Reviews

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

nvmsmd's review against another edition

3.0

My second venture into Picoult’s novels and the experience was the same as the first. I enjoyed how she tackled complex emotions and everyday characters into these unexpected heart-wrenching scenarios [very well written], but just like last time, I didn’t like the ending.

Spoiler

With Josie having shot Matt, it seemed to be pushing the idea that any kid under that much pressure, provided the tools would commit such an act. There were parallels throughout the book between these two characters and how they both reacted to similar social scenarios in a different manner and the ending tied that narrative arc well, it’s just that I don’t agree with that philosophical line of thought. Having been bullied myself and going through the mental state that I did, I would not have shot anyone. Apart from that,

I thought that there was quite a lot of motherhood propaganda that I could have done without.

Let’s talk characters. Surprisingly, apart from Peter himself, I enjoyed the portrayal of all the central characters. Alex was such a well-written character. I think I like her so much because I could resonate with her constant battle with the two sides of her identity [her instinct to always stay professional and not being able to connect emotionally with others].
I liked Lucy also quite a lot, her character was much in contrast to Alex, but neither was portrayed to be better than another [if we overlook that motherhood angle]. Lucy’s husband Lewis I did not like so much in the start but as his character got more “screen time” and Picoult finally gave him a chance to break down, I liked him more and looked forward to his chapters.
I thought Peter’s lawyer was quite interesting as well, his relationship with his wife was a perfect portrayal of ‘equals’ in a marriage.

Spoiler

The love angle between Patrick and Alex was fun and quite a welcome change of emotional ride but Patrick's character was much more engrossing before.

Overall, quite an engaging and complex read. Not sure how to rate it with some feelings being mixed.

evoss14's review against another edition

5.0

What a powerful book. Centered around the 19 minutes of devastation of a school shooting, this book explores the minds and emotions of the characters in the days, weeks and years before and after the shooting. I love a book that gets my your skin, challenges my thinking, unsettles my thoughts and keeps my mind whirling long after I have finished it. This is just that kind of book! Definitely not a leisurely, relaxing read but an important one! Highly recommend.

lapaspusempapedam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

aylamasaki's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

sanjana_argula's review against another edition

4.0

The story hits home.

bsmith27's review against another edition

4.0

A very dense story of a fictionalized school shooting. It center is on the shooter, Peter and his motivation behind the shooting. It also delves into his friendship with josie. They've been friends since kindergarten but their parents hadn't liked them being together and then Josie had become popular. The book talks about how culpable the victims might have been without victim blaming. Makes you think how your actions might be hurting others. It's a very end you discover that Josie shot her boyfriend and let Peter take the fall for it. This comes out in the trial and so Josie has found guilty and goes to jail for 5 years. But it's substantial is that Josie was being controlled by her boyfriend at the time. A fascinating look at school shootings and how School shooters are made.

ljimenez89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

crystal_beth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

lemmyjoz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

I sometimes struggled a bit with the rapid changes from one perspective to another. There is an extra blank line on the page separating two perspectives, but my eyes glossed over that a lot. Maybe a printed line across the page, or something to more noticeably mark the transitions would be helpful. There are a lot of names to keep track of, and tbh sometimes I would get Peter and Patrick mixed up for a few sentences and be super confused. I don't know that this is a fault, just an observation. Folks whose brains move faster than mine might not find this to be an issue at all. I had a similar issue with the jumping around in time. But, a lot of books do that and so I think it's more about the way my brain processes things and less a reflection on how well this book was written. 
I almost couldn't stop reading. Jodi Picolut has this way of taking something that you hear about off in "news land" and bringing it right to you, in detail and with varying perspective in a way that makes you really think. Like, REALLY think. I love this about her books. The more I read, the more questions I had about the characters. So I kept reading. And questions would be answered but then new ones would arise. The cycle repeated rhythmically throughout the book. I think there is so much more that could have been said about all of the people in the book, but at that point it'd be too long. 

celiapowell's review against another edition

3.0

I don't know what it is about Jodi Picoult's endings that bug me, but they never sit right with me. They're too pat, or too contrived, or something. This is Picoult's "school shooting" novel (I'm wondering if she has a notebook of current hot topics that she chooses her next novel theme from), and it's not bad. Because of the theme, I kept comparing it to Lionel Shriver's "We Need To Talk About Kevin", to "Nineteen Minutes"' detriment. But I enjoyed it nevertheless, and she did a decent job of writing about the "why" of tragedies like that.