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boomakes's review against another edition
1.0
Got a third of the way through this and then realised I just didn't care what happened to any of the characters so have abandoned it.
kb_hg's review
2.0
2.5 I love the topic, but it was executed terribly. The affair shouldn’t have been part of the story in my opinion
rachcannoli's review
2.0
I find this book's premise to be completely misleading so DO NOT be fooled by the blurb and how this is some interesting take on euthanasia or what one would do for love. This book's ideas of 'love' are so blurred and ill defined it was genuinely maddening at times. The best thing about it is this cover, it's fully red as that was the color behind my eyes 90% of the time with how infuriating these characters were. That being said, I will attempt to sum it up so I can read this over for a good chuckle and never have to dive into this drivel again.
MERCY revolves around Jamie, a man so deeply in love with his dying wife he murders her as her dying wish. He turns himself in to his estranged cousin Cam, the chief of police in Wheelock, MA, in hopes of finding some sympathy in their shared lineage. Their stories mirror and warp the others as events unfold in Cam's life and Jamie's trial proceeds showing exactly what lengths both would do for their belief of love.
The trial and Jamie's plot are the the only reasons this book is 2 stars instead of 1. I find him to be a very likable and fascinating character and really understand every decision he's made and the regrets on not just listening to his wife, but reflecting on all his choices. Cam on the other hand, I hate with a fiery passion of a thousand suns and I hope gets burned into a fiery chasm, more on that in spoilers. If more were focused on this definition of love and reflecting it through the trial, this book could've been way more interesting, but these themes were just not fleshed out enough. They come off as rambling at times and there never seems to be an actual moral or message behind them. In the end everyone kind of ends up the same and it's all bullshit. I typically like Picoult's books, but this one is nowhere near the caliber she is capable of.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
One of my absolute biggest turned offs is people cheating just for the sense of cheating. I'm a firm believer behind there's never a good enough reason behind it. I don't give a fuck if you believe you found the long lost love of your life or the one who got away came back or that friend finally feels the same. If you're in a relationship you either BREAK UP to act on these feelings or get the fuck over yourself and think of someone else for a god damn change. Obviously people who cheat don't think like that because they're just genuinely selfish people at their core who don't give a fuck about anyone other than their own needs, but good LORD is it infuriating. And even worse so when it has the GAUL to be romanticized. But let me tell you about this bullshit.
First off, let me preface this all by saying that Allie, while naive, is an angel and has done NOTHING to deserve this. Basically, she's a shy, plain, nerdy thing who went to the same high school as Cam and has a huge crush on him from afar. He was the gorgeous popular boy who, naturally, didn't know she existed. Of course, been there, get it. She comes back to her hometown because it's where she genuinely wants to be, relatable. Cam gets pulled back to town out of some weird Scottish duty and outdated concepts of 'lairdom' (which I only really know about that from Outlander lolol) and to take over as the police chief for his father who's dying. He was traveling the world and now he feels stuck in this place out of duty. This duty, MIND YOU is self inflicted, but he will naturally shove all that blame onto his wife. He falls for Allie because she's there, safe, and wants him (not because she's lovely and beautiful and kind NO NEVER THAT, GOD FORBID IT BE FOR THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT HER!! The amount of time this book goes OUT OF ITS WAY to remind us that they are not in the same league looks-wise and that basically Allie is the human embodiment of a ball n chain but whatevs) and while he loves her for those things, he feels stifled. Does he discuss this? Nah, bottles it up like all dumbass, emotionally stunted men do. This girl goes OUT OF HER WAY to do literally everything for him and bend over backwards to make his life the best it can be. The boy doesn't even know how to use the fucking dishwasher because she does all that for him. She puts effort into learning his hobbies because it makes him happy (he never extends the favor) she basically shoves herself aside to become the police chief's wife, and he still feels like she weighs him down. So already, like fuck Cam...he's a dickwad. But don't worry, he gets worse.
