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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beautiful, devastating. Classic Picoult twist.
I started it, didn’t like it and stopped, found out there was a plot-twist and started again. The plot twist made it better but I think it was just too soon for me. Living through the pandemic once was enough, so although I think this book will be interesting and important later, it was not a favorite read right now. I am glad that characters I disliked at the beginning were somewhat redeemed later in the book.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-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:
Complicated
I was hesitant going into this book knowing COVID was going to play a large role. I was thinking, ‘I experienced COVID first hand, do I really want to read about it?’ However, the author put a really interesting spin on the pandemic.
The writes about our main character, Diana, who has her life all planned out. She’s in a great relationship with Finn hoping he’ll pop the question soon, and she’s in her dream job working with art. Finn is a surgical resident at a nearby hospital. Finn and Diana have planned a vacation to the Galápagos, but then there is the initial outbreak of COVID. Finn has to stay behind as a frontline worker, and he insists Diana should still take the vacation.
Hesitantly, Diana goes. She ends up getting trapped on the island for months (transportation to and from the island completely shuts down). Finn is emailing her, and these come through sporadically depending on internet connection. Diana tries to communicate with Finn by writing postcards. These postcards she gives to a girl she met on the island who says she’ll give them to the fishermen who she knows travel back and forth (but she ends up hoarding them all). This girl’s father, Gabriel, has been a tourist guide and shows her the island. They become quite close as Diana discovers the girl has been cutting herself and opens up to Diana about what’s going on in her life. Diana definitely seems to be falling for Gabriel, but she knows (or at least hopes) they she’ll be back with her boyfriend in the US soon.
The huge twist is that Diana never actually went on this vacation. Instead, she actually got COVID and was in the hospital for 10 days. It’s during these 10 days that she believes she was in the Galápagos for several months.
She wakes from COVID. No one is believing her story. She searches online and connects with others who had similar experiences when they had COVID. She tries to continue with life, but realizes that maybe she’s not as happy as she thought she was. Finn proposes, she turns him down, and she returns to the Galápagos to start this new chapter of her life.
I did not anticipate the twist. At all. That was pretty dang interesting. I definitely didn’t think she would turn down Finn’s proposal. And then to go on and read that people, in real life, actually had experiences like this when they had COVID. That was pretty wild to read about.
I would definitely recommend this book!
The writes about our main character, Diana, who has her life all planned out. She’s in a great relationship with Finn hoping he’ll pop the question soon, and she’s in her dream job working with art. Finn is a surgical resident at a nearby hospital. Finn and Diana have planned a vacation to the Galápagos, but then there is the initial outbreak of COVID. Finn has to stay behind as a frontline worker, and he insists Diana should still take the vacation.
Hesitantly, Diana goes. She ends up getting trapped on the island for months (transportation to and from the island completely shuts down). Finn is emailing her, and these come through sporadically depending on internet connection. Diana tries to communicate with Finn by writing postcards. These postcards she gives to a girl she met on the island who says she’ll give them to the fishermen who she knows travel back and forth (but she ends up hoarding them all). This girl’s father, Gabriel, has been a tourist guide and shows her the island. They become quite close as Diana discovers the girl has been cutting herself and opens up to Diana about what’s going on in her life. Diana definitely seems to be falling for Gabriel, but she knows (or at least hopes) they she’ll be back with her boyfriend in the US soon.
The huge twist is that Diana never actually went on this vacation. Instead, she actually got COVID and was in the hospital for 10 days. It’s during these 10 days that she believes she was in the Galápagos for several months.
She wakes from COVID. No one is believing her story. She searches online and connects with others who had similar experiences when they had COVID. She tries to continue with life, but realizes that maybe she’s not as happy as she thought she was. Finn proposes, she turns him down, and she returns to the Galápagos to start this new chapter of her life.
I did not anticipate the twist. At all. That was pretty dang interesting. I definitely didn’t think she would turn down Finn’s proposal. And then to go on and read that people, in real life, actually had experiences like this when they had COVID. That was pretty wild to read about.
I would definitely recommend this book!
adventurous
emotional
medium-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
I was not sure what to expect from this book when I picked it up, but I quite enjoyed the read! I've loved a lot of Picoult's other books, and this one seemed different when I started it out. If you are looking for an escapist story to take you away from the real world for a bit, The story is engaging and gives the characters room for growth, which I loved.
Spoiler
this is not the book you are looking for. It gets very heavy.
This book was so well done. You can tell that Jodi did incredible research on the Galapagos Islands, covid, being a healthcare worker in New York City during the pandemic, and being an art dealer.
I like how Jody wrote the relationship dynamic. I don't want to give spoilers but I will say that it was just simply complicated. It wasn't as if there was a villain or someone that you wanted to root for or against, it was just complicated.
There was also a neat inclusion of additional characters that contributed to the story overall.
I like how Jody wrote the relationship dynamic. I don't want to give spoilers but I will say that it was just simply complicated. It wasn't as if there was a villain or someone that you wanted to root for or against, it was just complicated.
There was also a neat inclusion of additional characters that contributed to the story overall.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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:
Yes
Listened to this on audio book. Love hate with the twist and also the Covid reminiscence.