Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

3 reviews

danielleafsordeh's review

Go to review page

emotional tense 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? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this book, there was an interesting twist at the end and it definitely kept my attention. It fortunately didn't focus too much on the violence of the day until you get into the actual trial in the latter half of the book. It was more interesting than I was expecting.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jen1804's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a good read and a book which covered a really important topic, it was certainly very apt with today’s current affairs following the sad events that recently happened in Texas.
This is a story about a 17 year old boy who has been bullied all his life who one day snaps and opens fire on his high school, killing 10 people and wounding a further 19, all within the space on ‘nineteen minutes’.
It follows the events of that day and is written through the eyes of multiple characters; Peter himself, his mother, his father, his lawyer, his childhood friend who eventually became one of the ‘popular kids’, her mother, the detective on the case. And it goes back and forth in time each chapter, showing us how Peter was treated not only by his fellow students, but also by the teachers who did not provide much of an authority when it came to bullying, and by his parents who despite doing what they thought was best, didn’t always ‘see’ Peter the way he needed to be seen.
Reading about the events of the day and the effects on both the victims’ parents and also Peter’s parents is pretty difficult reading to be honest and can be emotional as you’d expect.
It is such an interesting book which explores gun violence and school shootings, holding Peter accountable for the irreparable damage and hurt he has caused and includes scenes of his trial after his arrest.
But this is also a book about the effects of bullying and how it is everyone’s responsibility to teach our kids how to treat each other and to protect children from going through the same things Peter did. Some of the things that happen to him are excruciating to read and my heart really wrenched thinking back to how much of a shitty time school can be for any number of people but especially anyone considered an oddball.
The book overall is a reminder to be a good human and treat others with respect, whilst simultaneously telling the story of the catastrophic consequences which can be experienced in the extremes should A) someone not get that respect just one too many times and B) has access to weapons.
Satisfactory ending? Mostly yes, just a tiny bit no.
Edit: I originally rated this book a 4.0 immediately after finishing but have increased it to a 4.5 because it’s one of those books which has stayed with me.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

eevacasey's review

Go to review page

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...