The Harte and Gold families have been friends forever. Their children spend every moment of their lives together and it's no surprise to anyone when Chris Harte and Emily Gold's friendship blossoms into something more once they're in high school. They seem completely perfect for each other, so it shocks everyone when one night the families are called to the hospital to find Emily dead and Chris wounded after what he claims was a suicide pact. But was it really?As the story unfolds, we begin to see that perhaps everything in these families wasn't quite as idyllic as it seemed. The investigation into Emily's death leads the Hartes, the Golds, and everyone connected with them to question whether they really know each other at all.
My thoughts: This is an absolutely engrossing story. I felt a little like I'd walked into a beautifully decorated room and found roaches in the corner. Everything seems so perfect. How did it all go wrong? I couldn't look away, no matter how much I wanted to. The story is excellent, and Picoult exhibits her usual keen insight for character. This is a very well-crafted book, and I have so much admiration for Picoult's writing.
Here comes the but. This might be mildly spoiler-y, so be forewarned. I just couldn't believe the premise. How could Emily want to kill herself just because she couldn't tell the truth? I understand that there were other forces in play, but they just didn't seem significant enough to cause a healthy person to take her own life. I realize that this reaction could be just me. I am the kind of person who has a hard time imagining a problem significant enough that I would want to kill myself and leave my family to pick up the pieces. Nonetheless, I had a very difficult emotional reaction to this book.
My final word: I rate this book 3.5 out of 5. I know many people absolutely loved it, and it was without a doubt well-written and compelling, but I had a lot of trouble with the whole premise. That's just my opinion.
Website for Jodi Picoult.
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8 comments:
good review!! I know what you mean about the premise - I LOVED the story, though. I just did a review about her new novel - "Handle With Care" on my blog! :)
Great review! :)
Thanks for visiting my page! I'm glad you like the music! :)
I've read one Jodi Picoult and enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I want to read any more.
Lovely review Vanessa. I have had this in my TBR pile for a while and since I read two other Piccoult books end of March beginning of April I've been putting it off. Now I'm intrigued - I'll have to bump it up.
Great review. I would think an added diagnosis of clinical depression would help make a case for it. I haven't read this but I can see where this would provide conflict for you.
Interesting review. This is exactly the kind of review I wanted to read! Thanks for pointing me this way.
Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite writers, however, I can never read her books back-to-back. I always need to take a break once I'm done one of her books and read something else because they're so engrossing, emotional and just a lot to deal with as a mom. The Pact was one of those books.
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