Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

42 reviews

bekacrook's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

What a hard hitting, emotional book. The characters were all flawed but genuine, they felt like they could be real people just stuck with an unfortunate lot in life. It was easy to understand where they each got their perspective on the court case and the way the author often dipped into their pasts while in their points of view really showed what key moments shaped them individually and as a family. 

At times it was a hard read, there were so many feelings involved for all the characters, so many secrets and misunderstandings and lack of communication between characters in an effort to save them from more pain. 

The ending absolutely gutted me, it differs from the film but ultimately I think it hits harder. It feels unfair and devasting and more in keeping with the unpredictable nature of life and peoples lives. It genuinely made me cry and gasp in shock. The timing of it was so effective but god, it was horrible. It felt like the whole story was for nothing. 

The only bit that I wasn't the biggest fan of was the jumping between perspectives, different times and locations for all of them. Sometimes this made it hard to keep track and keep immersed in the story because you kept leaping to learn about it from another perspective. It was effective but just sometimes tricky to keep up. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Medical trauma, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Chronic illness

Minor: Suicide attempt, Child death, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

fernash's review

reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Child death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Pedophilia tag for mention in joke, no pedophilia actually occurs.

manta_moony's review

emotional sad tense 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

4.25

Really good story, could be a bit repetitive at times. The male characters had this annoying trait of of talking about women a bit weirdly but it’s easy to look past it. The main protagonist was very likeable and the multiple perspectives was done really well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Child death, Cancer, Death, and Grief

magazine_euphemism's review

challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Car accident

Moderate: Terminal illness and Cancer

witchleaves's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, Suicide, and Medical content

Moderate: Cancer, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide attempt

aploinard's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Cancer

Moderate: Child death and Grief

hannah_beth_charles's review

hopeful reflective 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

2.5

I found myself skipping paragraphs because some of the metaphors were so boring and unnecessary that I found it was a waste of time. I also hated Picoult's writing style and the way she made the men's POVs full of vulgar language or shallow thoughts, like "boys will be boys".

I think that Anna's death was Jesse's punishment for starting fires and putting other's lives at risk. It's not fair for him to just be let off without punishment. The ending was quite surprising but and almost lazy. There's no way that Anna would have an unstrained relationship with her parents after she tried to sue them, and Kate's death would be blamed on Anna. Anna needed to die for the story to conclude. Kate becoming a ballet teacher is unrealistic and I know it was her dream, but she hadn't done ballet before, and ballet isn't a sport you can just do. It takes years of training.  

I couldn't care less Campbell and Julia's relationship. They're both toxic and Julia is desperate to be different. Julias losing her virginity on a gravestone was just odd.

I hated that throughout the novel, Sara was trying to be redeemed as a good mother or at least trying her best in a complicated situation. She had Anna just to save Kate. She probably wouldn't have had Anna if Kate wasn't sick. What irked me most was at the end when she said that she would send her one child in a fire to save the other child and she was willing to risk losing them both. That is so selfish because Sara sacrificing their lives. That's not fair and is plain wrong. She is not put in any danger.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol and Addiction

_janellealexa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Terminal illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

madilikestoread's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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

The ending was very unexpected! I cried multiple times, especially near the end of the novel. I loved that there’s multiple POV’s as well as Kate and Anna’s relationship. Overall, this is a beautiful book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death, Cancer, and Child death

Moderate: Car accident and Suicide

sarahbroccoli's review

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Correct ending would have been either 1) Kate dies naturally without kidney donation and Anna lives her best, independent life or 2) Anna donates her kidney with her own consent and cherishes the extra time with her sister. Anna deserves so much better than this ending!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Medical content