A review by gemmascott
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

challenging reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was very brave to tackle such a divisive subject - abortion - and to offer explorations of so many different sides of the debate. It also showed the importance of access to women’s reproductive health care more broadly and how measures designed to prevent abortions actually have a much wider impact. 

However, I would have liked more discussion regarding the aftermath of the event, especially for some of the side characters. Similarly, I wasn’t a big fan of the book’s “backwards” structure - I found it quite repetitive and found myself growing impatient at times, as I felt myself becoming more and more detached from the plot. This had the effect of making me less interested in the characterisation, not more, as I just wanted to know what was happening! 

Altogether though, a nuanced look at a difficult, yet incredibly important topic. The author’a note at the end carried perhaps the most important message of the book - the fact that preventing access to legal abortion, will not make it stop, it will just put more women’s lives in danger. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings