Reviews

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

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heathercottledillon's review against another edition

4.0

I am still trying to figure out how I feel about "Nineteen Minutes" because it left me with so much to think about that it's going to take a while to sort out. At this point, my opinion is that although there are parts that are over-the-top with the drama (making some aspects seem unrealistic), this is a very interesting book. As she does in most of her books, Picoult takes a very controversial real-life issue and shows several aspects of it through a compelling fictional story. Bullying, mental illness, peer pressure, grief, guilt, drug use, homophobia, single parenting...there's a lot going on in this thing. Instead of portraying schools shootings as a clear-cut, black-and-white issue, Picoult shows the gray areas. I sympathized with almost every character--including Peter--at some point, and I also felt angry at almost every character at some point. Picoult does a great job of humanizing Peter without letting him off the hook for what he does. Perhaps "humanizing" isn't the right word--it's like she shows how Peter was dehumanized by the abuse he took from his classmates but doesn't take all of the blame off him (as lots of kids are bullied but most of them don't kill people because of it). The book is relatively dense and short on dialogue, yet somehow it seemed to move quickly and I couldn't put it down. I also enjoyed the big twist at the end and thought it was a satisfying conclusion. This is one that will stick with me for a while.

les_reads_too_much's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

caramel_peaches's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

katiegilley's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the story of a school shooting from everyone's perspectives. It was painful to read because I could truly empathize with all sides - which is what Picoult is so good at having the reader do.returnreturnIt also marks the return of Jordan McAfee, an attorney we met in an earlier Picoult novel. returnreturnWonderful book with lots of thought provoking details.