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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
It was VERY predictable!
But an easy read which is what I needed right now
But an easy read which is what I needed right now
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the writing in this book was really well done, no doubt. but i can’t tell if this book was entirely too long or entirely too short. we went on a journey for over 500 pages and then the ending was wrapped up in like 20 pages and i felt like it deserved more? how does the family’s story truly end?
every character had their own flaws and it made me conflicted on who or what i was rooting for. it wasn’t just a clear “root for jacob because he was wrongly accused”. there were so many other layers that i don’t know what i feel like each character deserved.
every character had their own flaws and it made me conflicted on who or what i was rooting for. it wasn’t just a clear “root for jacob because he was wrongly accused”. there were so many other layers that i don’t know what i feel like each character deserved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness
Taken on its own merits, House Rules is a decent story of a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome on trial for murder. The solution to the mystery is painfully obvious just a third of the way into the book, but the characters are fairly well-developed and compelling. By shifting among various character perspectives, author Jodi Picoult does a particularly good job of illustrating both how the world looks to a person with Asperger's and the alternating joys and frustrations of having a loved one with special needs.
It's hard to look past the novel's factual inaccuracies, though, which include both an unrealistic depiction of the autism spectrum -- for all her evident research, Picoult seems to have missed that no one with autism manifests every single textbook behavior -- and the dangerous disproved claim that childhood vaccines can be linked to an autism diagnosis. The author's heart is clearly in the right place as she seeks to educate her readers about these issues, but I worry this afterschool special of a book does more harm than good.
It's hard to look past the novel's factual inaccuracies, though, which include both an unrealistic depiction of the autism spectrum -- for all her evident research, Picoult seems to have missed that no one with autism manifests every single textbook behavior -- and the dangerous disproved claim that childhood vaccines can be linked to an autism diagnosis. The author's heart is clearly in the right place as she seeks to educate her readers about these issues, but I worry this afterschool special of a book does more harm than good.
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very much a product of its time, but some interesting and good representation thrown in.
Very poor representation of autism. Misinformation and could be harmful. Use of diets and supplements to 'treat' the 'symptoms' of autism. Talks about EIBI (a form of ABA which is harmful to autistic people and teaches them to mask instead of being themselves).
House Rules was not one of Jodi Picoult's best. I found her to repeating the same information about Aspberger's chapter after chapter. I also figured out fairly early on how the book was going to end. Which usually isn't the case with her books.