This new biddy comes into town, he literally just sees her ONCE...ONCE!! And it's like he's shot by cupid's fucking arrow and is so fucking intoxicated by her he goes out of his way to bump into her and see her and on the third meeting, makes out with her. Now, takes two people to be shitheads and obviously Mia is not innocent herself (side note, why is it always Mia's that are the cartoonish whores? Makes me think of Love Actually 'Mia's very pretty...you know she is darling, careful there' SCREW MIA) so of course I give her some blame too. She's fully aware that Allie is Cam's wife but also is the only reason she has a job, but continues to not only put effort into this affair, but orchestrates it as well. Then immediately believes this is somehow fated and that they always were meant to bump into each other. Ew fuck you. But loves him (using love in the sarcastic sense only as we all know this shit isn't love and I don't give a fuck who you're trying to convince otherwise) only because he's married. She claims it's cuz she 'loves him for who he is' and if he left Allie he wouldn't be who she thought he was which like WTF KIND OF MIND GAME BULLSHIT IS THAT?! But also...fuck you, you just like fucking a married man because it's dirty and exciting with zero baggage. Proven when it gets too deep and she's going to have to face a confrontation, she straight up bolts leaving nothing behind for Cam to even find her and proving she doesn't give a fuck about anyone, but herself. So yeah. Mia is trash, well, Cam's trash she's the raccoon who likes pilfering the trash, but like have fun with that shit bitch. But no, most of my blame is on Cam because that fucker is the one who made the vow. He's the one in the relationship.
I was genuinely seeing red and flames on the side of my face the more this fuckhead tried to justify his actions. He'd look for opportunities to pick fights with Allie to make himself feel better for getting irritated with her. He blamed her for things that were entirely not her fault and also belittled the shit out of her. And then AND THEN after everything has the AUDACITY to be mad when she doesn't immediately take him back after she learns the truth. First off, he only wants to stay with her because Mia ditched his ass and this is the only life he knows and despite talking a big ass game about wanting to travel and see the world, truly nothing's stopping him, but that cowardly fuck still could never because he's gotten so comfortable with how great he has it with Allie. And while it was incredible for her to sell all his things (that's literally what she did which was well deserved) that's basically the only retribution she gets. She also has a really uncomfortable fling with a random dude just cause, but like, why? I would've rather she fucked Jaime. TBH I was kind of hoping she'd end up with him anyway! Allie deserves the world and she had such a great dynamic with Jamie, especially being the only one that believed him. Being such a driving force behind getting him free and it was hinted that Maggie would want him to get married again, I really thought that's where this would end up. That Cam would be all 'I'm so sorrryyy boo hooo, I didn't realize what I had' and she's like, 'you're right, thank you next' and dumps his ass and then gets with Jamie. That'd be so fucking incredible. But no. It just kind of ends after Jamie gets off and she stays with the fucker. SHE STAYS WITH HIM!
This book tries to justify it with some bullshit of 'if you really love someone you stay with him' instead of letting them go, but like....no?!? I don't believe that at all!! I thought after all this shit Jamie would've learned that he needed to love himself as much as he loved his wife so he didn't destroy his life to bring her peace. Like yay, she's at peace and it all worked out in the end thank GOD, but it's constantly talked about how much he loved her more than she loved him so it's obvious she would not have done the same for him. By his theory he would've let her suffer but just stayed vigilant by her side which isn't any more of a life than she was having. That's bullshit!! He did the right thing, emotional wise, in letting her go (not the murdering maybe, but like if she were brain dead, y'know? Cuz it's not a quality of life) and Allie learned by the end of this fucking book that she deserves more than what Cam's capable of giving her and she should've left him!!! I don't know if this is a product off when it came out or Picoult's own warped sense of marriage, but good lord was I pissed as shit that he barely got any comeuppance. Like she finally got some agency, sure, but she should've divorced his ass. This man deserves nothing. I wanted his life shattered. I'm still down with Mia leaving, but she should've sold all his shit and then waited for him calmly in their house and told him that how empty it was is exactly how he makes her feel and that he clearly doesn't give a fuck about her based off his actions. She then should've said I'm leaving and wiped her hands clean of him. Fuck. Cam. Epically. I hate that man SO MUCH. The amount of selfish shit he thought, I could've screamed. I shouted 'NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU' so many times. Also how often I had to read about their romanticized adulterous bullshit, screaming. Allie deserves the world and these two deserve to be miserable and alone forever.
So yeah. Maybe if the ending were changed and it focused in on Jamie. Maybe if Allie had more time in her final form of girl boss mode and destroying this garbage man, it could've been better. I'd even be ok if she ended up dating the lawyer (there was one moment of her commenting how cute he was when he blushed and I really loved that shit. I also think someone yelled at Allie and he instinctively stood in front of her protectively and it was adorbs, I shipped basically everyone with Allie instead of Cam, fuck that guy) but no. I'm left with this garbled mess of what Picoult thinks is depth of emotion when really it's an outdated look on marriage customs and how fucked older generations are. Also this follows my trend of HATING adult fiction characters because they're garage humans. Hate it. Glad to finally be able to get rid of this shlock from my shelf though, good fucking grief.
