Reviews

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

slsteele's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

awwcripes's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

iamdwg's review

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4.0

Predictable, but well-structured

As others state, the book is heavily saturated in Asperger's Syndrome facts, but that's not really what bothered me at all. I found those facts, and the way in which they're presented to be quite fascinating. Instead, I'd say it had more of an issue keeping this mystery, well, mysterious. I made a prediction early on that more or less turned out to be true, which made everything that much more predictable. That being said, just because it's predictable doesn't make it bad. I enjoyed this story, as well as the characters strewn out throughout the entirety. I also liked the varying vantage points & voices.

emerygirl's review against another edition

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3.0

A book about an autistic boy who is fixated on crime scenes. I liked the story, but found the characters somewhat unbelievable. It was all tied up a little too neatly at the end for my liking.

mgouker's review against another edition

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2.0

Disappointing. Makes wide generalizations about the effects of autism (and especially Asperger's Syndrome subdiagnosis) and proclaims them to be uncontested truths. Uses two--Jacob's inability to lie and literal interpretation of languagee--to have an accused make what would otherwise be an admission of guilt to be a proclamation of innocence. Cute trick. Was it worth it?

luvrunr's review against another edition

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4.0

I love the style that Jodi Picoult uses in her books. While this book wasn't particularly innovative I enjoyed the mystery of it and it did keep me wondering what was really going on.

beckimoody29's review against another edition

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5.0

This is now my second favorite of Jodi Picoult's books, behind My Sister's Keeper. I really liked all the characters -- even the mother which doesn't often happen with her novels. Some of the plot seemed a little forced (like in soap operas, if they just talked to each other and asked the right questions there wouldn't have BEEN a plot!) but, knowing there have been times in my life that I didn't ask the obvious question because I was afraid of the answer, it still rang true. It also presents a fairly balanced view of the whole autism debate covering the main arguments, but not becoming radical. All in all, it was well worth it.

lmac3's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious

4.0

curious_kbc's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

hayz80's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.25