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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I thought this book was just another chick-lit story but halfway through, what a beautiful surprise. I am haunted by this tale, in a good way.
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
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:
Yes
This book took a surprising turn, but it wasn’t enough to keep my interest. I prefer her older books
Diana works at Sotheby’s helping to auction art. Her boyfriend, Finn, is a surgeon at a NYC hospital. They are ready to go on vacation to the Galapagos, when COVID hits. Finn has to stay and help at the hospital, but he tells Diana to go ahead. She gets to the Galapagos and Isabella island right as it’s closing down. Although her luggage was lost, Diana decides to stay. She is stuck on the island many weeks, forging a few friendships with the locals. I found this part of the book to be very slow. In fact, I almost DNF’d this book. Instead, I got the audiobook from the library to keep going. This book is very heavy with the topic of COVID. For me, it was too soon, and it only caused anxiety, instead of enjoyment. I didn’t see the twist coming, but also didn’t enjoy that either.
Great, well thought out story. Sad that people can't get past that it has anything to do with covid. Unfortunately, that will always be part of our history whether you refuse to believe it happened or not. This story was a beautiful way of creating some good from that.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Giving one star for finishing. This was just boring. Literally no plot. Just leftist pandemic propaganda. Do not recommend.
The first thing you need to know before reading this book is that it is pandemic based. I knew that going in, but didn't realize how hard it would be to read about it. As a nurse, I deal with something covid related on a daily basis and reading this book during my lunch break at work or before bed was not the best way to relax or let my mind feel at ease. I'm a huge Jodi Picoult fan and her trademark is definitely that big TWIST that kind of takes your breath away or that you didn't see coming. That happens in the middle of Wish You Were Here. It takes such a turn from the beginning half of the book that I actually closed the book and just sat there letting it sink in. I had a hard time believing it. That being said, I loved the first half of the book. The imagery of The Galapagos was so vivid and beautiful. Just imaging someone with no schedule, floating around in the sea with penguins and sea lions who just boop you on the head seems so far away from my reality. I loved getting lost in the island. The constant talk of covid with the emails and letters was a lot. It was a little refreshing to read about the beginnings stages of the pandemic and see the progress we have made. I had issues with the main character. She was annoying and could never go with the flow, which I supposed was her biggest inner conflict in the novel. I felt like it ended a bit openly, and in my mind, I know what I would like to have happened, but not sure how realistic that is. The book was an interesting concept that I'd like to do more research on and really made me think about a lot of things.
"'Okay, but what if death wasn't the ending you've been told it is? What is time is like fabric, a bolt that's so long you can't see where it starts or ends?' She pauses. 'Maybe at the moment a person dies, that life gets compressed so small and dense it's like a pinprick in the cloth. It may be that at that point, you enter a new reality. A new stitch in time, basically.'"
"'Okay, but what if death wasn't the ending you've been told it is? What is time is like fabric, a bolt that's so long you can't see where it starts or ends?' She pauses. 'Maybe at the moment a person dies, that life gets compressed so small and dense it's like a pinprick in the cloth. It may be that at that point, you enter a new reality. A new stitch in time, basically.'"
challenging
emotional
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes