Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Wish You Were Here

OMG that ending. It ended on a cliffhanger that I want to be continued.. but also I love that it was left to the reader to decide what it meant.

I started this book because Jodi told me to on TikTok, and knew nothing about it when I started it. I soon realized it takes place during the pandemic of 2020 and the way it was written absolutely drew me back into the time of quarantine, isolation, and the unknown.

The plot twist threw me for a loop but I loved this entire story and how everything played out. There hasn’t been a Jodi Picoult book yet that I haven’t loved.

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carlytenille's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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coffeekitaab's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Writing this in 2024, it is so strange to have relived Covid-19 through this book. A nostalgia when reading about how life generally, the way we lived it - even if we did not contract the virus itself - and the varying attitudes around the virus around the world, the medical staff who saved us, the loved ones we lost - it was a definite struggle and very difficult to carry on at times (only because of Picoult being a favourite author did I persevere). As always, this one packed a punch. There is a description towards the end, describing life during covid and how it felt everyone was holding their breath - a desperate need for a gasp - which no one released which felt/feels very true in hindsight. I'm not sure if reading this 2-3 years ago would have changed the experience I had today (and in what sense that would be) but in a way, I am glad it has been catalogued by Picoult. It is so easy to forget the time the world shutdown, especially as we are creatures of nature, rushing back to the slog and race of working life, trains now running and borders are now open, the time you spend an hour working overtime is an hour lost spending time with loved ones - the small print should always be highlighted - remember what matters. My love for JP continues to grow with each book I read. Please do check trigger warnings before picking this up.

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_david_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

1.5

I think I'm just not a fan of books in which the covid pandemic plays a big role. Nearly everyone currently alive has lived through it and witnessed its horrors or conspired that it wasn't that bad, but this book will not convince them otherwise. The plot twist was well written, but I still didn't like the story after. If you do not like the first half of the book, you will not enjoy the second.

To me personally, the main character was very self-centered and spoiled. A big theme in the book is that she "evolved" on the island to fit in better. She barely did though. She just got lucky with some villagers. The only moments I enjoyed was her making art with Belize, but the rest of the book made my eyes roll.

I think there was still a big clash of what the main character and I find important in life. I would have done the exact opposite of each choise she made in the end, except for perhaps the career choice.

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