Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Beim Leben meiner Schwester

man, i was really looking forward to this book and it was honestly a big let down. don’t get me wrong, there were parts of it that were very interesting and very impactful, but a lot of it just felt like it dragged.

the characters internal monologues were often confusing and hard to follow. a lot of the metaphors felt very repetitive. and then the ending. don’t get me started on the ending!!! it completely came out of left field and for what!!!

my biggest frustration with the ending truly was that we spent the WHOLE BOOK building up anna’s autonomy and sense of self, and then in the end it was ripped away from her anyway. in the end she didn’t get to be anything more than a donor. it was supposed to be anna’s story and yet it still turned around to be about her sister. not to mention the fact that it went against kate’s wishes!! and kate’s doctor’s orders!!! ugh

finally, the love story between campbell and julia was just frankly an unnecessary subplot that left a lot to be desired

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briana513's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

3.75

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zemily83's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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pewterwolf's review against another edition

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emotional sad

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

3.5

This is one of those books where it feels like every one has either read or know the vague outline of. And the author of this is one of those authors that I have been meaning to read for YEARS, but I keep putting off due to the Hype Monster that surround them and their novels.

this is very much not my typical go-to read.

And yet, I found this quite a compelling read. Even though it took me a few weeks to read (mainly because I was focused on other things so reading took a back seat), I kept coming back to this messy family drama and these quite unlikeable characters. Ok, mainly unlikeable is the wrong word. Flawed and selfish.

The parents are so focused on her ill child, they forget about their other children (the mother more than the father). The eldest son is forgotten and considered a disappointment by his parents so he acts out. Anna feels like she has no voice or choice, but is uncertain over her choices and Kate who wants some control over her life but is unable to due to her illness.

I think that, yes, even though these characters are really flawed and make/do quite unlikeable things, I found them really interesting to read as, yes, they are flawed and make some really questionable decisions, but you see where they are all coming from.

It’s a nice relief to have Anna’s lawyer, Campbell, and Julia, the court appointed Guardian ad litem storyline running alongside. We have Campbell who has a service dog but we don’t know where and we have Campbell and Julia having a teen romance, but Julia (and the reader) don’t know why Campbell
ended it.

So, as you guess, I did like it. I didn’t love it, but I think that’s because I was on my guard with it. You see, I knew that the movie adaptation of this was changed and, even though I haven’t seen the film, I knew what the ending was changed from so I knew where this was going so I couldn’t invest in these characters like I should have. But would I have liked this twist in the tale had I not known? I have no idea. I would be shocked and I think I would have been very annoyed/angry over it.

And yes, I was very aware that this book was trying to emotionally-manipulate me on multiply occasions.

While I’m not sure if this book deserves all the attention that it has received, I am glad I have finally got round to reading it and I do plan to read more Jodi Picoult in the coming months (I have my eye on either Nineteen Minutes, Small Great Things or A Spark of Light, but we shall see where I go next…)

Content Warnings

amydeppe's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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pengustorm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense

5.0

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