Sicily Coyne was disfigured at age 13 in a fire that killed her father and was raised by Aunt Marie who taught her to live "normally." Sicily becomes a medical illustrator and plans to be married, until she learns that her fiance has kept secrets from her. In order to deal with her devastation after learning of this deceit, she decides to have life-altering, radical surgery to return her looks. As Sicily says, "The biggest tragedy about tragedy is...it's tedious. People can't stand to feel obliged for a long time. If you ever have a lingering illness, try not to linger too long. You'll wear out your welcome." ( )

I was very disappointed in this book. It suffered from bad editing and was way too long. I have enjoyed Mitchard's books in the past. This one was not one of her best. ( )

Excellent book. ( )

Jacquelyn Mitchard is a favorite of mine, and I was thrilled to see that she had a new book out. Although it recycles characters from "The Deep End of The Ocean" and "No Time to Wave Goodbye", that is not apparent until quite a ways into the book. I was sucked in from the very beginning of the book, and found the telling of the story to be fascinating. I think that she draws vivid characters, and I feel that I get to "know" the inner thoughts and emotions of the main character in a very involving way. This story takes place in the near-but-not-quite-here-yet future. I worked with an organ transplant team during my career, so I found the details about her face transplant to be fascinating. Although the circumstances of how she came to get her new face was a bit of a stretch, the other medical details were quite believable. I really enjoyed the entire book....right until the end. I found the end to be completely unbelievable knowing what I know about about transplant regimens of any type. However, I still really enjoyed the journey and would recommend the book. ( )

This novel by an accomplished author has an interesting premise that was ultimately disappointing. It seemed as if this book merely "piggybacked" onto her previously successful Deep End of the Ocean with some additional characters and the intriguing aspect of a face transplant. It should have been poignant, it should have provided thought-provoking questions - it didn't and, ulitmately, these are forgettable characters. ( )