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Title: Exploration of pain
Review: The Soft Room is based on a clever plot involving twin sisters Abigail and Megan. Though they are identical, there is one big difference. Megan is born with a rare disease that causes her to feel no pain. In the hands of a lesser writer, this plot could easily have turned predictable, but Heuler's writing is anything but predictable. This is a story about how something that everyone takes for granted--that is, the ability to feel physical pain--can, by its absence also cause a person to feel such disattachment to the human condition that they also suffer the grief of being unable to experience emotional pain. I found this novel dark and disturbing. At times it had the feel of something Stephen King might have come up with, and that is certainly a compliment in this reader's opinion. If you enjoy exploring the darker sides of the human condition, then you will find this book to your liking. A fine novel, and worth the time and money invested. I give it five stars.
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