Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Wish You Were Here

Like the best of her books, the author looks at separation during the beginning of the Covid pandemic with so many insights. I loved the characters, the setting, and the plot. You can't ask for much more than that.

Content Warnings

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel like I either love Jodi Picoult's books or I hate the ending...and this one fell into the latter category! :(

The beginning was slow but I had heard that there was a twist in this one so I kept reading because I wanted to know what the twist was. I kept trying to guess the twist too, and at one point I was convinced I had it right...plot twist in my head, I was completely wrong, I didn't get anywhere close to guessing the twist lol. But I did actually like the twist. It brought new life into the plot and kept me reading for the latter half.

But then...the ending happened and it made me realize that I did not like Diana at all the whole time I'd been reading. Diana of course does a lot of introspection on the Galápagos and realizes that she's not as happy as she thought she was (I feel like this is not a spoiler to say as it's pretty typical of main characters in these kinds of books). Which is fine, she can be unhappy and try to find what will make her happy, good for her—except that she never really does explain what about her life makes her so unhappy and what will make her happy. And maybe she doesn't know yet what will make her happy, but by the end of it I just felt like I still knew nothing about Diana and why she was so unsatisfied, and I was frustrated by her choices at the end when there was no real explanation for why she was making them.

When she breaks off her relationship with Finn, she can't even explain to HIM why she's doing it, let alone herself or the reader. Finn wasn't perfect, sure, but there was no good reason given for why she would do that. Especially since he'd been in the hospital for months dealing with covid patients. I just thought she could have handled the breakup way better. Also she never explains why she cheated on him, even if it only happened in her mind. It was just all odd to me.

I liked the supporting characters, but we never really get close enough to anyone else for me to feel really strongly about them. This book had some interesting thoughts on the pandemic, but it also seemed filled with a lot of cliches and not enough depth.

Maybe I just wasn't ready for a pandemic book yet. Regardless, I don't think this one will be very memorable in my mind. And My Sister's Keeper is still my favorite Jodi Picoult book.

Thank you to Libro.fm, the publisher, and the author for my ALC!

Content Warnings

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Jodi never disappoints. I know this and yet I am always surprised by the amount of research and attention to detail she uses when creating new books. Wish You Were Here is a beautiful and devastating story about life during the time of COVID. It made me feel all the things. It reminded me that even though many of the people in my life have moved on and no longer fear COVID, that there are other people in the world who are just as afraid as I am. Also, the twist in this book — will make you angry. Like, so, so angry. But the book still ends well. It’s worth the pain.

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lpdx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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michelled13's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

bethsbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Sometimes I think Jodi Picoult uses the novel to showcase fun facts she’s learned since writing her last novel. In this case: snorkelling, the Galapagos, art therapy, artwork and of course, Covid. While all of this information is interesting, this novel felt really info-dumpy to me, lacking an original character arc and a wowing plot.

I was gripped at the start and again in the middle, but overall disappointed,

especially by the twist that Diana’s time on the island was a dream, and then again by the fact that Jodi experimented with sci-fi only for that to be written off as Diana being “crazy”

.

The character development felt lack-lustre to me. Finn was arguably the most interesting character and all we got from him was a couple of emails, a very short paragraph about his spiralling into alcoholism and a lot of Diana’s inner monologue about how horrible he was, only to never be shown that with any concrete facts.

That being said, Diana getting Covid and having this wild dream was all a ploy for her to have this epiphany that the white, middle-class, American dream wasn’t for her. How privileged do you have to be to give THAT up for a little bit more independence? Like really? That was the point of the novel?

The whole theme of needing human connection and how living in pandemic isolation is not natural for our species was nice, but again, not original. That’s all everyone has talked about online since the first lockdown. Again, reflects on Jodi’s white privilege a little bit again when other people were struggling to eat, find shelter, survive during Covid. I know that Diana’s storyline

getting covid and being isolated on an island

isn’t technically very priveleged, and she has bad luck, but she still thrives and to be honest, a lot of that seems to have to do with the fact that her boyfriend is a surgeon, and again, that she’s good-looking enough on this island to get help. Maybe I’m reading into this too much but I just feel like this didn’t showcase a very fair or unique representation of people’s struggles during the pandemic. Finn would have been a much more interesting character to focus on with his PTSD, or Rodney, with the fact that he had to move back home because he lost his job.

Anyway, I feel like I read 350 pages of information just so Diana could have a very slight character arc that wasn’t really rooted in anything tangible or concrete. Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite others and a huge reason I’m a writer today. She even wrote me a wedding card! But this book missed the mark for me, sadly.

Content Warnings

melaniie's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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