MERCY revolves around Jamie, a man so deeply in love with his dying wife he murders her as her dying wish. He turns himself in to his estranged cousin Cam, the chief of police in Wheelock, MA, in hopes of finding some sympathy in their shared lineage. Their stories mirror and warp the others as events unfold in Cam's life and Jamie's trial proceeds showing exactly what lengths both would do for their belief of love.
The trial and Jamie's plot are the the only reasons this book is 2 stars instead of 1. I find him to be a very likable and fascinating character and really understand every decision he's made and the regrets on not just listening to his wife, but reflecting on all his choices. Cam on the other hand, I hate with a fiery passion of a thousand suns and I hope gets burned into a fiery chasm, more on that in spoilers. If more were focused on this definition of love and reflecting it through the trial, this book could've been way more interesting, but these themes were just not fleshed out enough. They come off as rambling at times and there never seems to be an actual moral or message behind them. In the end everyone kind of ends up the same and it's all bullshit. I typically like Picoult's books, but this one is nowhere near the caliber she is capable of.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
One of my absolute biggest turned offs is people cheating just for the sense of cheating. I'm a firm believer behind there's never a good enough reason behind it. I don't give a fuck if you believe you found the long lost love of your life or the one who got away came back or that friend finally feels the same. If you're in a relationship you either BREAK UP to act on these feelings or get the fuck over yourself and think of someone else for a god damn change. Obviously people who cheat don't think like that because they're just genuinely selfish people at their core who don't give a fuck about anyone other than their own needs, but good LORD is it infuriating. And even worse so when it has the GAUL to be romanticized. But let me tell you about this bullshit.
First off, let me preface this all by saying that Allie, while naive, is an angel and has done NOTHING to deserve this. Basically, she's a shy, plain, nerdy thing who went to the same high school as Cam and has a huge crush on him from afar. He was the gorgeous popular boy who, naturally, didn't know she existed. Of course, been there, get it. She comes back to her hometown because it's where she genuinely wants to be, relatable. Cam gets pulled back to town out of some weird Scottish duty and outdated concepts of 'lairdom' (which I only really know about that from Outlander lolol) and to take over as the police chief for his father who's dying. He was traveling the world and now he feels stuck in this place out of duty. This duty, MIND YOU is self inflicted, but he will naturally shove all that blame onto his wife. He falls for Allie because she's there, safe, and wants him (not because she's lovely and beautiful and kind NO NEVER THAT, GOD FORBID IT BE FOR THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT HER!! The amount of time this book goes OUT OF ITS WAY to remind us that they are not in the same league looks-wise and that basically Allie is the human embodiment of a ball n chain but whatevs) and while he loves her for those things, he feels stifled. Does he discuss this? Nah, bottles it up like all dumbass, emotionally stunted men do. This girl goes OUT OF HER WAY to do literally everything for him and bend over backwards to make his life the best it can be. The boy doesn't even know how to use the fucking dishwasher because she does all that for him. She puts effort into learning his hobbies because it makes him happy (he never extends the favor) she basically shoves herself aside to become the police chief's wife, and he still feels like she weighs him down. So already, like fuck Cam...he's a dickwad. But don't worry, he gets worse.
This new biddy comes into town, he literally just sees her ONCE...ONCE!! And it's like he's shot by cupid's fucking arrow and is so fucking intoxicated by her he goes out of his way to bump into her and see her and on the third meeting, makes out with her. Now, takes two people to be shitheads and obviously Mia is not innocent herself (side note, why is it always Mia's that are the cartoonish whores? Makes me think of Love Actually 'Mia's very pretty...you know she is darling, careful there' SCREW MIA) so of course I give her some blame too. She's fully aware that Allie is Cam's wife but also is the only reason she has a job, but continues to not only put effort into this affair, but orchestrates it as well. Then immediately believes this is somehow fated and that they always were meant to bump into each other. Ew fuck you. But loves him (using love in the sarcastic sense only as we all know this shit isn't love and I don't give a fuck who you're trying to convince otherwise) only because he's married. She claims it's cuz she 'loves him for who he is' and if he left Allie he wouldn't be who she thought he was which like WTF KIND OF MIND GAME BULLSHIT IS THAT?! But also...fuck you, you just like fucking a married man because it's dirty and exciting with zero baggage. Proven when it gets too deep and she's going to have to face a confrontation, she straight up bolts leaving nothing behind for Cam to even find her and proving she doesn't give a fuck about anyone, but herself. So yeah. Mia is trash, well, Cam's trash she's the raccoon who likes pilfering the trash, but like have fun with that shit bitch. But no, most of my blame is on Cam because that fucker is the one who made the vow. He's the one in the relationship.
