livlosiewicz's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
Pros:
•Reading this, it’s not surprising that Picoult bloomed into an amazing bestselling author. The bones of her main writing strengths are there
•I love a multiple POV story, and I thought the perspectives weaved together well. The characters are very flawed, but getting each perspective allowed me to empathize
•I liked that Rebecca’s timeline went in reverse (I actually thought it worked better here than in her most recent novel, Mad Honey). I think this allowed us to have a more favorable view of Hadley and a more mature view of Rebecca. I also really liked getting the same scene from multiple perspectives; this was a really cool way to explore different aspects of the story
•I love it when a book makes me think, and this one certainly did
Cons:
•you can tell this is an early book for her because some things didn’t quite land. I love flawed characters, but I basically disliked all of them (I liked only Sam at the end), even though I empathized with them
•Too many creepy relationships. Joley’s love for Jane was SO unnecessarily creepy
•Hadley and Rebecca’s relationship is literally illegal and sorry, but I can’t agree that he’s a great guy if he would do that to a child, even if they loved each other. I didn’t like that the main argument here was whether they loved each other as opposed to whether it was appropriate
Recommendation: I recommend to those who like character driven stories with imperfect characters. This isn’t Jodi Picoult’s best, so if you’re looking to give her a try, try a more recent book (and if you're just a medium fan, maybe skip this one). Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was an interesting exploration of these characters, but a few inappropriate relationships soured it slightly for me. Check your trigger warnings before reading!
•Reading this, it’s not surprising that Picoult bloomed into an amazing bestselling author. The bones of her main writing strengths are there
•I love a multiple POV story, and I thought the perspectives weaved together well. The characters are very flawed, but getting each perspective allowed me to empathize
•I liked that Rebecca’s timeline went in reverse (I actually thought it worked better here than in her most recent novel, Mad Honey). I think this allowed us to have a more favorable view of Hadley and a more mature view of Rebecca. I also really liked getting the same scene from multiple perspectives; this was a really cool way to explore different aspects of the story
•I love it when a book makes me think, and this one certainly did
Cons:
•you can tell this is an early book for her because some things didn’t quite land. I love flawed characters, but I basically disliked all of them (I liked only Sam at the end), even though I empathized with them
•Too many creepy relationships. Joley’s love for Jane was SO unnecessarily creepy
•Hadley and Rebecca’s relationship is literally illegal and sorry, but I can’t agree that he’s a great guy if he would do that to a child, even if they loved each other. I didn’t like that the main argument here was whether they loved each other as opposed to whether it was appropriate
Recommendation: I recommend to those who like character driven stories with imperfect characters. This isn’t Jodi Picoult’s best, so if you’re looking to give her a try, try a more recent book (and if you're just a medium fan, maybe skip this one). Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was an interesting exploration of these characters, but a few inappropriate relationships soured it slightly for me. Check your trigger warnings before reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Incest
Moderate: Death
mj_reads's review
Chapter 16…if you read this book you get it. If you didn’t read this book in chapter 16 we see a 15 YO girl run away to be with a man she loves who is 10 years older than her and she has only known for a week. No thank you.
novam97's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I am a huge Jodi picoult fan and I rank this as a hard miss. I was very bored with the story line and didn’t find myself invested in the characters like I usually am :( a disappointment for sure!
malloryf21's review
3.0
You could tell it was Picoult's first book. She, as always, writes well, but the story wasn't quite realistic. I did like, though, how she started from the present, and switched from the past into the present, that was the main thing that kept my attention. But I wasn't disappointed with this read.
tomaind's review against another edition
4.0
Another great book by Jodi Picoult (Plain Truth was my favorite though). Left me a little confused at times because the story was told from several people's perspective. The hardest part was one character told the story from the beginning and another character started the story from the end and went back to how everything started. Jodi Picoult is another one of my favorite authors and I own many of her books I plan to read.
linnylove's review
2.0
I didn’t love the multiple timelines, the backward timeline, the same. Exact. Scene. From like 3+ POV. She sure tried something new here, but I just don’t think it worked out.
Also, super confused… was Oliver abusive?? Rebecca says “where did he hit her this time?” At the end/beginning. If so, why the hell did she go back????
Also, super confused… was Oliver abusive?? Rebecca says “where did he hit her this time?” At the end/beginning. If so, why the hell did she go back????
diannelebold's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cwalter01's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5