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A review by samantita
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
3.0
It strikes me that this book was written 17 years ago (in '07) and school shootings have now become a norm in American society, just another event we offer up "thoughts and prayers" for and then go on about our days. I was also the same age as Peter and his peers at the time of this story, which felt strange. It was a long time ago but I'm having a hard time remembering if I had a fear of school shootings at the time. It's incredibly sad that this is what kids nowadays have to live with.
There's nothing special about Picoult's writing for me so I read more for the plot line, and this one felt like it had a lot of holes. It was hard to suspend my disbelief about Jordan letting Peter take the stand. No defense attorney worth their salt would ever let that happen. Especially when said attorney used a psychiatrist to prove that Peter was disassociating and didn't know what he was doing, and then Peter says that he wants to take the stand and explain why he did it?
I don't know how Alex could've even taken the case from the start. Even though her daughter wasn't injured by Peter, she was still very clearly involved in the day's events and had a close connection with Peter in the past. She had a relationship with Peter's mom in the past. All of that should've excused Alex from the case from the get-go.
Speaking of Alex and Lacy, did they really stop talking after the incident with Peter showing Josie the gun? It wasn't really talked about. I guess I could accept that, but I didn't like that it wasn't even mentioned.
I know that this was from a different time, but the bullying seemed so over done. I'm not saying that that doesn't actually happen, but it's hard to look at the shootings that happen nowadays and contribute those to bullies when these shooters are adults who are killing kindergarteners. Maybe I just don't know enough about the subject.
Trust your reader, Jodi. You wrote a good metaphor comparing cooking to Josie and Alex picking up the pieces of their relationship and then said "neither one of them was talking about cooking." We knew that! It was obvious!
She used another good metaphor when Lacy was referring to the deer: "Once you started taking care of them, you had to follow through, or they just wouldn't make it." This one worked and I appreciated the connection between her and Peter.
There's nothing special about Picoult's writing for me so I read more for the plot line, and this one felt like it had a lot of holes. It was hard to suspend my disbelief about Jordan letting Peter take the stand. No defense attorney worth their salt would ever let that happen. Especially when said attorney used a psychiatrist to prove that Peter was disassociating and didn't know what he was doing, and then Peter says that he wants to take the stand and explain why he did it?
I don't know how Alex could've even taken the case from the start. Even though her daughter wasn't injured by Peter, she was still very clearly involved in the day's events and had a close connection with Peter in the past. She had a relationship with Peter's mom in the past. All of that should've excused Alex from the case from the get-go.
Speaking of Alex and Lacy, did they really stop talking after the incident with Peter showing Josie the gun? It wasn't really talked about. I guess I could accept that, but I didn't like that it wasn't even mentioned.
I know that this was from a different time, but the bullying seemed so over done. I'm not saying that that doesn't actually happen, but it's hard to look at the shootings that happen nowadays and contribute those to bullies when these shooters are adults who are killing kindergarteners. Maybe I just don't know enough about the subject.
Trust your reader, Jodi. You wrote a good metaphor comparing cooking to Josie and Alex picking up the pieces of their relationship and then said "neither one of them was talking about cooking." We knew that! It was obvious!
She used another good metaphor when Lacy was referring to the deer: "Once you started taking care of them, you had to follow through, or they just wouldn't make it." This one worked and I appreciated the connection between her and Peter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mass/school shootings