At first I was a bit put off by the chapter titles “gimmick”. Lately it seems some authors spend more time on developing their format than on the story itself. But I am happy to say I was wrong when it comes to Annabel Smith. As children Whiskey and Charlie loved the NATO alphabet so Ms. Smith wrote 26 chapters with each chapter named for the next letter of the alphabet. Thus the chapters were Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, etc. Having a military background, I had no problem keeping up with the chapters. The story flowed really well and I found myself wondering how she was going to work the title of the chapter into the story, especially with chapters such as India, Kilo, Lima, Quebec, and Uniform. Amazingly, she accomplished it very smoothly. I found myself being really impressed with how she worked the title seemingly so effortlessly into the story. I found myself drawn into the story and easily relating to the ups and downs in the story. The family dynamics are so realistic. I could really relate to many of the family issues addressed in this book. The characters were so human. I loved them, I felt their pain, I wanted to shake some of them; I wanted to hug some.

The creation of Charlie was so well done. Ms. Smith took us through his childhood where he felt inferior to Whiskey. We only get to know Whiskey through the eyes of the other characters. So the evolution of the story mostly revolves around Charlie who feels so guilty about his relationship with his twin brother. With Whiskey in a coma, he is afraid he will never have the chance to tell his brother that in spite of their problems he still loves him. I loved Rosa, Whiskey’s wife, and Juliet, Charlie’s girlfriend. Rosa pulled no punches at any time. Her directness was very endearing. Juliet seemed a bit too perfect – beautiful and extremely patient – but I still loved the character.

The progression of the story was at a good pace. At times I wanted it to move faster, but that was only because I wanted to know what was coming next. The characters developed at a pace that let me get to know them and feel the issues they had to work through. Nothing was rushed and I was grateful for that. I wanted to take that ride along with Charlie to see how it would all turn out. I was not disappointed.

This book made us discuss family relationship and perceptions. Where do you think you fit into your family? How do other family members see you? How do you see yourself? What is the impact of your perception of yourself on how you live your life? This book made for excellent discussion.

Whiskey and Charlie exposes the love, competition and rivalry between siblings. This is a honest and raw account. The author did a great job in drawing you in to each of the characters. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading some of her other work. Great novel for book club discussion.

A good book. My opinions changed continuously throughout the book about the characters themselves and the choices made. It brought a lot of discussion about living wills and quality of life...very interesting discussion.

very good read

Depressing

Great discussion about the dysfunctions of families took place with our club....that made the book worthwhile for sure!

I won ten copies of this book for my book club and I was pleasantly surprised when all in our group enjoyed the book. It is a story of love, forgiveness and hope. It had some thought provoking moments and enabled a lively discussion. The way the chapters were titled added to the overall effect of the story.