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sharonwes36's review against another edition
4.0
Very good book. Well written. Harder to read due to subject, but brought some light to different aspect of the scenario.
cobycoyle's review
3.0
I think it’s absolutely important to not shy away from the topic of school shootings, as someone who works at a school.
Not sure this was handled how it should be though. I understand Peter was bullied to a horrendous degree, and I understand that is Picoult trying to get inside the mind of someone that commits an act like that…but I feel she fell a little short. We can only empathize with someone who shot and wounded or killed other children (and some of them completely blameless) and I feel like she was trying to get us to root for Peter, when flat out we just shouldn’t have been.
The twist at the end…I can’t determine how I feel about it to be honest.
Also, so many POVs. Was the prosecutor’s really necessary? Peter’s dad, whose POV’s were so frickin boring because of his economics of happiness crap?
Not sure this was handled how it should be though. I understand Peter was bullied to a horrendous degree, and I understand that is Picoult trying to get inside the mind of someone that commits an act like that…but I feel she fell a little short. We can only empathize with someone who shot and wounded or killed other children (and some of them completely blameless) and I feel like she was trying to get us to root for Peter, when flat out we just shouldn’t have been.
The twist at the end…I can’t determine how I feel about it to be honest.
Also, so many POVs. Was the prosecutor’s really necessary? Peter’s dad, whose POV’s were so frickin boring because of his economics of happiness crap?
mcmattheu's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
strawberryninja's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Very well written and thought provoking. I couldn’t put it down.
alyssac613's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
heathercottledillon's review
4.0
I am still trying to figure out how I feel about "Nineteen Minutes" because it left me with so much to think about that it's going to take a while to sort out. At this point, my opinion is that although there are parts that are over-the-top with the drama (making some aspects seem unrealistic), this is a very interesting book. As she does in most of her books, Picoult takes a very controversial real-life issue and shows several aspects of it through a compelling fictional story. Bullying, mental illness, peer pressure, grief, guilt, drug use, homophobia, single parenting...there's a lot going on in this thing. Instead of portraying schools shootings as a clear-cut, black-and-white issue, Picoult shows the gray areas. I sympathized with almost every character--including Peter--at some point, and I also felt angry at almost every character at some point. Picoult does a great job of humanizing Peter without letting him off the hook for what he does. Perhaps "humanizing" isn't the right word--it's like she shows how Peter was dehumanized by the abuse he took from his classmates but doesn't take all of the blame off him (as lots of kids are bullied but most of them don't kill people because of it). The book is relatively dense and short on dialogue, yet somehow it seemed to move quickly and I couldn't put it down. I also enjoyed the big twist at the end and thought it was a satisfying conclusion. This is one that will stick with me for a while.