March 1, 2008

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake someone scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. In nineteen minutes, your world can change forever.

This is the second Jodi Picoult I've read, and even though I didn't like this one as much as My Sister's Keeper, I really enjoy her writing overall. In many of her novels, Picoult writes through the different points of view of many different characters rather than writing from the perspective of one narrator. Nineteen Minutes is no exception. The book takes you inside a usually safe and secure town and watches as it is shattered to pieces by a horrific act of violence. But rather than writing from only the views of the victims, Picoult dives into the life and thoughts of the murderer as well. By the end, you almost feel bad for the boy who ruined the lives of half the town because they'd ruined his life a long time ago.

I definitely recommend this book, especially if you're up for an ethically and morally challenging book. Picoult throws you to the edge and asks you to look at things just a little differently, to remember that someone once loved and still may love the killer.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting. Maybe this summer I'll try out one of her books.

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  2. This was the very first Picoult book I ever read (and I just read it a few weeks ago). I have since bought My Sister's Keeper and am looking forward to it as everybody seems to say that it's the their favorite.

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  3. Jodi Picoult is my very favorite author and I've read most of her books. The first one that I ever read and the one that I still think is her best is The Pact. It was one of those books that I didn't want to end. It begins by dealing with a very serious issue, teen suicide, but then twists and turns to all sorts of other issues. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

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