Author: Jodi Picoult
Published: May 6, 1998
Genre: contemporary fiction
Paperback: 389 pages
Source: borrowed from the library
My Rating: 4 stars
Synopsis (from GoodReads): For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty-- they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born. So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet-- a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.
My Thoughts: This was the first Jodi Picoult book that I've read (and I know that's heresay to some of you), and I can't believe that I have resisted reading her work for so long. I just stumbled upon this book as I was meandering through the library and figured, "Why not give it a chance?" I fell in love with this book within the first few pages and was sad that it had to end. The story is a bit Romeo and Juliet, but so moving that it's hard to put down. The characters are rich and Picoult writes in such a way that you are able to sympathize with nearly everyone of them (the defense lawyer was the only person who I didn't really like). It was just such a good book!
Picoult allows you into each of the main characters lives, showing you what it is like for them to go through this experience. Each character is well developed and thought out and each goes through some kind of growth. I won't go into detail because I would end up writing pages of my thoughts down, but every character is changed by the experience and takes something out of it. While I am disappointed that it took me so long to discover Jodi Picoult, I am just as excited to now read her other works. If you do read her novels, which ones are your favorites? Please let me know!
I'm glad you found JodiP, definitely try others, I think you will love her.
ReplyDeleteThis unfortunately for me was the book that made me give up on her, I 'hated' it.
I've read a lot of her books and I really like most of them. I love how there's always a trial going along with some really big societal issue. The Pact I think was my fav. of hers, but Nineteen Minutes was sort of similiar to it. I also liked Plain Truth a lot :)
ReplyDeleteI have read many Of Picoult's books and although sometimes I feel like "they are all the same", I know that they will be entertaining and that I will not be able to put them down. She manages to find one controversial topic after another. What could be better?
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like a great read!
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-Buffi
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