Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

26 reviews

seawarrior's review against another edition

2.0

The primary issue that I have with this book is its melodrama. Picoult seemed very deliberate in including plot points and phrases that heightened the emotional drama and distress that the characters were experiencing. By the final pages of the book, this was painful to the point of irritation. 

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.

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.

I think this book did a disservice to its own mission by relying on plot twists that eventual solved the ethical and familial ramifications of Anna's fight for the rights to her own body. 

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Excrement and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol

ansfaiv's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

lulunyx's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Gut-wrenching, emotional and a beautiful exploration of an impossible situation. Not a full five stars because I am still bitter and sobbing over the ending (even if the author note explains it, still felt like a cop out that was emotionally devastating). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicide attempt

aimeal815's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.0

I wouldn’t say I’m upset with this book, because I thought the story was really interesting, but I am definitely upset with aspects of it. I found it very difficult to read at times because I was having trouble sympathizing with a lot of the characters. It felt like some of the conflicts were very needless

such as the whole thing with Campbell and Julia

. I also found the ending incredibly upsetting. I know that that was the whole point, but it felt almost ridiculous.

It made me feel almost like I wasted my time following Anna’s whole story for it to just be thrown away at the end like that.

That being said, it was a very complex plot with a lot of complex characters, and I can appreciate that because that’s just how life is. It’s just that there were too many parts of it that I had trouble with in order to really love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Excrement, and Alcohol

thedandybrambler's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

A truly, truly beautiful book that I believe will stay with me for a very long while

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Car accident and Suicide attempt

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit