Specs
Reviews
(3.83/5)Content warnings: Self harm, nonconsensual medical procedures, discussion of miscarriage, child abuse
Basic plot: I've never seen House, but I've seen the memes, and this is what I imagine the medical drama House to be like if it were a book about a genius 27 year old woman who looks like a high schooler.
Language learning: In my opinion the current rating of 35 (Sept 2023) is much higher than I'd judge it. To me this is basically the same as 本好き (~30) but with medical rather than fantasy vocab. Grammar is simple, it doesn't really have any unusual words outside of medical ones and this is very much "showy" medical speak like you'd have on TV medical dramas. You don't need to know them in detail to understand what's going on, and the truly unusual ones are explained by a character right after being introduced.
Review: There are 4 "charts" in this book, and the second two I guessed the diagnosis pretty early on, the fourth one actually so early that I was annoyed reading that chapter how long it was taking the "天才" doctor to realize it.
That said, it's kind of mindless fun. I said on the forums that this is what a medical light novel would be and I stand by it. If you like light novels and you like TV medical dramas, you will probably enjoy this book.
It's about a genius doctor who is solving supernatural and medical issues. But she can be irritating—she’s a workaholic who always asks the narrator to work overtime, even tricking him into drinking alcohol (claiming it’s a smoothie) to keep him from leaving the hospital.. Since half the cases aren't even about people being sick but about weird supernatural events, the fact that she forces him to work so much overtime makes even less sense, since there's no real urgency.
Case 3 also really rubbed me the wrong way: (not really a spoiler, just the topic of case 3)
It focuses on abortion, presenting anti-abortion views without considering the experiences of women undergoing the procedure. For example, characters say things like: * "ただ、なんというか……、中絶手術とかってちょっと苦手で。まだ生まれていないとはいえ、胎児の命を奪うのは……"
* "中絶手術は心身ともにダメージの大きい手術だ。" (This is straight up wrong.) Abortion is framed as a purely ethical issue (thus, genius doctor can't comment on it, because she is only about science), while ignoring studies about the real harm caused by restricting access to safe procedures. This unnecessary tangent didn’t add to the story or case. Other "complex ethical topics" (like drug addiction) weren’t given the same treatment.
On the positive side, the book is a chill and comfortable read and the current natively level (32) is imho way too high. If you can overlook some incorrect facts and trope-y characters with plenty of "comic relief" moments, it’s quite enjoyable. It’s just unfortunate that some aspects were so off-putting, otherwise I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.