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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
This book has alot to do with paranormal/ghost activity. This does not seem the typical topic Picoult has written about, where most often her books are about topics that can be considered controversial.
There are various stories being told in the book, and in the end they all weave together. At first I had a hard time keeping them all straight.
Picoult really did some research on this one, even to go as far as meeting with TAPS founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson to learn more about paranomral investigation. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and wanted to keep reading more. I look forward to reading many more of her books.
There are various stories being told in the book, and in the end they all weave together. At first I had a hard time keeping them all straight.
Picoult really did some research on this one, even to go as far as meeting with TAPS founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson to learn more about paranomral investigation. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and wanted to keep reading more. I look forward to reading many more of her books.
I found this story a little difficult to get into but then I could not put it down. Jodi Picoult is an amazing storyteller and I loved how she included a history lesson in this novel. You don't need to believe in ghosts to truly love this tale!
This is an amazing 'ghost story' for lack of a better term. It's a wonderful tale and highly recommended.
I was wholly impressed with how easily Jodi Picoult intertwined past and present, as well as many different character's perspectives, into a fluid story with this novel. I have read several other novels by this author and have enjoyed every one of them - this book being no exception. When I picked up this book and read the synopsis on the back, I was intrigued. The premise of the story weaves a great many heavy and complicated subject matter - depression and suicide, eugenics, Native American history, and the supernatural. It seemed like an interesting mix and I was curious to see how these would all play out. Once I started reading, I found it so hard to put down. I recommend this to Picoult fans, and anyone looking to for an interesting story that deals with atypical topics.
2.5 sad stars for Second Glance. Jodi Picoult is on my "will read anything" she puts out there short list of authors. I adore her writing. So, I was very surprised by how disappointed I was with this novel, Second Glance. To be perfectly honest, I could not believe Jodi Picoult even wrote it. Here are the things that I really didn't enjoy: First, there were way too many characters and none of them particularly interesting or endearing. I really love a story where a group of unrelated characters eventually are tied together in some way by the end of the book. And, to be fair, the characters eventually do intertwine in this story but the real issue is the character development was so thinly drawn I really didn't care that much that their lives eventually intersected. Another issue was the plausibility factor. One of the main characters repeatedly tries to commit suicide and talks about how many times his suicide attempts has been unsuccessful to the point that you are completely numb to it. He is almost blasé about such a serious and heavy thing. And her handling of the suicide theme in this manner was just odd and almost a bit offensive. This same character is supposedly so suicidal because the love of his life was killed in an accident but then he falls in love at first sight with another character in the book. And that was just ridiculous. There is some magical realism in this book and I don't have issue with her ghostly appearances or the Native American folklore. The parts that were unbelievable took place in the real world and were almost laughable. I wanted to say, "oh, come on- you expect me to believe this guy who was just going on about how he was going to kill himself because the love of his life was dead is now head over heels in love with a woman he interacted with for four minutes?!" I did enjoy the Native American story and folklore but even some of that was done in a way that felt a little cheesy- kind of like the final scene in Poltergeist, "you built this neighborhood on an Indian burial ground?" Picoult always pushes the envelope when it comes to writing about tough subjects and the Vermont eugenics project was the most interesting part of the entire story, but all of the sensitive subjects in this book felt overdone - like a big turkey leg plopped on your china plate at Thanksgiving. The part of the story I was most looking forward to was the bit of mystery surrounding the death of one of the main characters and even that was mediocre. Truly disappointing read and I really hope this was a one off for my beloved Jodi Picoult.
So entertaining! I was captivated by the mystery, the tantalizing exploration of the paranormal (Do you believe in ghosts?), and by the opportunity to learn about something new (the Vermont Eugenics movement and XP, which is a very real disease)! The characters were so interesting, too. Definitely recommend!
Normally I love Jodi Picoult but this was definitely not her best work. I was bored the first half. It picked up but not enough.
fast-paced
This was a weird one and not a typical Jodi Picoult book, in my opinion. It honestly reminded me of a Stephen King book, which means it wasn’t bad, just not what I was expecting. It was an okay story. I liked how the characters started to come together. I’d definitely zone out at times though, and it was a bit long.