Erica H. (esh712) - reviewed on 1/21/2009 + 44 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

As others have already said, by no means is this the best Picoult book she's written and probably wouldn't be the best one to pick up first, but there are still many positives about it. As always, her writing is done beautifully, keeping you engaged from beginning to end. I also loved the themes she explored. Ultimately, the characters in this piece all try to come to terms with the meaning love, and what it means for different people and different relationships. WHen do they conflict? Do you have to choose? What is the difference between the love you find in a comfortable marriage based on routine versus the young love that sends sparks flying? What about the love between siblings, the love between parents, and the areas where love should exist but does not? What about the love between best friends? These are all explored here.

Jodi plays with different voices and often plays with the chronology in many of her books, but the beginning of this one was confusing and I don't think the choices always made the best sense. By the end of it, things fall into rhythm, so you just have to weather through the beginning. I'm not sure how much I bought the resolution of the conflicts in this story and would have liked to see some more things play out, but even still, some of these drawbacks are not enough to prevent me from recommending anyone to give this one a chance.

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