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A review by jenbsbooks
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
4.25
I liked this a lot ... it wasn't really what I was expecting, and it's a little hard to talk much about it without giving things away.
First person//Present tense, two parts, with chronological chapters running (11 in part 1, 7+ an epilogue in part 2; although a few of the chapters were SHORT. Chapter 15. Sixteen. Seventeen. These are a little more impactful in print I think (having listened, then seeing the pages, and the white space). There was a "reader's guide" with some Q&A and bookclub questions included in the Kindle and physical copy. I had this in all three formats. I went primarily with the audio, checking in with the Kindle copy to make a few notes/highlights and for review afterward.
As I picked up this book, it's the start of 2025 ... ironically I just had my own second bout with Covid last month. Neither time I got very sick. While my family and I experienced the scare of the pandemic, schools/stores closing, we weren't really all that affected. Even having heard stories of the extreme situations, it was a little "ahhhh" to read about it in this fictional setting, even years afterward when things have calmed down. I definitely don't think I could have read this much earlier.
SPOILER ... the TWIST caught me totally off guard. As she was drowning, then waking up and I realized that the whole Galapagos storyline wasn't real (or was it?) I was pretty surprised. I know I have very vivid dreams, that feel real, until I wake up, and then they fade, and if I think about them, they really don't make sense. Super tender moment, having been so sad not being able to be there for her mother when she died ... in the "dream" storyline, and then realizing that hadn't happened and things could be different here (although, in the end ...) I had really liked the relationship with Beatriz. I wasn't sure how I felt about the "real" life and Diana giving up on Finn ... although it is slipped in that he is happily engaged in the end, so I guess we can't feel too bad for him.
Some quotes that resonated ...
You don't have to be afraid of dying, when you're already dead.
You can't grieve something if you don't let yourself get close enough to care.
You shouldn't stay with someone because of your past together - what matters more is if you want the same future.
There was proFanity (x33). Some other words/phrases I noticed ... Hubs and I had just started watching AP Bio on Netflix. In the book, Diana references her AP Bio class (I just thought that was coincidental). Also "arcane" ... (I'm watching that while walking the treadmill). Ornithologist ... that's been in more books that you'd think! "a zephyr of boys" was interesting imagery/description.
First person//Present tense, two parts, with chronological chapters running (11 in part 1, 7+ an epilogue in part 2; although a few of the chapters were SHORT. Chapter 15. Sixteen. Seventeen. These are a little more impactful in print I think (having listened, then seeing the pages, and the white space). There was a "reader's guide" with some Q&A and bookclub questions included in the Kindle and physical copy. I had this in all three formats. I went primarily with the audio, checking in with the Kindle copy to make a few notes/highlights and for review afterward.
As I picked up this book, it's the start of 2025 ... ironically I just had my own second bout with Covid last month. Neither time I got very sick. While my family and I experienced the scare of the pandemic, schools/stores closing, we weren't really all that affected. Even having heard stories of the extreme situations, it was a little "ahhhh" to read about it in this fictional setting, even years afterward when things have calmed down. I definitely don't think I could have read this much earlier.
SPOILER ...
Some quotes that resonated ...
You don't have to be afraid of dying, when you're already dead.
You can't grieve something if you don't let yourself get close enough to care.
You shouldn't stay with someone because of your past together - what matters more is if you want the same future.
There was proFanity (x33). Some other words/phrases I noticed ... Hubs and I had just started watching AP Bio on Netflix. In the book, Diana references her AP Bio class (I just thought that was coincidental). Also "arcane" ... (I'm watching that while walking the treadmill). Ornithologist ... that's been in more books that you'd think! "a zephyr of boys" was interesting imagery/description.