Help, I am so far behind on Book of the Month books. Heck, half of them are books I traded completed books for in a BOTM Swap group, but this one, Symptoms of a Heartbreak, was one of my July YA picks, so I felt compelled to finally read it, and I’m glad I did! It’s different than most YA books but had a lot of similar themes and I enjoyed it!

Saira (Sigh-ra) is a girl genius (literally) doctor at 16, just graduated from medical school and ready to start her residency in the pediatric oncology department of the same hospital her mom works at. Also…she can perform life saving surgery, but she can’t drive. Oops. Anyway, things do not go smoothly at first. One of the other interns hates her, as does one of the supervisors, and she meets a cute patient named Link who…thinks she is also a cancer patient. Of course, things immediately get complicated, because she’s not. Also, now her niece Pinky is one of their patients too, and her mother is less than enthusiastic about the girl genius doctor at 16 treating her. Facing struggles with parents and patients and coworkers, Saira is sure to have an interesting first few months, and I kind of loved following along. I’ve never been compelled to want to be a doctor (at least not in a way that made me take ANY steps towards it) and so I enjoyed stepping into a new world this way.

This book isn’t perfect, and I think the “romance” aspect of it isn’t as well developed, but it does make things more complicated, which is good plot wise. Overall though, I think this book was heartfelt and interesting and I was compelled by Saira’s story.