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aaronreadsatad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Car accident
Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
bubblybelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
the characters internal monologues were often confusing and hard to follow. a lot of the metaphors felt very repetitive. and then the ending. don’t get me started on the ending!!! it completely came out of left field and for what!!!
finally, the love story between campbell and julia was just frankly an unnecessary subplot that left a lot to be desired
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide attempt and Pregnancy
briana513's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
pewterwolf's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
this is very much not my typical go-to read.
And yet, I found this quite a compelling read. Even though it took me a few weeks to read (mainly because I was focused on other things so reading took a back seat), I kept coming back to this messy family drama and these quite unlikeable characters. Ok, mainly unlikeable is the wrong word. Flawed and selfish.
The parents are so focused on her ill child, they forget about their other children (the mother more than the father). The eldest son is forgotten and considered a disappointment by his parents so he acts out. Anna feels like she has no voice or choice, but is uncertain over her choices and Kate who wants some control over her life but is unable to due to her illness.
I think that, yes, even though these characters are really flawed and make/do quite unlikeable things, I found them really interesting to read as, yes, they are flawed and make some really questionable decisions, but you see where they are all coming from.
It’s a nice relief to have Anna’s lawyer, Campbell, and Julia, the court appointed Guardian ad litem storyline running alongside. We have Campbell who has a service dog but we don’t know where and we have Campbell and Julia having a teen romance, but Julia (and the reader) don’t know why Campbell
ended it.
So, as you guess, I did like it. I didn’t love it, but I think that’s because I was on my guard with it. You see, I knew that the movie adaptation of this was changed and, even though I haven’t seen the film, I knew what the ending was changed from so I knew where this was going so I couldn’t invest in these characters like I should have. But would I have liked this twist in the tale had I not known? I have no idea. I would be shocked and I think I would have been very annoyed/angry over it.
And yes, I was very aware that this book was trying to emotionally-manipulate me on multiply occasions.
While I’m not sure if this book deserves all the attention that it has received, I am glad I have finally got round to reading it and I do plan to read more Jodi Picoult in the coming months (I have my eye on either Nineteen Minutes, Small Great Things or A Spark of Light, but we shall see where I go next…)
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
vavocado's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, and Car accident
bekacrook'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
At times it was a hard read, there were so many feelings involved for all the characters, so many secrets and misunderstandings and lack of communication between characters in an effort to save them from more pain.
The ending absolutely gutted me, it differs from the film but ultimately I think it hits harder. It feels unfair and devasting and more in keeping with the unpredictable nature of life and peoples lives. It genuinely made me cry and gasp in shock. The timing of it was so effective but god, it was horrible. It felt like the whole story was for nothing.
The only bit that I wasn't the biggest fan of was the jumping between perspectives, different times and locations for all of them. Sometimes this made it hard to keep track and keep immersed in the story because you kept leaping to learn about it from another perspective. It was effective but just sometimes tricky to keep up.
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Blood, and Medical trauma
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
fernash's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, Car accident, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Pedophilia tag for mention in joke, no pedophilia actually occurs.cruddles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
im upset with how the book ended.
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Death
slaywithsteph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
If you liked the movie, you’ll like this, too. The movie cut out a lot about the characters.
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism
sarahbroccoli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, and Medical content