The Voice of Reason


Fiction - Womens
339 Pages
Reviewed on 06/04/2020
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Kat Clark is an author and a blogger with a degree in psychology and a passion for mental health. She discovered writing on a frigid night while holed up with a crying baby and a precocious three-year-old, though she does have some regrettable experience writing poetry to cute yet unattainable teenage boys. Kat lives in Illinois with her husband, two sons, two big, obnoxious dogs, and two cats who hate each other.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Lucinda E Clarke for Readers' Favorite

The Voice of Reason by Kat Clark tells the story of a rich girl, Amy, who falls pregnant and marries a poor boy, Josh, who never graduated and has a prison record. So far, it’s the same as so many other stories, but then this takes an unexpected and very unique twist. Josh begins to hallucinate; he hears voices, sees people who are not there, and the truth comes out only after he attempts suicide and he is hospitalized. It is left to Amy, cossetted by her wealthy parents, to care for their baby son Caleb and find resources to avoid accepting the parental help offered with strings attached. To make matters worse, Josh works for his father Ben’s construction firm which loses a large contract. Josh blames himself.

When I picked up The Voice of Reason by Kat Clark, I had no idea that I would ignore the rest of the world and sit and devour this book from start to finish. It is so different from your average book in that it makes you think, educates you about mental illness, and takes you inside the mind of a patient suffering paranoid schizophrenia. Set in the late seventies, when discussion of mental illness was a taboo subject, this book highlights the advances we have made in understanding and coping with conditions that are not obviously physical. Besides this, the story was excellent. Flashbacks into the past explain how the characters react and bring them to life. It moves at a comfortable pace, never giving too much away, with enough cliff hangers to keep me turning the pages. I loved this book, and would recommend it as a good read. I’m happy to award it 5 stars.

K.C. Finn

The Voice of Reason is a work of fiction in the women's and interpersonal drama sub-genres and was penned by author Kat Clark. Written for adult audiences, the work refers to sensitive subject matter such as sexual assault and attempted suicide, though it is not overly graphic in these respects. The central protagonist of the tale is Amy, a teen who falls in love during her senior year of high school and also falls pregnant, much to the disappointment of her high flying parents. Nevertheless, she is allowed to marry her sweetheart Josh, but later life has many challenges in store for them including Josh’s mental illness and the return of Amy's disgruntled parents.

Author Kat Clark has crafted a truly intriguing drama with many highs and lows for readers to follow. Intensely emotive, realistic and relatable, Amy's story of hopeful young love gone wrong is a classic note on which the author begins, before putting her own unique spin on the work. What is unique in Clark's development is her commitment to realism and not overdoing the dramatic element, for it is in the emotional scenes when Amy is alone where we find the most excellent and insightful narrative and descriptive tools. The dialogue too is empathetic and relatable, with difficult questions being asked and even Amy's parents being characterized so that you can understand where they come from, even if you don't agree with them. Overall, this makes The Voice of Reason a compelling read for anyone seekingan emotive family drama from a talented writer.

Ankita Shukla

When Amy married a high school dropout, Josh, she happily left her parents' immense wealth and their pretentious lifestyle. With her husband and their son, Caleb, she had built her own little paradise. Nevertheless, as it is with all good things, her blessings came to an end when Josh began hallucinating. In no time, his episodes escalated from him mumbling to people no one else could see to getting into a life-threatening situation. The voices and people were so tangible in his mind that it became impossible for him to separate reality from imagination. While he succumbed to his illness and struggled to find his voice of reason, Amy found herself "unraveling like a spool of thread tossed haphazardly down a staircase." Instead of being her support system, her parents used this time as an opportunity to break her family apart.

Reading The Voice of Reason by Kat Clark, one quote by Robin Sharma echoes eerily true: "The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master." As Josh wanders around feeling lost and terrified, readers find themselves unable to distinguish facts from his hallucinations. His metamorphosis from a family man to a delusional being is startling and eye-opening. Kat Clark has done a fabulous job of narrating the inside world of a schizophrenic, one which would raise not only awareness but also empathy for people struggling with this disorder. The Voice of Reason has enough drama and twists to keep the audience engrossed in its pages until the very end. Readers with an interest in emotions surrounding a psychosis or family drama would appreciate spending time with The Voice of Reason by Kat Clark.

Aiden

Good book! Great story!