| Product: |
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult |
| Date: |
17/03/06 (1516 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Extremely well written, true to life characters, captivating
Disadvantages: none at all
Jodi Picoult is the best selling author of eleven novels and her latest 'My Sisters Keeper' is deservedly shortlisted for the 'Richard and Judy Best Read Of The Year' award.
*** The Plot ***
What would you do if you had a child who was dying of leaukaemia and the only way to save them was to have another child that would be used as a doner? Would you have another baby to save the life of your existing child? Well that's exactly what Sara and Brian Fitzgerald did.
Now thirteen years old, Anna Fitzgerald has been used as a doner for her sister Kate all her life and now she wonders what life might be like without the endless surgeries, transfusions and injections. What it might be like to live her own life instead of Kate's.
So she makes a decision that most thirteen year olds wouldn't be able to cope with; she sues her parents for the rights to her own body.
*** My Opinion On... ***
Here you will find my opinion on everything from the story to the characters and how the book was set out. Hopefully this will give you the best idea of whether or not this book is for you.
1) The Story
What drew me to this book was it's unique moral plotline. Lately I've been reading nothing other than chick lit novels and as good as they can be, sometimes you cannot beat a good, deep, emotional book and that's exactly what this is.
The opening pages are quite deep and can be hard to get into if, like me, you have been reading chick lit novels previously. However, after the first few pages I was hooked and really liked the way the book was written.
Then once I was hooked that was it. The book just kept getting better and better. The thing i liked the most about the story was that although the main plot was quite heavy going, there were brief time outs where Jodi moved on to explain more about separate characters and added a little bit of humour that really helped take the attention away from the heavier bits. Without these brief little breaks I think the book could have gotten a little too heavy going for me and I think the fact that Jodi added these shows just how talented a writer she actually is.
Another thing that impressed me about the story was how well researched it was. Throughout, there are quite a few medical procedures and medical terms mentioned and explained. There are also astronomy stories added in the book that would have taken quite bit of research. The way it is written you would have thought Jodi had actually gone through everything herself and that she knew exactly how each character was feeling. So the fact that it is fiction and just based on research shows to me again how talented she is.
Description wise there were quite a few similies thrown in that really helped describe something to the maximum. One of them was also quite funny and it is actually a good example of the little humour that Jodi added in to lighten things up a bit. I won't say what the line is because I really don't want to give anything away but trust me you'll see it if you read the book yourself.
The final thing that I will mention about the story is the fact that it managed to surprise me more than once at various stages in the novel. There's nothing worse than a predictable story sometimes and it was amazing to see that there were at least three twists throughout. The ending was particularly not predictable and I was definitely shocked by it as I'm sure others will have been too!
All in all the story managed to be original, gripping, well researched and surprising. It's by far the best story I've read to date.
2) The Layout
Most of the books I have read lately have been split into different sections and this one is no exception. I have come to realise though that for me, I prefer books that are set out this way.
The story here is told by several characters including family members, Anna's Lawyer and the ad litem assigned to work on Anna's case. Now I have to admit, some books that are layered out like this can get a little confusing because you're always jumping characters and it can be hard to remember what's happening with each one. However, Jodi seems to have put everything together perfectly and I didn't once get confused by who was who or what had happened previously. I think the fact that the main plot was so deep, made it hard to forget what had happened whereas, in a lighter chick lit novel for example, the story isn't always that strong and so it makes it easier to forget.
The gaps apart from the different characters aren't that big either so this makes it easier to read I think. Sometimes there's nothing worse than a long chapter that just seems to be dragging. With shorter gaps it makes it easier to understand what's happening and I feel my brain takes it in more with little breaks.
However there is one thing I can give as a negative on the layout front and that is some of the different sections. Now under each section there are a variety of characters telling their version of events. It isn't a set routine where every single character tells their side under each section, sometimes it will be say just Anna, her dad and her lawyer. Then others it will be more of the characters including them. Anyway, the different sections were titled with different days of the week for example section one is say 'Tuesday' and section two would be 'Wednesday'. Then under each day of the week is a quote from someone famous like William Shakespear for example. Some of these I found hard to understand and still didn't understand them properly after reading the chapter. I also didn't get the days of the week really because within the section that says 'Monday' it seemed like it was more than one day happening. So that can be a little confusing but it's not something I dwelled on for long as I was hooked on the story too much to bother about it.
