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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
medium-paced
I would rate this about a 3.5. At the plot twist, I had to put it down and would have rated it a 2 at that point. The insights at the end about life were redeeming. The characters were pretty likable and this was my first fictional exploration of the pandemic.
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Picked this up and finished it in a day. Absolutely could not put it down. Brilliant work, as usual.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Why are these chapters soooo long?! Also, the story line was meh, then really good, then it went back to meh and the ending is what I wanted but it didn’t give it to me how I think it should.
4.5 stars! I *really* enjoyed Wish You Were Here, and it was very meta to be reading this book about covid while sick with covid.
It’s hard to write a review about this without revealing much, but this is almost like two separate books in one, where protagonist Diana ends up stranded in the Galapagos during the first covid outbreak without her creature comforts. This book is about finding yourself, living your truth, and trusting yourself.
You can tell that Jodi Picoult put a lot of research into this—I really enjoyed living vicariously through Diana’s adventures in the Galapagos, and the harrowing and vivid descriptions of her boyfriend’s experiences as a doctor in the covid ICU in NYC. There were some other things I learned about that were really interesting as well, which I won’t reveal out of the risk of spoilers!
The only thing taking this down from a 5 for me was that the pacing in the first 25% of this felt a bit off. The first 40 pages felt rushed, while the next 40 pages or so felt quite slow.
Despite this, I would highly recommend Wish You Were Here to fans of contemporary fiction and anyone who can handle reading about covid while we’re still in this pandemic.
It’s hard to write a review about this without revealing much, but this is almost like two separate books in one, where protagonist Diana ends up stranded in the Galapagos during the first covid outbreak without her creature comforts. This book is about finding yourself, living your truth, and trusting yourself.
You can tell that Jodi Picoult put a lot of research into this—I really enjoyed living vicariously through Diana’s adventures in the Galapagos, and the harrowing and vivid descriptions of her boyfriend’s experiences as a doctor in the covid ICU in NYC. There were some other things I learned about that were really interesting as well, which I won’t reveal out of the risk of spoilers!
The only thing taking this down from a 5 for me was that the pacing in the first 25% of this felt a bit off. The first 40 pages felt rushed, while the next 40 pages or so felt quite slow.
Despite this, I would highly recommend Wish You Were Here to fans of contemporary fiction and anyone who can handle reading about covid while we’re still in this pandemic.
Audiobook
I almost gave this 3 stars, but then I remembered that Marin Ireland is my favorite narrator. She's what would have elevated it to the 3-star category.
Well, the main twist almost elevated it.
Maybe the reality of COVID being in a novel kept me down? Maybe the absolute one-dimension of the main character kept me down? Maybe the single note of a story line kept me down? It was probably all three of those things plus others.
I almost gave this 3 stars, but then I remembered that Marin Ireland is my favorite narrator. She's what would have elevated it to the 3-star category.
Well, the main twist almost elevated it.
Maybe the reality of COVID being in a novel kept me down? Maybe the absolute one-dimension of the main character kept me down? Maybe the single note of a story line kept me down? It was probably all three of those things plus others.
Twist in second part!!! Wow! Mourning the first part. Authors notes is amazing.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Wow this book felt different than others from this author, to me. I absolutely loved it. There was a gigantic twist at approximately 60% in. This made the book even more incredible although I really enjoyed it all. Overall this was a fascinating story about why certain things happen and what our brain knows and what science does and doesn’t know about our brains.