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c_dmckinney 's review for:
Nineteen Minutes
by Jodi Picoult
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the first Jodi Picoult book I have read and finished. I have meant to read something of hers for quite a while but honestly I never really got around to it. I am definitely going to have to add more to my TBR.
This book was intense. It was raw and horrifying and extremely human. It made me sick to my soul and I could not put it down.
This is a horror novel, although it certainly isn't marketed that way. I saw one review that called it Carrie, but with a Glock and that is such an apt description. This is a horror story about bullies and bullying, about how trauma compounds, about the utter failure of parents and schools to handle severe bullying and hazing, about a child pushed well past the brink of what he can take, about how easy it is to miss the warning signs in patterns of escalation, about a uniquely American event that is mostly predicated around the glorification of and access to firearms. It is genuinely one of the most blood freezing horrors I have ever ever read and honestly the whole time I had one thought at the back of my head: This is actually Carrie if the story was written by a woman, particularly a mother.
There is nothing supernatural in this story. It is arguably hauntingly grounded in reality. And yet it is incredibly dark and harrowing as anything Steven King has ever written.
I'm typing this review at 3:15 in the morning. I *had* to finish this especially as I started seeing a twist coming. I was wrong about the direction it came from and I won't spoil it, but it was satisfying all the same.
This book was intense. It was raw and horrifying and extremely human. It made me sick to my soul and I could not put it down.
This is a horror novel, although it certainly isn't marketed that way. I saw one review that called it Carrie, but with a Glock and that is such an apt description. This is a horror story about bullies and bullying, about how trauma compounds, about the utter failure of parents and schools to handle severe bullying and hazing, about a child pushed well past the brink of what he can take, about how easy it is to miss the warning signs in patterns of escalation, about a uniquely American event that is mostly predicated around the glorification of and access to firearms. It is genuinely one of the most blood freezing horrors I have ever ever read and honestly the whole time I had one thought at the back of my head: This is actually Carrie if the story was written by a woman, particularly a mother.
There is nothing supernatural in this story. It is arguably hauntingly grounded in reality. And yet it is incredibly dark and harrowing as anything Steven King has ever written.
I'm typing this review at 3:15 in the morning. I *had* to finish this especially as I started seeing a twist coming. I was wrong about the direction it came from and I won't spoil it, but it was satisfying all the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Acephobia/Arophobia, Lesbophobia