Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Really made me think and feel for Peter even when I didn’t want to!
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Arguably Jodi Picoult's best novel. A gripping novel about grief, trust, loyalty, and love.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a great respect for the way Ms. Picoult wrote this book. She writes with care and respect. Though the content of the book is squarely centered on the impacts of a mass shooting, I feel there was great effort to avoid thoroughly portraying the scene of violence with gratuity or too often. She also takes great care to humanize the perpetuator of this act but make it clear that no amount of "provocation" can validate this course of action.
Wow, I hated this.
This book whittles down important topics to a bunch of stereotypes and cliches because that's the only way for this book to appeal to the masses. In my view, it makes the story pointless noise around an extremely sensitive topic.
I truly feel that it's irresponsible to have a book that contends with school shootings but does not contend with the realities of gun ownership in this country, and to chalk everything up to mental health and high school jock stereotypes...irresponsible at best, negligant at worst.
You can tell this book was published in 2007 for the way it's littered out-of-date thinking. It was genuinely shocking to see the f-word written out on the page and used so casually, especially by a writer who is (as far as I can tell) not queer herself. I can think of many books that center school shootings that do a much better job of showcasing the nuances in those situations and bring light to the political forces that prevent us from preventing them from happening without all the stereotyping and slurs.
I also found this to be incredibly overwritten and in many ways this would have made a better 1990's Lifetime movie than a book because then at least the fluff and random nonsense metaphors would be cut out.
<i>I picked this up as part of my book club, and I acknowledge that I would have never picked up this book otherwise.</i>
This book whittles down important topics to a bunch of stereotypes and cliches because that's the only way for this book to appeal to the masses. In my view, it makes the story pointless noise around an extremely sensitive topic.
I truly feel that it's irresponsible to have a book that contends with school shootings but does not contend with the realities of gun ownership in this country, and to chalk everything up to mental health and high school jock stereotypes...irresponsible at best, negligant at worst.
You can tell this book was published in 2007 for the way it's littered out-of-date thinking. It was genuinely shocking to see the f-word written out on the page and used so casually, especially by a writer who is (as far as I can tell) not queer herself. I can think of many books that center school shootings that do a much better job of showcasing the nuances in those situations and bring light to the political forces that prevent us from preventing them from happening without all the stereotyping and slurs.
I also found this to be incredibly overwritten and in many ways this would have made a better 1990's Lifetime movie than a book because then at least the fluff and random nonsense metaphors would be cut out.
<i>I picked this up as part of my book club, and I acknowledge that I would have never picked up this book otherwise.</i>
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
This had me hooked from the first page. About a school shooting, a heavily bullied child and a group of "popular"
teenagers. What happens when the bullying goes just a little too far? It can happen in nineteen minutes, and alter everyone's life in just that amount of time.
teenagers. What happens when the bullying goes just a little too far? It can happen in nineteen minutes, and alter everyone's life in just that amount of time.