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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I loved, loved, loved this book. Until the end, that is. What happened? Was Jacob sent to prison? Was Theo sent to prison? UGGGGG!
This book wasn't too bad. I wasn't a huge fan but at the same time I couldn't put it down. It's about a single mom who has 2 sons, aged 18 and 15, and the oldest has Asperger's. The oldest is also a forensic science fanatic and ends up on trial for the murder of his social skills teacher.
What bothered me about this book though is that after he became a suspect for murder no one ever asked him if he killed her or if she was dead already before he got there. They asked him stupid questions like "did she say anything to you when you go there?" or "did you mean to hurt her." Since he as Asperger's and is brutally honest and literally can't lie, the trial would have been over basically before it began but the author dragged it out and it became frustrating.
Another thing that bothered me is that they never said if he went to jail or not at the end of the book. It would have been nice to know how it really ended.
It was also really annoying how so many things were repeated. I felt like I was having deja vu throughout half of the book because I swear there were lines that were word-for-word repeated through the book. The repetativeness was a bit too much.
What bothered me about this book though is that after he became a suspect for murder no one ever asked him if he killed her or if she was dead already before he got there. They asked him stupid questions like "did she say anything to you when you go there?" or "did you mean to hurt her." Since he as Asperger's and is brutally honest and literally can't lie, the trial would have been over basically before it began but the author dragged it out and it became frustrating.
Another thing that bothered me is that they never said if he went to jail or not at the end of the book. It would have been nice to know how it really ended.
It was also really annoying how so many things were repeated. I felt like I was having deja vu throughout half of the book because I swear there were lines that were word-for-word repeated through the book. The repetativeness was a bit too much.
A really good read. Fast paced, and easy to read on the treadmill and while doing my hair. There were definitely some parts that bugged - like (what I felt) were the conflation of autism and asbergers. But, the story was just really gripping. I still am not totally sure that I understand the very last sentence. And it's going to bother me. Like, a lot...
To quote my GoodReads friend Gwen Haaland, this book was "disappointing, predictable, overly repetitive and just not credible." It was quite Picoult-formulaic.
Engaging story about a kind with Asberger's. I didn't know much about the topic, and it's kindled an interest in me in the whole topic of autism and asbergers. I don't know whether this book's depiction is realistic but it's also a helluva good read. Sucks you right in.
I can't decide whether this is 3.5 or 4 for me. I did like the vook, Jodi is a great writter, my favorite part of the story was definitely how she explored the relationships of the characters, all the characters are well devloped and beautifully written. I also liked how she explored autism and how it effected the different character lives. What was weak is the actual mystery in the book. If it is meant to be a mystery/thriller it falls short there because the mystery is extremely obvious, I figured it out right at the beginning and the whole time was frustrated that NO ONE figures it out. To me this is a great story of unconditional love, but if your wanting a mystery this probably isn't gonna do it for you
Soft dnf for now. Some slightly iffy language and narratives around autism, especially relating to vaccines. Mostly just slightly outdated rather than actually offensive but this on top of just not being motivated to pick it up means I've decided to put it aside for now.
I am usually a big fan of Jodi Picoult. I have read around 10 of her books and up till now I loved them all. This book to me fell flat. First, it was SO LONG. 500+ pages with a tiny font size. Additionally, this book, which centered around a character with Asperger’s, felt like a report on Asperger’s rather than a story. I would have appreciated the book more if Asperger’s was one of the characteristics of Jacob rather than the sole focus of the book. Also was it just me or was Picoult subtly suggesting that autism and vaccinations are linked?? That to me was just infuriating and could be a dangerous spread of misinformation. Finally, the ending fell flat. It was abrupt with no huge twist. I had pushed through the book with the hope of a cool ending and was very disappointed. Anyway, I still hold Jodi Picoult’s writing and research abilities to a high regard but would not recommend this novel.
Partway through this read I realized I had read it before. Very small pieces started coming back to me and even though I remembered the ending, I enjoyed reading it again. Great read!