Book Review: My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
WARNING: I am told (by Holly in the comments) that the Amazon reviews have spoilers in them. Be careful!
I just finished reading this book late Monday night. I should just be honest and admit it was early Tuesday morning.
I like books that make me feel emotions I’m unfamiliar with. I like books that challenge my assumptions. This book did those things. I would give it a 4 out of 5, with the last point deducted for having a couple of side stories that seemed to detract from the plot (or add nothing) and having one character that didn’t feel fully fleshed out.
In summary, the book is about a thirteen year old girl Anna who files a lawsuit to be granted medical emancipation from her parents. She was conceived to be a perfect cord blood donor to her older sister Kate, who suffers from a rare form of leukemia. She has spent all of her life acting as donor in increasingly invasive and dangerous procedures for her sister. The latest thing she’s asked to do is to donate her kidney t oher sister, for whom the chances of yet another recovery look slim.
Given the controversial topic, this book could easily have been extremely trite and manipulative, squeezing the plot for people acting in shocking and scandalous ways. But instead, the author crafted a story full of real, flawed characters that have complex motivations and personalities. The relationship between the main characters and her parents and her sister vividly show that it’s not a simple case of her family treating her like she’s just a donor and that it’s not a case of her just wanting to be seen as a person. The pain and empathy between each set of characters is palpable, and it was unclear how the story would wrap up.
If you want to be challenged by the difficult decisions people make and struggle with your own sense of what’s right, I would recommend this book. Setting up some characters as “good” and “bad” in the story within the first few chapters became meaningless as I continued with the story because they simply became people who were trying their best with something they had never faced before. If you don’t like books that make you sad, stay far from this book.
The author’s prose flows quite easily, being simple and straightforward, rather than overly flowerly or overwraught. The use of multiple first-person views (each chapter is from a different character’s perspective) covering a two week period (with some flashbacks) was pretty good, although some character’s voices were not as distinct as others.
This is my second Jodi Picoult book. I’d also read The Pact a couple of years ago. It was also very well-written and has stayed with me ever since.
How’s the dialogue in the book? For me, the easiest reads contain lots of dialogue (like Nick Hornby); and the slowest reads contain lengthy, insightful descriptions (like Ayn Rand — stupid Fountainhead is still unfinished). I finished David Sedaris’ latest book, but didn’t like it much; I hear I am missing out by not reading his other book.
Kristen read both and lent “My Sister’s Keeper” to basically every person she’s ever met. She loved it.
On a side note, I can’t wait until I get the official “Incite a Riot” review of “Salmon Apples”!
Andre: I have to look back to see how the dialog was, but I think it was mostly dialog and narration of memories of past events (i.e. flashbacks), and not too many descriptions to trip up the flow. There is a lot of the “show, don’t tell” going on, which I appreciate in a book.
kerowack: Maybe Kristen can recommend another Jodi Picoult book to me? 😀 Thanks!
I finished David Sedaris’ latest book, but didn’t like it much; I hear I am missing out by not reading his other book.
I ended up not finishing the most recent Sedaris book b/c I didn’t like it that much. I *loved* Me Talk Pretty One Day, however.
Regarding My Sister’s Keeper, I saw it at the bookstore (I have to admit the jacket design caught my eye) and was intrigued by it, but then realized it was probably more of a tearjerker than I am capable of handling at any one time.
– Becky
The word is “Vanishing Acts” is good, but she really loved Sister’s keeper.
Becky: I was reading “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” because my friend had read one of his other books and bought this book as a present for me, without having read it. I guess I should check out “Me Talk Pretty One Day.”
Wow, that sounds pretty amazing.
As a warning to others: don’t read the Amazon reviews if you don’t want to read spoilers. 🙁