hiltzmoore's review against another edition
4.0
This was a well done depiction of a family that has a real scientific weirdo at its head. I was very impressed with how Luke was written as a believable character even though he was so extremely strange. I thought all the characters were well written. The only thing that bothered me was that Cara made a particularly bad decision in the legal arena and not only did she not seem to think it was a big deal (which was strange, considering how mature her character was supposed to be), but faced virtually zero repercussions from this decision. It has been a while since I've read a Picoult book, and while it certainly seemed to follow her script as usual, I didn't seem to mind as much this time, maybe because it has been a while and didn't seem as tired.
leannaaker's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great read, particularly for those folks out there with an interest in nature/wolves/animal behavior. This is the story of a family ripped apart by a decision to end life support for their father, Luke Warren, who lived with wolf packs in the wild. I really enjoyed this book (listened on audiobook, which was cool, with different voices for different characters). I have two critiques of this book: the issues and characters seemed somewhat cliche, and I found myself wishing for deeper characterization. The second critique is that I felt some of the description of animal behavior was contradictory (they did know all in some circumstances, but nothing in others).
All in all, this was a very good read, that will appeal to the fan fiction crowd, as well as those with a passing interest in animal behavior.
All in all, this was a very good read, that will appeal to the fan fiction crowd, as well as those with a passing interest in animal behavior.
carolbsmith's review against another edition
2.0
If you removed all the repetitive sentences and paragraphs (I get it already!), this book would really only be about 30 pages. Not Jodi's usual fare. I was disappointed.
nglofile's review against another edition
1.0
Infuriating characters. An author who is much too pleased with her own research and astoundingly heavy-handed in how that is shoehorned (and questionably interpreted) into plot. Reheated characters from earlier work. Loudly telegraphed "twists". Soapbox preaching without fair counterpoints. No, this isn't the book likely to convince me I'm unfairly hard on Picoult.
I get that she is a huge favorite with many, and, to give some credit, her work provides multiple jumping-off points for discussions, but her books elicit a visceral dislike in me unparalleled by many others.
audiobook note: The narrators were fine. I'm inclined to say the male readers were stronger than the women, but that might be more a reflection of the characters as written than the performances. Too close to tell.
I get that she is a huge favorite with many, and, to give some credit, her work provides multiple jumping-off points for discussions, but her books elicit a visceral dislike in me unparalleled by many others.
audiobook note: The narrators were fine. I'm inclined to say the male readers were stronger than the women, but that might be more a reflection of the characters as written than the performances. Too close to tell.
kcoccia's review against another edition
4.0
A lot of reviews of this book weren't very good but I really enjoyed it. It's different then most other Jodi Picoult books but still deals with a difficult topic. I think some of my favorite parts were the flashbacks of Luke with the wolves. Such a weird guy but so smart and impressive.
ktxx22's review against another edition
2.0
This book is super boring. On a lot of levels. If you are a lover of all things Wolf you might enjoy this but those of us from the general population are gonna find a lot lacking in the interesting story game. This book to me as no memorable parts and I did not enjoy slogging my way through this. 2/5 I am looking for some suggestions of other books from this author that are actually worth my time. So definitely let me know your favorites!
qkk1993's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alliereneau's review against another edition
4.0
Didn't love this one as much as some of the others - but it was still a good read by a great author