I was genuinely seeing red and flames on the side of my face the more this fuckhead tried to justify his actions. He'd look for opportunities to pick fights with Allie to make himself feel better for getting irritated with her. He blamed her for things that were entirely not her fault and also belittled the shit out of her. And then AND THEN after everything has the AUDACITY to be mad when she doesn't immediately take him back after she learns the truth. First off, he only wants to stay with her because Mia ditched his ass and this is the only life he knows and despite talking a big ass game about wanting to travel and see the world, truly nothing's stopping him, but that cowardly fuck still could never because he's gotten so comfortable with how great he has it with Allie. And while it was incredible for her to sell all his things (that's literally what she did which was well deserved) that's basically the only retribution she gets. She also has a really uncomfortable fling with a random dude just cause, but like, why? I would've rather she fucked Jaime. TBH I was kind of hoping she'd end up with him anyway! Allie deserves the world and she had such a great dynamic with Jamie, especially being the only one that believed him. Being such a driving force behind getting him free and it was hinted that Maggie would want him to get married again, I really thought that's where this would end up. That Cam would be all 'I'm so sorrryyy boo hooo, I didn't realize what I had' and she's like, 'you're right, thank you next' and dumps his ass and then gets with Jamie. That'd be so fucking incredible. But no. It just kind of ends after Jamie gets off and she stays with the fucker. SHE STAYS WITH HIM!
This book tries to justify it with some bullshit of 'if you really love someone you stay with him' instead of letting them go, but like....no?!? I don't believe that at all!! I thought after all this shit Jamie would've learned that he needed to love himself as much as he loved his wife so he didn't destroy his life to bring her peace. Like yay, she's at peace and it all worked out in the end thank GOD, but it's constantly talked about how much he loved her more than she loved him so it's obvious she would not have done the same for him. By his theory he would've let her suffer but just stayed vigilant by her side which isn't any more of a life than she was having. That's bullshit!! He did the right thing, emotional wise, in letting her go (not the murdering maybe, but like if she were brain dead, y'know? Cuz it's not a quality of life) and Allie learned by the end of this fucking book that she deserves more than what Cam's capable of giving her and she should've left him!!! I don't know if this is a product off when it came out or Picoult's own warped sense of marriage, but good lord was I pissed as shit that he barely got any comeuppance. Like she finally got some agency, sure, but she should've divorced his ass. This man deserves nothing. I wanted his life shattered. I'm still down with Mia leaving, but she should've sold all his shit and then waited for him calmly in their house and told him that how empty it was is exactly how he makes her feel and that he clearly doesn't give a fuck about her based off his actions. She then should've said I'm leaving and wiped her hands clean of him. Fuck. Cam. Epically. I hate that man SO MUCH. The amount of selfish shit he thought, I could've screamed. I shouted 'NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU' so many times. Also how often I had to read about their romanticized adulterous bullshit, screaming. Allie deserves the world and these two deserve to be miserable and alone forever.
So yeah. Maybe if the ending were changed and it focused in on Jamie. Maybe if Allie had more time in her final form of girl boss mode and destroying this garbage man, it could've been better. I'd even be ok if she ended up dating the lawyer (there was one moment of her commenting how cute he was when he blushed and I really loved that shit. I also think someone yelled at Allie and he instinctively stood in front of her protectively and it was adorbs, I shipped basically everyone with Allie instead of Cam, fuck that guy) but no. I'm left with this garbled mess of what Picoult thinks is depth of emotion when really it's an outdated look on marriage customs and how fucked older generations are. Also this follows my trend of HATING adult fiction characters because they're garage humans. Hate it. Glad to finally be able to get rid of this shlock from my shelf though, good fucking grief.
chishc's review
2.0
I didn't really enjoy this book. It did get easier to read closer to the end, but overall I'm not a fan. I feel it could have been a much stronger novel if it had focused on just one storyline.
headre89's review
challenging
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This poor fella should have never even been on trial..the ups and downs were like I was watching a real case and my heart broke..this man loved his wife and it shown. And the heartbreak! The ending though!! It was a little slower read but I think it had to be to get in all the details so you could see this story play out the way the author intended so you could feel the way she wanted you to feel!