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keltreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
Decent read overall. I felt the novel captures the isolation and despair I felt/observed during the pandemic pretty well, and the first half in the Galapagos, although I think it dragged on for too long, was beautiful to read. I wasn't expecting the twist into the second half but found it refreshing and ties Diana's personal development well enough.Also I was confounded by how quickly she decided to break up with Finn even though they've been together for a while... like why did their communication become so poor despite having been ride or die?
karenthlove's review against another edition
3.0
Painfully boring. Definitely liked one story better than the other.
hokiegal2k's review against another edition
4.0
*Possible Spoiler*
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a bit surreal to read it as we are definitely not fully out of the pandemic yet. The story starts right as things were beginning to get really bad in NYC and revolves around a trip that Diana O’Toole takes without her boyfriend, Finn. As a doctor, he must stay behind to work.
In an even more surreal twist, I read this during the same time period as I was binge-watching Schitt’s Creek and in the middle of the Ted/Alexis/Galapagos storyline. Diana’s trip? To the Galapagos! During the first part of this novel, Diana is figuring out how to live in this foreign country during a lockdown period and begins contemplating her life with Finn. She was sure he would have proposed to her on the trip, but she now finds herself wondering if that is what she really wants. During the second half of the novel, Diana has to deal with these feelings once she is back home.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Wish You Were Here, but I am glad I read it. I am fortunate to have been dealing with the pandemic pretty well. However, I think this novel should come with a warning for those who may not have fared so well. I think anyone who has experienced long-haul COVID may really want to approach this with caution. That being said, there were a few things about long-haul COVID that I did not know and this book prompted me to do some research into the topic.
This was a wonderful story, but approach with caution if COVID-19 was a tough experience for you.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for an advanced copy of Wish You Were Here in exchange for an honest review.
Jodi Picoult’s latest novel takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a bit surreal to read it as we are definitely not fully out of the pandemic yet. The story starts right as things were beginning to get really bad in NYC and revolves around a trip that Diana O’Toole takes without her boyfriend, Finn. As a doctor, he must stay behind to work.
In an even more surreal twist, I read this during the same time period as I was binge-watching Schitt’s Creek and in the middle of the Ted/Alexis/Galapagos storyline. Diana’s trip? To the Galapagos! During the first part of this novel, Diana is figuring out how to live in this foreign country during a lockdown period and begins contemplating her life with Finn. She was sure he would have proposed to her on the trip, but she now finds herself wondering if that is what she really wants. During the second half of the novel, Diana has to deal with these feelings once she is back home.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Wish You Were Here, but I am glad I read it. I am fortunate to have been dealing with the pandemic pretty well. However, I think this novel should come with a warning for those who may not have fared so well. I think anyone who has experienced long-haul COVID may really want to approach this with caution. That being said, there were a few things about long-haul COVID that I did not know and this book prompted me to do some research into the topic.
This was a wonderful story, but approach with caution if COVID-19 was a tough experience for you.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for an advanced copy of Wish You Were Here in exchange for an honest review.
annacmccusker's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
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? No
3.75
harmony323's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
annatlibrarian14's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
josmrrs's review against another edition
1.0
I skipped a lot of this as so much unnecessary and, quite frankly, boring detail was included re the protagonist’s career background and the landscape of the Galapagos. I actually finished the book thinking: so what was the relevance of her type of career?
I felt it was lazy, shallow and a bit stereotypical-main-character-female: she’s beautiful and she doesn’t know it, people fall at her feet, and she tackles very few ideas of what normal women contemplate and tackle on a daily basis. It felt almost like a man had written it. There were also so many lines where I thought “No one would say that,” and it cringed me out. Also - Finn’s letters were so verbose that I skipped a lot of those as well. Perhaps they will be interesting to generations that didn’t experience COVID-19, but as we have first-hand accounts for that, I think it’s probably unlikely that they will hold up historically.
I felt it was lazy, shallow and a bit stereotypical-main-character-female: she’s beautiful and she doesn’t know it, people fall at her feet, and she tackles very few ideas of what normal women contemplate and tackle on a daily basis. It felt almost like a man had written it. There were also so many lines where I thought “No one would say that,” and it cringed me out. Also - Finn’s letters were so verbose that I skipped a lot of those as well. Perhaps they will be interesting to generations that didn’t experience COVID-19, but as we have first-hand accounts for that, I think it’s probably unlikely that they will hold up historically.
cindyshirld's review against another edition
3.0
This story took a very unexpected turn which threw me off. At first I thought it was so far off that it completely lost track from the story but she tied it off near the end, which kinda made sense. Did not like how she was so in love with Finn at the beginning and changed her feelings so fast after meeting some man in her imagination. However, I did like all the scientific fact included in the novel like Darwin's original finches, natural selection, and what happens to the brain during trauma.
fini_hch's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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
3.5