Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Pact

A beautiful, emotional, roller-coaster ride of a story, with a mystery through the middle.

Unfortunately it got a little long winded for me and I felt the whole court drama could have been left out. I'm definitely interested in more from this author though.

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petrichor431's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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jenijenocide's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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bookiezeeb's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I had a really hard time deciding if I liked this book or not. It made me sad in an empty kind of way. I guess you could say it is very real - it talks about people that have intense problems and the effects that these problems have on their loved ones. Honestly some parts of it made me sick to my stomach. I think that it proved many of the characters to be very selfish, but all in all it was well written and thought provoking, I found it frustrating that I knew more about each character than they did about each other, but I guess that is how life works in the real world.

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breezy17's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i am a husk of a human after reading this. this is my first jodi picoult book and was recommended by a close friend. i used to write off jodi picoult bc i equated her work in my mind with the same quality and subject matter of a lifetime movie, which was in retrospect clearly unfair. i blame it on my sister's keeper blowing up in the mid-2000s. regardless, this book was very good, but also very sad, at times hitting a little too close to home for comfort. now i'm going to go read a fluffy romance novel to cope.

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gabigabs87's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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wordsonthepaige's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

This was the first Jodi Picoult book I read. I picked it up for book club, back in high school. (I'm pretty sure a teacher recommended it, which is wild to look back on now, considering how explicit some of the scenes are.)

Where Picoult almost always shines, and what got me hooked on her books, are the complexity of the issues she discusses, and the incredible moments in the courtroom. I also like the non-linear storytelling she often employs. She is a marvelous crafter of narrative.

That being said, I found this more disappointing on a reread than I expected to. The way the fathers in this story aren't allowed to grieve as the mothers do. And partially that is a plot point, but part of it isn't. The way Kate Harte gets only brief mentions is also a letdown. This is not her story, but she is affected by it. And we only see her when it's convenient for the plot of Chris or his parents. And I found myself almost completely unsympathetic towards Melanie Gold, which is wild, as she is the mother of a teenager who died.

Overall, I still think this book is worth reading. If you are prepared to deal with these heavy, heavy subjects.

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wolfepup1990's review against another edition

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2.75

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