My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I just finished reading My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I have a few observations to make:

Observation 1: Do not attempt to read this book when you have anything else going on in your life. Life will seem like an annoying distraction. I read all 400 pages in 24 hours. During those 24 hours I also taught three 1 ½ hour classes, made dinner, played with my children etc. To say that it is engaging is an understatement. You will be glued to the book from the first chapter.

Observation 2: I would have said that this book touches a parent differently than it does another reader. But, after finishing it, I’m not sure that that is true. There are universal dilemmas in the book that would engage any reader. And the various voices that Picoult uses to tell the story create an empathy for characters very different from oneself. Through their telling of events, the reader identifies with an angry teenage boy, a mother of a dying daughter, a high-powered lawyer, and a thirteen year old girl.

Observation 3: Be prepared to get angry. I wouldn’t have made that statement until the very end of the book. There were points throughout the story where I got angry at individuals characters and wanted to shake them and ask what they were thinking. To me, that’s a sign of a great writer, when characters become so real that you want to interact with them. But, for me, the end of the book made me very angry with the author.

That’s all I have to say.