Scan barcode
A review by markalkman
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
4.0
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This was such a heavy book. With an incredibly difficult subject. But I loved it. I have to admit that I feel like 'Small Great Things' is a better novel, but this is definitely one of my new favourite contemporaries. Not because it's such a wonderful story, but because it's difficult, sad, heart-breaking and most of all: a very current issue.
Jodi Picoult tackles a school shooting in 'Nineteen Minutes'. Seventeen year old Peter Houghton is fed up with being bullied every single day and decides to end his suffering. He steals guns (from his father and neighbour) and plants a car bomb in the parking lot to create a distraction. Then he walks into Sterling High, kills nine kids, a teacher and wounds nineteen more before he is apprehended by Detective Patrick Ducharme.
This part of the story only covers the first 40 pages of this novel. The rest is the aftermath. Kids having to bury their best friends, their boyfriend/girlfriend, a mother trying to comfort her estranged daughter and having to perform her duties as judge on the case. A detective trying to solve the case while getting tangled up in the lives of a witness and her mother. Parents coming to terms with the actions of their son. An attorney trying to help the kid who's already been judged by everyone, simply because he's the one who held the smoking gun.
It's a complicated story with a shocking yet pretty satisfying ending. It does not end wonderfully because it's not a 'wonderful' book. It's horrendous and heavy and it breaks your heart. You feel sorry for the kids who've lost their lives and the people that have to bury them, but at the same time your heart aches for Peter Houghton. No one should have to feel like this is their only way out, because the bullying hasn't stopped in the last fifteen years. No one should be able to have this option (guns should be banned, just FYI), where shooting up a school full of people who've hurt you is a better alternative than going through the motions for just another year.
The only thing I was kind of weary about is the amount of POV's. The story switches between Peter, Josie (the judge's estranged daughter), Alex (the judge), Lacy (Peter's mother), Lewis (Peter's father), Patrick (the detective), Jordan (Peter's attorney), Diana (the prosecutor) and some of the other kids at Sterling High. At first this annoyed me, later I kind of got used to it and it was just fine. I understood her choice, I didn't mind as much anymore.
Overall, I highly recommend reading this book, it's a really impactful novel and it's seriously fantastically written. Can't wait to read more by the amazing Mrs Picoult.
This was such a heavy book. With an incredibly difficult subject. But I loved it. I have to admit that I feel like 'Small Great Things' is a better novel, but this is definitely one of my new favourite contemporaries. Not because it's such a wonderful story, but because it's difficult, sad, heart-breaking and most of all: a very current issue.
Jodi Picoult tackles a school shooting in 'Nineteen Minutes'. Seventeen year old Peter Houghton is fed up with being bullied every single day and decides to end his suffering. He steals guns (from his father and neighbour) and plants a car bomb in the parking lot to create a distraction. Then he walks into Sterling High, kills nine kids, a teacher and wounds nineteen more before he is apprehended by Detective Patrick Ducharme.
This part of the story only covers the first 40 pages of this novel. The rest is the aftermath. Kids having to bury their best friends, their boyfriend/girlfriend, a mother trying to comfort her estranged daughter and having to perform her duties as judge on the case. A detective trying to solve the case while getting tangled up in the lives of a witness and her mother. Parents coming to terms with the actions of their son. An attorney trying to help the kid who's already been judged by everyone, simply because he's the one who held the smoking gun.
It's a complicated story with a shocking yet pretty satisfying ending. It does not end wonderfully because it's not a 'wonderful' book. It's horrendous and heavy and it breaks your heart. You feel sorry for the kids who've lost their lives and the people that have to bury them, but at the same time your heart aches for Peter Houghton. No one should have to feel like this is their only way out, because the bullying hasn't stopped in the last fifteen years. No one should be able to have this option (guns should be banned, just FYI), where shooting up a school full of people who've hurt you is a better alternative than going through the motions for just another year.
The only thing I was kind of weary about is the amount of POV's. The story switches between Peter, Josie (the judge's estranged daughter), Alex (the judge), Lacy (Peter's mother), Lewis (Peter's father), Patrick (the detective), Jordan (Peter's attorney), Diana (the prosecutor) and some of the other kids at Sterling High. At first this annoyed me, later I kind of got used to it and it was just fine. I understood her choice, I didn't mind as much anymore.
Overall, I highly recommend reading this book, it's a really impactful novel and it's seriously fantastically written. Can't wait to read more by the amazing Mrs Picoult.