Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - My Sisters Keeper

I found myself skipping paragraphs because some of the metaphors were so boring and unnecessary that I found it was a waste of time. I also hated Picoult's writing style and the way she made the men's POVs full of vulgar language or shallow thoughts, like "boys will be boys".

I think that Anna's death was Jesse's punishment for starting fires and putting other's lives at risk. It's not fair for him to just be let off without punishment. The ending was quite surprising but and almost lazy. There's no way that Anna would have an unstrained relationship with her parents after she tried to sue them, and Kate's death would be blamed on Anna. Anna needed to die for the story to conclude. Kate becoming a ballet teacher is unrealistic and I know it was her dream, but she hadn't done ballet before, and ballet isn't a sport you can just do. It takes years of training.

I couldn't care less Campbell and Julia's relationship. They're both toxic and Julia is desperate to be different. Julias losing her virginity on a gravestone was just odd.

I hated that throughout the novel, Sara was trying to be redeemed as a good mother or at least trying her best in a complicated situation. She had Anna just to save Kate. She probably wouldn't have had Anna if Kate wasn't sick. What irked me most was at the end when she said that she would send her one child in a fire to save the other child and she was willing to risk losing them both. That is so selfish because Sara sacrificing their lives. That's not fair and is plain wrong. She is not put in any danger.

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_janellealexa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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madilikestoread's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The ending was very unexpected! I cried multiple times, especially near the end of the novel. I loved that there’s multiple POV’s as well as Kate and Anna’s relationship. Overall, this is a beautiful book.

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sarahbroccoli's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Correct ending would have been either 1) Kate dies naturally without kidney donation and Anna lives her best, independent life or 2) Anna donates her kidney with her own consent and cherishes the extra time with her sister. Anna deserves so much better than this ending!!!

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giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book is an interesting ethical discussion on the implications of engineering a baby to serve as your child's donor. And although the borderline obsessive reasonings from the mother of the dying child are exposed in subtle and not so subtle moments, I felt like the author didn't want to take it as far as agreeing that Sara was in fact a bad mother. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but both mother and father made it clear throughout the book their terrible choices that led

to a young man becoming an arsonist

and a younger child becoming nothing more than a petri dish to save the other sister's life. No matter how strongly they tried to defend themselves in their narratives, they neglected their older child for the sake of the sick one and literally designed a baby to serve a specific purpose. That's why I'm so bothered by the ending:

Anna dies so Kate can live, and suddenly the mother is all grieving and suffering and wishing she could have Anna back, although she slapped her child for suing them and ignored and neglected her son

. Although I understand their situation was a terrible, unpredictable, emotionally exhausting one, the family basically gave me a crash course in what not to do when you have more than one child and one is severely ill. And in all of this the author seemed content in defending the parents and voicing that a mother would do anything for their child, even if that means being a terrible parent. On and all the book could have gone to a deeper discussion of morals and rights of choice, but instead focused a bit too much on the soap-opera moments of cancer devastating a white middle-class family with religious undertones. Am I being unsympathetic? Maybe. But it could have been much more.

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zoejjj's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Okay obviously I cried like a baby I have three sisters and if I was put in a position like this I have no clue what I would’ve done!! The part where Anna is in the shower and Kate is talking to her, saying I can lose you as a sister but I couldn’t handle losing you as a friend? I was trying to do chores while listening this and was cryinggg!!

Nobody in this book is hateable. Not even Sara. She is written as an incredibly driven woman who will stop at nothing to save her daughter. Unfortunately her other kids get forgotten in the process but she regrets, she makes it right. “This is her pond but my lily pads”? Shaving her head for Kate? Honestly Jesse got the wayyyy short end of the straw but he also almost killed someone.

The ending is… so so.

I wish Jodi would’ve committed to Kate dying. In the end, Anna’s choice was taken away from her AGAIN. Was the whole lawsuit pointless? Maybe! Sure it’s (possibly) realistic bc life does not care but this book isn’t meant to be realistic like that. The ending is out of left field for the topics this book is dealing with.

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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