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A review by morgan_byrd
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Its been a while since I read this because I read it before I made this account.
This book is very eh, it has a lot of good starting points but it doesn't really do anything good with them.
There is serious comentary to be made about how children don't have full bodily autonomy and how that can be abused, about how a minor with severe and possibly fatal illness might want to choose palliative care instead of continuing to fight, how necessary it might be to prioritize the needs of one of your children over another when that child is in crisis and the strain it can put on a family. At first it seems like the book might go in that direction and maybe my expectations were to high but all the pieces are right there and there's no way this is or should be a coffee table novel.
I don't think the book properly explore or elaborates on any of these issues.
The main plot is intriguing at times, the 2 subplots not so much.
One is a romance subplot with so much backstory and honestly why is there a romance subplot. It adds nothing to the story.
Subplot two is about the neglected older brother who kind of faded to the background with everything going on throughout the families lives and it much more relavant but still weak.
spoiler commentary about the ending for all who care It
The ending is a cop out, the arguement almost doesn't matter because she dies and her sister get her organs and thats it. Shes all better now, not sick or disabled anymore (cancer recovery doesn't work like that except in very rare occasion and especially not people who've had it for years). Family problems are semi-resolved even through grief. It seemed like for a couple pages there was set up for a sequel. The premise of a first book about a girls right to not the save her sister and a second about that sisters right to maybe just give up. Both about bodily autonomy. It does not do that.
This book is very eh, it has a lot of good starting points but it doesn't really do anything good with them.
There is serious comentary to be made about how children don't have full bodily autonomy and how that can be abused, about how a minor with severe and possibly fatal illness might want to choose palliative care instead of continuing to fight, how necessary it might be to prioritize the needs of one of your children over another when that child is in crisis and the strain it can put on a family. At first it seems like the book might go in that direction and maybe my expectations were to high but all the pieces are right there and there's no way this is or should be a coffee table novel.
I don't think the book properly explore or elaborates on any of these issues.
The main plot is intriguing at times, the 2 subplots not so much.
One is a romance subplot with so much backstory and honestly why is there a romance subplot. It adds nothing to the story.
Subplot two is about the neglected older brother who kind of faded to the background with everything going on throughout the families lives and it much more relavant but still weak.
spoiler commentary about the ending for all who care It
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Child death, and Cancer
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit