Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - My Sister's Keeper

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

42 reviews

giuliana_ferrari's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is an interesting ethical discussion on the implications of engineering a baby to serve as your child's donor. And although the borderline obsessive reasonings from the mother of the dying child are exposed in subtle and not so subtle moments, I felt like the author didn't want to take it as far as agreeing that Sara was in fact a bad mother. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but both mother and father made it clear throughout the book their terrible choices that led

to a young man becoming an arsonist

and a younger child becoming nothing more than a petri dish to save the other sister's life. No matter how strongly they tried to defend themselves in their narratives, they neglected their older child for the sake of the sick one and literally designed a baby to serve a specific purpose. That's why I'm so bothered by the ending:

Anna dies so Kate can live, and suddenly the mother is all grieving and suffering and wishing she could have Anna back, although she slapped her child for suing them and ignored and neglected her son

. Although I understand their situation was a terrible, unpredictable, emotionally exhausting one, the family basically gave me a crash course in what not to do when you have more than one child and one is severely ill. And in all of this the author seemed content in defending the parents and voicing that a mother would do anything for their child, even if that means being a terrible parent. On and all the book could have gone to a deeper discussion of morals and rights of choice, but instead focused a bit too much on the soap-opera moments of cancer devastating a white middle-class family with religious undertones. Am I being unsympathetic? Maybe. But it could have been much more.

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zoejjj's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Okay obviously I cried like a baby I have three sisters and if I was put in a position like this I have no clue what I would’ve done!! The part where Anna is in the shower and Kate is talking to her, saying I can lose you as a sister but I couldn’t handle losing you as a friend? I was trying to do chores while listening this and was cryinggg!!

Nobody in this book is hateable. Not even Sara. She is written as an incredibly driven woman who will stop at nothing to save her daughter. Unfortunately her other kids get forgotten in the process but she regrets, she makes it right. “This is her pond but my lily pads”? Shaving her head for Kate? Honestly Jesse got the wayyyy short end of the straw but he also almost killed someone.

The ending is… so so.

I wish Jodi would’ve committed to Kate dying. In the end, Anna’s choice was taken away from her AGAIN. Was the whole lawsuit pointless? Maybe! Sure it’s (possibly) realistic bc life does not care but this book isn’t meant to be realistic like that. The ending is out of left field for the topics this book is dealing with.

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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emotional 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

5.0

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sarahemhavens's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Begrudgingly and not, I’m giving this five stars. So many things made me violently angry in this book. The mom? Absolutely can’t stand her. She should thank her lucky stars she’s fictional and her name is Sara, no h; because oooooh if I met that lady I’d slap her SILLY. Jodi Picoult, I love you and your writing is phenomenal and incredibly impressive (research skills: 😗🤌), but you’re sick and twisted for this one. And I’m sick and twisted for loving it. Pls just read this book and experience this for yourself.

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ultraviolet98's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

While I won't spoil the ending here, this book doesn't have an answer to the question it poses, and while some may think that's a flaw, I rather think that's the whole point. It's a good ending--not satisfying, but good.

I also have no idea why the author included so much of the sordid past between Julia and Campbell, especially the more racy parts of Campbell's inner dialogue. Whether they were in love and what her skin smelled like, or the birthmark under her breast really had no relevance at all to the central question or themes of the book, was distracting, and felt really crass to include in a story like this.

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obsessor_of_books's review

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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green_amaryllis's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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mirandyli's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

2.5

This is a pretty sad but unrealistic book that nevertheless brings up some interesting ethical questions.

Anna is her sister Kate's "savior sister," meaning she was born to specifically as a genetic match for her sister, who has leukemia. Anna is now 13, and needs to donate a kidney in order to save Kate's life. Kate tells her she doesn't want to live anymore in a twist at the end, but Anna dies anyway in a car crash and is pronounced brain dead, donating the kidney before she dies. Pretty unrealistic story, but sad and thought-provoking.

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jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

thebowandthebook's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

Hard book. Difficult subject. Handled okay, but found the subplots very meh, and dramatized.

irritated with how Jess's misdeeds were handled, and the graphic picture of his braces was disturbing. In addition, the sexual subplot with Campbell and Julia annoyed me, it became less about the case and more aggressive sexual tension. Lastly, how Campbell didn't seem to have any remorse for the accident, no apologies, just oh yeah she'd want to donate her kidney... didn't seem realistic.

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