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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Giving this 5 stars because it has my mind reeling. It wasn’t perfect, but I must applaud an author’s ability to have me absolutely stupefied.
I want to keep this review spoiler free… but I will note that after finishing the book, it’s meaning and content completely changed in my mind. I read it as one sort of novel and realized afterwards that it was completely different.
I want to keep this review spoiler free… but I will note that after finishing the book, it’s meaning and content completely changed in my mind. I read it as one sort of novel and realized afterwards that it was completely different.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Weird humor and cavalier attitude of the father (narrator) seems incongruent with the seriousness of the storyline. I bit predictable but interesting to think about the "evil gene".
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just lost interest midway. I appreciate the author for not pulling a cheap ending for some shock value. It works really well. But I was bored, hence 3/5
My four star rating is really more of a three point seven five six three. Or something like that.
There were moments when this felt like a cheap, airport paperback. Maybe because it is or maybe because I kept wanting it to have the depth of [b: We Need To Talk About Kevin|80660|We Need to Talk About Kevin|Lionel Shriver|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865017s/80660.jpg|3106720], which was a completely different book (in the defense of Defending Jacob - yes, I'm defending Defending Jacob).
This was part mystery, part courtroom drama, part something else that I can't put my finger on. This is not necessarily an idea of defending innocence as much as it is defending family - or maybe defending ignorance (for family).
Do you trust the court system?
I'm not sure I do.
I've had it cross my mind before how an entire life can be ruined by someone being wrongly accused (this crossed my mind long before the Netflix documentary surfaced).
I've been a part of a jury and witnessed that sheep mentality at its finest.
Our blind trust in the system is the product of ignorance and magical thinking, and there was no way in hell I was going to trust my son's fate to it. Not because I believe he was guilty, I assure you, but precisely because he was innocent. I was doing what little I could to ensure the right result, the just result. If you do not believe me, go spend a few hours in the nearest criminal court, then ask yourself if you really believe it is error-free. Ask yourself if you would trust YOUR child to it.
People love justice don't they? There is something satisfying about "righting a wrong." Pinning the tail on the donkey. Any donkey will do. As long as you are blindfolded, the media will practically take you by the hands and guide you to the ass end.
Now he fidgeted to make the coat sit property on his shoulders but it would not stretch that far. From all this fidgeting, reporters would later say that Jacob was vain, that he even enjoyed his moment in the spotlight, a slur we would hear over and over when the trial actually began. The truth was, he was an awkward boy and so thoroughly terrified that he did not know where to put his hands.
So it's easy to want to defend Jacob, too.
Except what if he's not innocent? And that's what we wait to find out. Not what the jury decides but what his own family decides. Will a father turn on his only son? Will a mother even let it enter her mind that her own child could murder another child?
She would sit there at the back of the courtroom as still and expressionless as a marble statue. She would watch the back of her son's head, trying to interpret the tiniest micromovements. She would react to nothing. It did not matter that once she had held that baby boy in her arms and whispered in his ear, "Sh, sh." At this point, nobody gave a shit.
There were a lot of great parts in this book, but it was cheapened by some far fetched "solutions" such as the father in prison that brought it back to that $5.99 paperback category for me. Still well worth the read.
There were moments when this felt like a cheap, airport paperback. Maybe because it is or maybe because I kept wanting it to have the depth of [b: We Need To Talk About Kevin|80660|We Need to Talk About Kevin|Lionel Shriver|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865017s/80660.jpg|3106720], which was a completely different book (in the defense of Defending Jacob - yes, I'm defending Defending Jacob).
This was part mystery, part courtroom drama, part something else that I can't put my finger on. This is not necessarily an idea of defending innocence as much as it is defending family - or maybe defending ignorance (for family).
Do you trust the court system?
I'm not sure I do.
I've had it cross my mind before how an entire life can be ruined by someone being wrongly accused (this crossed my mind long before the Netflix documentary surfaced).
I've been a part of a jury and witnessed that sheep mentality at its finest.
Our blind trust in the system is the product of ignorance and magical thinking, and there was no way in hell I was going to trust my son's fate to it. Not because I believe he was guilty, I assure you, but precisely because he was innocent. I was doing what little I could to ensure the right result, the just result. If you do not believe me, go spend a few hours in the nearest criminal court, then ask yourself if you really believe it is error-free. Ask yourself if you would trust YOUR child to it.
People love justice don't they? There is something satisfying about "righting a wrong." Pinning the tail on the donkey. Any donkey will do. As long as you are blindfolded, the media will practically take you by the hands and guide you to the ass end.
Now he fidgeted to make the coat sit property on his shoulders but it would not stretch that far. From all this fidgeting, reporters would later say that Jacob was vain, that he even enjoyed his moment in the spotlight, a slur we would hear over and over when the trial actually began. The truth was, he was an awkward boy and so thoroughly terrified that he did not know where to put his hands.
So it's easy to want to defend Jacob, too.
Except what if he's not innocent? And that's what we wait to find out. Not what the jury decides but what his own family decides. Will a father turn on his only son? Will a mother even let it enter her mind that her own child could murder another child?
She would sit there at the back of the courtroom as still and expressionless as a marble statue. She would watch the back of her son's head, trying to interpret the tiniest micromovements. She would react to nothing. It did not matter that once she had held that baby boy in her arms and whispered in his ear, "Sh, sh." At this point, nobody gave a shit.
There were a lot of great parts in this book, but it was cheapened by some far fetched "solutions" such as the father in prison that brought it back to that $5.99 paperback category for me. Still well worth the read.
Giving it 3.5 stars because it took me awhile to get through it. But that ending... Wow.
mysterious
slow-paced