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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse
emotional
I was very gripped by the end of this. I wanted to know so badly what had happened. I didn't like that it changed from first person to third. I couldn't see the necessity in it. Some parts had me close to tears.
I really enjoyed the story. Jodi Picoult always leaves the reader hanging until the end.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This has got to be my favorite Jodi Picoult book. The few that I have read before this have been just so so. This one gripped me from the beginning all the way to the shocking end.
Jodi Picoult has such a unique way of stealing you from reality and placing her in the middle of the world she is painting. I first read this book when I was 17, and now at almost 33 it has resonated in such a different way. The aches and torment that I felt as a reader are always more fierce when reading something written by Jodi. Another truly captivating story.
I liked this but I also like many Jodi P books. warning: involves pregnancy and stillbirth/newborn loss.
It was just engaging enough that I finished it, despite my problems with it I was invested enough in the main character, Katie, to see what was going to happen to her. In order to get through it you just have to accept the implausibility of a defense attorney living with her client for months on end and go with it. The inner monologues from the defense attorney, Ellie, reminded me of reading a teens' diary (and I love YA!), worn out tropes of "I can't let myself love him" ugh! I found myself skipping entire pages in which Ellie kept inferring what others were feeling, which leads me to the main problem...the writing style!
The writing style absolutely drove me crazy! Picoult unsuccessfully switched from third person omniscient author to first person personal narrative and it absolutely did not work for me! It felt incredibly amateurish and a cop-out way to design a narrative.
Also, what's the deal with the ghosts? It added nothing, she never tied it in (other than to connect her to Adam?), it was just weird! And Adam, the PhD student/Associate Professor? Um, yea, a 24 year old dude working on his PhD and teaching classes is NOT an Associate Professor, he's a grad instructor, do a little research! All the details about his character rubbed me the wrong way (he's here to study not socialize, oh please!). I can only imagine how someone with more knowledge of the legal system than I must have felt about the trial if that's how I felt about the misinformed descriptions of grad school.
Elsewhere on Goodreads someone noted that Ellie's character challenged gender norms, other than being a hotshot defense attorney, I have no idea how she challenged any gender norms (and I don't think her job qualifies as challenging norms). She quickly falls into nurturing roles with Katie and more or less becomes her mother figure/best friend during the entire trial, utterly feminine. I don't actually have a problem with that (other than she was living with her in the first place), but then Picoult went above and beyond to try to get Ellie to deny her love interest. Denying her desire for a man is a really cheap way to "challenge gender norms" and absolutely did not work for me.
All that said, I did manage to finish the book which I usually don't do if I'm not enjoying it - so somewhere in all of that was a little bit of interest and pleasure. The narrative was compelling at times but really I just wanted to know how it ended, but I didn't really enjoy getting there. I won't spoil anything, but I hated the ending as well.
The writing style absolutely drove me crazy! Picoult unsuccessfully switched from third person omniscient author to first person personal narrative and it absolutely did not work for me! It felt incredibly amateurish and a cop-out way to design a narrative.
Also, what's the deal with the ghosts? It added nothing, she never tied it in (other than to connect her to Adam?), it was just weird! And Adam, the PhD student/Associate Professor? Um, yea, a 24 year old dude working on his PhD and teaching classes is NOT an Associate Professor, he's a grad instructor, do a little research! All the details about his character rubbed me the wrong way (he's here to study not socialize, oh please!). I can only imagine how someone with more knowledge of the legal system than I must have felt about the trial if that's how I felt about the misinformed descriptions of grad school.
Elsewhere on Goodreads someone noted that Ellie's character challenged gender norms, other than being a hotshot defense attorney, I have no idea how she challenged any gender norms (and I don't think her job qualifies as challenging norms). She quickly falls into nurturing roles with Katie and more or less becomes her mother figure/best friend during the entire trial, utterly feminine. I don't actually have a problem with that (other than she was living with her in the first place), but then Picoult went above and beyond to try to get Ellie to deny her love interest. Denying her desire for a man is a really cheap way to "challenge gender norms" and absolutely did not work for me.
All that said, I did manage to finish the book which I usually don't do if I'm not enjoying it - so somewhere in all of that was a little bit of interest and pleasure. The narrative was compelling at times but really I just wanted to know how it ended, but I didn't really enjoy getting there. I won't spoil anything, but I hated the ending as well.