But back on the positive side, I loved reading the story from everyone's point of view. This way you get to read about several different characters and you can watch them all grow and develop which makes it much more interesting than watching just one character develop.
3) The Characters
Although the main plot is set around 'Anna', the other characters in the novel are presented to us just as strongly. In fact, in places it is easy to forget that Anna is the main focus of the story and every character gets there own place in the limelight. If I had to I'd say there were maybe two characters that weren't talked about or presented as strongly as the rest. However, this isn't a big thing and it didn't bother me at all but it's the one negative I can say about the characters. Everything else is extremely positive.
I love the way all the characters grow and develop until you feel you actually know the characters personally by the end of the novel. They start off quite strong anyway so it's hard to imagine at the start of the book that the characters actually have any room for growth.
The thing I found most compelling was the way that Jodi managed to present each character. Each one was presented as if Jodi actually was that character. Usually within a book there is the main character that the author puts their heart and soul into and although other characters in their books might be quite strong, they are never as strong as the lead. However in this one, all the characters seem to have Jodi's heart and soul. She seems to know exactly what each one would feel and say. They all have their own personality and their own way of thinking. They are so down to earth and easy to connect with too. They go together as a family well and the relationships are really well put together. It really does feel more like a documentary of something that was actually happening rather than fiction.
There wasn't one character that seemed out of place or a little fake and I really can't get my point across enough how captivating each one was. It has just totally amazed me that I've read so many books and yet none of them have ever had the character strength that this one has. Amazing!
4) Enjoyability
As I've said I was absolutely hooked on this book and it really didn't take me long to finish it. It's very emotional and it managed to get me angry, sad and frustrated with particularly Anna's parents. The moral question regarding the plot is a strong one and it really gets you thinking about where you personally stand with the issue. So depending on what your attitude is to this issue, will decide who your sympathy lies with throughout. But whether or not you side with Anna's parent's or Anna herself, it won't affect how much you enjoy the book.
5) Any Negatives?
As I really loved this book it is really hard for me to give negatives but I have dug deep and found a few things that might be classed as negative points.
The first one is that somewhere near the beginning I got slightly confused about whether the story was in the past or the present. This is because for the first time it had said that it was 1990. Then on the next person it didn't say whether or not it had changed back so I just assumed it had stayed in the past. So for around two minutes I was a little confused. However, this was settled before I knew it and I was back on track. Then I realised the only time it was in the past was when it said the year on the persons starting page.
Another thing that didn't put me off but might put some people off is that it is set in America. Now to be honest this isn't really that noticeable and there are only the odd few American words added. However I thought I'd mention it because I've heard someone complain about a book that was too 'American' for them and so although I didn't find it offputting, some other people might do.
Fortunately for me that's the only things I can find wrong with the novel and as you can see they really aren't big negatives.
*** My Overall Opinion ***
At the end of this novel I was left feeling extremely emotional. The ending was great and as I said I really couldn't see it coming. I loved the various twists in the story and it came as such a shock with each one. The characters became like people I actually knew and I found myself warming to each one in different ways. You really get to see the argument about having one baby just to save another from all different points of view and towards the end I was torn as to who was right or wrong. It is such a heart felt novel and is extremely well written.
This is the first book I have read by Jodi Picoult and it has definitely made me a huge fan of hers and I'm now determined to read everything she's ever written. There aren't many books that have made me feel like this after I have read them and because of that I'd highly recommend it. It has been described as the biggest thing since 'The Lovely Bones' and I couldn't get into that so to me it is better.
So if you haven't already read this get yourself a copy now and see what all the fuss is about.
Aimee xxx
Summary: the plot was original and picoult has a unique way of writing
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