t pan out how we think it will.
This is an excellent read and although fiction, a real eye-opener into pressures of work in today’s world. For me it particularly highlighted the effect on mental health today, which still gets overlooked at present. An excellent read.

This book followed three friends on their journey from medical school to medical professionals, whilst telling a story of secrets and betrayal. I really enjoyed the dual timeline and how it flicked between characters whilst telling the story. I enjoyed the hospital setting for the book, and the fact that it was set in and around Dulwich where I previously lived was a great surprise!

In 'Moral Injuries', Christie Watson draws on her own medical experience to write a thrilling crime novel. When Olivia, Anjali and Laura (three very different personalities) meet at medical school they become friends. Although they are trained to save lives when something happens, their shared secret sends them down unexpected paths and glues friendship together. Twenty-five years later,, their lives begin to unravel when their children find themselves in a similar situation. Told through split timelines, a tangled web of deceit is undone and true personalities and feelings come to the fore. I thoroughly enjoyed this story - the relationship between the three friends was really well written.