A review by notlikethebeer
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I really don't know how to feel about this book! It is a book about racism written by a white woman, and that's major alarm bells from the start. However, I did appreciate the author's note at the end (which, having read some reviews, I actually read first) - that Picoult was aware that it was not her story to write, and that instead she wanted to write the story of someone like her, who might see themselves as anti-racist without acknowledging all the ways they betray this. That was a really interesting approach, although being white I don't feel that I can assess whether that's the 'right' one or not. I think that did lead me to wonder about the inclusion of Ruth's chapters - by writing them, Picoult was writing from a viewpoint that she explicitly said is not hers and that she will never truly understand; but equally, if she hadn't written them, I guess it would have been a way of erasing Ruth from a story in which she played a pivotal part. All this to say I don't know. I did really like the chapters from Kennedy's perspective, in large part because I could see myself and similar viewpoints through them; and I found the Turk chapters, particularly the early ones, interesting as an example of the ways that extremism can 'take hold' on an individual level. Equally, do Turk's chapters - and the humanising of Turk - belong in the same book that's about the harm caused to Ruth? And can it ever be okay for a white author to portray such vitrolic racism (and homophobia), even if it's in aid of not shying away from reality? I don't know. Something that did stand out, positively, was the "damned if I do, damned if I don't" that arose from the dual charges levelled at Ruth. Otherwise, there's little in this book that I really know how I feel about! 
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