Scan barcode
yoursisterscanary's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I read this book for book club and it is not the sort of author I would normally gravitate towards. The print copy I picked up from the library was vandalized with racist and anti-Semitic comments throughout. Not the sort of comments you find spewed from the Turk character but more insidious and subtle. When the Kennedy character would grapple with white privilege the vandal would insert comments about Jewish people supposedly holding a disproportional amount of power in society. When the Ruth character would express a desire to not have her professional competence or hiring decision questioned because of her race, the vandal would insert comments blaming “white liberals” and “DEI” as if any efforts to address concerns raised in the book were the true issue and not the institutions that prop up systemic inequities.
Some of the vandals comments were more personal affronts and as with the first comment I described, pertained to my own identity. This left me with the choice of either reading through with real life reminders that someone in my community considers me lesser or having a voice actor scream the most vile slurs at me. It felt an impossible choice but I opted for the voice actor since he was just a person doing his job.
Unfortunately, I did not find this very psychologically harmful trip through hate speech to be in any way worth it. In the acknowledgements the author even says plainly the book was written for white [cis, het, gentile] women. The author did not engage in the topics of institutional racism in any meaningful way. She shied away from diving deeply into where the heart of hate and injustice lives in our communities, people like the Kennedy character and the vandal who wrote in my book. While she makes clear that neo-nazis like Turk have moved “underground” and look like “anyone”, she does not make clear that they will not sound or act like the Turk character and instead will be much more like everyone at the hospital or Kennedy and her family.
The author’s decision to indulge in chapters long ultra violence and then give that character a redemption arch made me wonder who she thought was actually reading her book. As if she envisioned droves of neo-nazi men picking up her novel from the self-help section while sipping Starbucks, pushing a big red cart in Target.
If you belong to any marginalized group, this book is not for you. If you, like me, have been the victim of a hate crime or hate speech, this book is not for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt
steffireadsbooks's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Read for book club. This book is deeply upsetting but not in the way I believe it was meant to be. Picoult thinks she can talk to a few people about racial injustice and then spend 500 pages yelling the N word and the F word at you and call it anti-racist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt
jennswan's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, and Death of parent
abbywj's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, and Medical content
Moderate: Police brutality and Religious bigotry
Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt
joshkiba13's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
"What if the puzzle of the world was a shape you didn't fit into? And the only way to survive was to mutilate yourself, carve away your corners, sand yourself down, modify yourself to fit? How come we haven't been able to change the puzzle instead?"
This was my second Jodi Picoult novel, after Mad Honey. This novel likewise explores complex social issues by way of a court trial, but it was a whole different ballgame. In Mad Honey we as readers were not present during the murder at the start of the novel, and details of the victim's death come throughout the book. This time, we are present as one of our main characters struggles, but fails to save a baby's life. The question here as readers is not if Ruth is innocent or guilty, but whether she can escape the heavy iron grip that racism has on her life.
This was a very heavy, saddening story. We follow three characters: Ruth, a black delivery nurse; Kennedy, her white defense attorney; and Turk, a white supremacist, the father of the baby Ruth failed to save. Each character had their own unique voice (apart from each one having a separate narrator on the audiobook). Ruth is optimistic about the world but hurting; Kennedy is enthusiastic and passionate; Turk is angry and wrathful. Each character was written brilliantly.
One thing I wished for throughout the whole book was to see a little bit more of Turk; as horrible as his mindsets were, he was a very troubled and unique character to read about. His life was intriguing. It wasn't his story in the end, however, and I really enjoyed the relationships portrayed between Ruth, her sister, her son, an old friend, and Kennedy her lawyer.
This novel taught me that racism isn't just discrimination, it's privilege inherent (or missing) in our society based on race. One quote that stuck out to me was that ignorance is a privilege too, that white people get to enjoy. It's easy to underestimate the struggle that people of color in America go through daily when you're not the one experiencing it---when you're the one benefitting from it, even unintentionally. It's a hard truth to face, but such an important one.
I was sad and feeling heavy every time I finished listening to the book, but it was absolutely worth it. The wrap-up of the story did not at all go like I expected, and it was very emotional for me. If all of Jodi's books are this fraught with tension and emotion, I think I'll be reading her for years.
This was my second Jodi Picoult novel, after Mad Honey. This novel likewise explores complex social issues by way of a court trial, but it was a whole different ballgame. In Mad Honey we as readers were not present during the murder at the start of the novel, and details of the victim's death come throughout the book. This time, we are present as one of our main characters struggles, but fails to save a baby's life. The question here as readers is not if Ruth is innocent or guilty, but whether she can escape the heavy iron grip that racism has on her life.
This was a very heavy, saddening story. We follow three characters: Ruth, a black delivery nurse; Kennedy, her white defense attorney; and Turk, a white supremacist, the father of the baby Ruth failed to save. Each character had their own unique voice (apart from each one having a separate narrator on the audiobook). Ruth is optimistic about the world but hurting; Kennedy is enthusiastic and passionate; Turk is angry and wrathful. Each character was written brilliantly.
One thing I wished for throughout the whole book was to see a little bit more of Turk; as horrible as his mindsets were, he was a very troubled and unique character to read about. His life was intriguing. It wasn't his story in the end, however, and I really enjoyed the relationships portrayed between Ruth, her sister, her son, an old friend, and Kennedy her lawyer.
This novel taught me that racism isn't just discrimination, it's privilege inherent (or missing) in our society based on race. One quote that stuck out to me was that ignorance is a privilege too, that white people get to enjoy. It's easy to underestimate the struggle that people of color in America go through daily when you're not the one experiencing it---when you're the one benefitting from it, even unintentionally. It's a hard truth to face, but such an important one.
I was sad and feeling heavy every time I finished listening to the book, but it was absolutely worth it. The wrap-up of the story did not at all go like I expected, and it was very emotional for me. If all of Jodi's books are this fraught with tension and emotion, I think I'll be reading her for years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Suicide
wolfebh's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Medical trauma
Minor: Suicide
cnord's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide
sarahbada's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt
squarahreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
flew through this one and really reading it overall (though it made me feel sick to my stomach at times)
a little trope-y and not entirely sure how I feel about some aspects of the storytelling- though I think it is pretty well-suited to tell this kind of story to the target demographic.
a little trope-y and not entirely sure how I feel about some aspects of the storytelling- though I think it is pretty well-suited to tell this kind of story to the target demographic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
lexithelion's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.75
Wow, what a captivating novel. I went into it not really knowing what it was about or how intense it was going to be. I was a bit caught off guard in the first 3rd of the book because of how blatantly head-on it is on the topic of racism. As a white person myself, I feel the same way Jodi did writing this book as I was reading it; I want to understand and adjust my perspective to better face the injustice in this world and after reading this I feel as though I am less lost on how I can help. This story is not only based on a true one, but the fictional characters feel so real as if this did actually happen. Every character has a fully fleshed-out backstory and motive for their present actions. Every character feels as though they were written by a different author, creating incredible character diversity. They feel authentic and make the story feel well-timed and not rushed. I do wish that more was written about Edison, however, as we started to see his character change throughout the novel without really an answer as to why or what triggered this. I thought it would have been interesting to read how Ruth and Edison's dynamic changed as Edison faded out of being this 'perfect American high-school scholar' archetype.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Blood, and Excrement