zoejjj's review
- 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
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.
Spoiler
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.Graphic: Medical content, Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
maddi_sen13's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
The whole story felt way longer than necessary.
Graphic: Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Cancer
Moderate: Blood, Suicide, and Vomit
obsessor_of_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Vomit, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Grief, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
emileesbooks's review
- 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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Drug use, Alcohol, Abortion, and Blood
jenna_justi2004's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, Child death, Death, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Car accident, Blood, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, and Medical content
kiwichill's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Drug use, and Medical content
jackieswitzer96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Medical content, Child death, Death, Cancer, Car accident, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug use
lupitaestela's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Medical content, Vomit, Blood, Grief, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Death, and Drug use
jenn_reads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
The end is monstrously stupid. It's like M. Night Shyamalan for middle aged white ladies. The ending definite affects my assessment of this whole entire book.
Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
Medical consent issues, Toxic parental relationship,Spoiler
Car accidentSpoiler
Seizureseawarrior's review
2.0
I also felt that Picoult shied away from fully exploring the situation Anna was in. By making her subservient to her parents and a willing participant in the surgeries she was born to endure, Picoult never has to stare down the true horror of Anna's life.
Spoiler
Though she's granted medical emancipation, we later realize that even this decision was made to help Kate, negating any hurt or resentment between the family members. Anna's death serves this purpose even further. Though her family grieves her, she had a slim realm of identity and personality outside of providing for Kate, so in a way she exists as she always has.Unfortunately I did not feel that the additional protagonists were written well either. It felt to me that Picoult stretched herself too thin, and managed to create characters who represented problems that needed to be solved within her narrative, but not much more. Though each character had different perspectives, most noticeably defined by their fields of study or past life experiences, their voices were not dissimilar and I didn't think they possessed the true complexity of human beings. I will say that Picoult's story was engaging, and seemed to have been researched well; yet I am not an expert in medicine, law, astronomy, fire science or any other topics Picoult needed factual support to make a part of her story. I would recommend this book to others who are interested in children's rights in the medical field, although do not expect the book to be too revolutionary, as I did. Instead it provides a starter for questioning the way we undermine children's consent in medicine, and ends with vague assertions that are ultimately meaningless for Anna.
Graphic: Cancer, Car accident, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Suicide attempt, Child death, Medical content, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Pregnancy and Excrement
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and Drug use