Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - A Spark of Light

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

64 reviews

franknovels's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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jahalahkay's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This one is a heart-wrencher! A gunman enters a women’s reproductive health services center, begins shooting, and then holds the staff and patients hostage. When the hostage negotiator shows up on the scene, he discovers his daughter is inside the clinic. Told in a backward structure, this story starts at the climax and works its way backward to give us a glimpse into why each person was at the center on that fateful day.
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I actually listened to this on Libby but in the middle of reading it I found a signed copy at Half Priced Books…so obviously I had to scoop it up because I love Jodi Picoult. 🤪 While I loved the backwards structure concept, it mixed with so many POVs made this a harder to follow read for me. I still really enjoyed it and would recommend it. Definitely a thought-provoking book covering a hard topic (but what else is new with Jodi Picoult?). Loved hearing about her research behind writing the book at the end!

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lcl_reads's review

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slow-paced

3.0

Typically, I enjoy Jodi Picoult, but this one just didn't work for me. She attempts to show there are two sides to every story, but for me, reproductive justice is just not a two sides issue. It is an issue of recognizing the humanity, value, and worthiness of those who bear children and their right to control their bodies and is rooted in historical ways groups have exerted bodily control over others. I recognize this is my reader bias and cognitively I appreciate that this is part of Picoult's writing style and that this book isn't for me.

I found the backwards timeline confusing for character development and made the plot boring and anticlimactic. I kept mixing up character details because of the way the information is doled out. Additionally, I did not find the end of the book very climatic or interesting because so much information is given upfront.

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