My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jodi PicoultEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-19
ISBN: 1439157383
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Book Reviews of My Sister's Keeper
Book Review: A page turner, but not a classic
Summary: 3 Stars
Wow, what to say about this book that hasn't already been said from both sides. After finishing over 400 pages of this book, I have to say I'm a bit neutral on how I feel about it. I read it because it's popular. I read it because I like reading, and it was about a particular subject that caught my interest. I wavered between really liking and disliking this book throughout several points during my reading. Having a neutral perspective on this book allows me to point out what exactly I liked and didn't like. Though I seem to point out more cons than pros, it doesn't make my rating shift. I liked this book as much as I disliked it. That's why I gave it three stars.
Warning - SPOILERS
CONS
-Like many reviewers on here have claimed, many of the minor characters were cliched, such as Campbell's secretary and basically anyone else not associated with the little bubble surrounding the Fitzgerald's. What I mean by this is making background characters clueless or just stupid.
-The constant "Life sucks" attitude. We get it, life is hard, but it's hard for everyone, not just the Fitzgerald's. It's as if they're the only people in the world who think they have family issues. They have created this bubble around themselves and only see each other and really no one else.
-Campbell's constant "He's a service dog" "BUT YOU'RE NOT BLIND HAR HAR!" conversations. I get it, and his lying is funny like the first two or three times, but really, does he have to say it in like every chapter he talks from? I also hate how his lies are so obvious yet no one enforces their rules when they say "no dogs allowed". They just give in to him.
-That Sara learned absolutely nothing throughout the course of the book. She started out selfish and the book ended with her being selfish. There was a slight "turn" with her the last chapter she was in court but you can tell that she never really changed. What I would have liked to read about was quite a few pages (actually) about Sara reflecting on Anna's death. Instead she only talks about being beside Anna when they pull the plug on her, for three pages. She's obsessed with Kate for 400 pages, but only 3 for Anna. It would have made Sara's character more appealable to the readers if her chapter had been longer. When I read about Sara being with Anna before she died, I didn't feel anything for her. All I could see was her possibly thinking "Let's get those organs out now".
-I know it's Brian Fitzgerald's character that makes him who he is, but he's a weak person and he's not that great of a father. He let's his wife, Sara, make decisions for the family and by the time this book starts their family is already falling apart. They have a son that they have "given up on", which I find to be really really sad. And by the end of the book, Brian doesn't change at all either. In fact, he turns to alcohol to cope with what happened. The fact that he stays at the fire station just to get away from his family at home is more than enough to let the readers know that Brian doesn't like to face his problems and that he can't be a strong father figure. Picoult tries to make you feel sympathy for him but in reality all I can do is shake my head at how pathetic he is.
-Because of Brian's weakness and inability to be a strong, stable father figure, and Sara's obsessive preoccupation with their sick daughter, it makes neither one of them likable characters.
-Julia's sister, Izzy, was probably the most annoying and pointless character in the book. She was only in the story for the sanctity of Julia's chapters. I don't care what Picoult had to say about her and Julia in the back of the book. She served no purpose whatsoever.
-The work up of 412 pages, sympathizing with Anna, only to be let down by the last 10. Anna only gets 10 pages of sympathy for DYING compared to Kate's 412. You mean to tell me that after reading a 423 page book, Picoult couldn't have at least dragged it out for another 50? At least to let every single character - Sara, Brian, Jesse, Campbell, Julia, and Kate - reflect on Anna's death? Dragging out the ending would have made it better. To just all of a sudden put a HUGE twist 10 pages before the very last page makes what you've just read feel cheap and, frankly, makes it read like a fanfiction.
-I hated how, when they arrived in the hospital after Anna was rushed to the ER, how the doctor comes out and is like "I'm sorry..now is not the right time but I'll ask anyway. Do you want to, like, donate your brain dead kid's organs?" I mean, how CONVENIENT. And the parents don't hesitate when Campbell makes that suggestion. In fact, the very next chapter they're pulling the plug.
-Not only is the doctor saying this convenient, but so is the car wreck. Anna signs her papers with her lawyer friend, they're all happy. All of a sudden, out of all the people in town to call to attend a wreck, they call Brian! Anna's own father gets to pull her from the rubble. And why? Because it's more emotional that way. Never mind that it happens to be such a COINCIDENCE that HE gets to pull his own DAUGHTER from a wrecked car. A car that just happened to wreck the same day she won her lawsuit. I mean, I know things like that happen, but it's so obvious that it was just thrown in there for the ending to work. I don't hate the ending because of how it was done, I hate it because it was so sudden. It played out like some cliche Lifetime movie. If she had just slowed down it wouldn't have been so bad.
-I obviously missed the moral or "point" of the book because I thought that Kate wanted to end everything going on. She said she didn't want to die but she was the one that told Anna she wanted to stop. She was the one who told Anna not to donate her kidney. She was the premise behind everything that went on. Yet, she gets away with it, like some evil schemer in his plan to take over the world. It didn't matter whether or not Anna died. Kate still would have gotten a kidney either way. If Kate hadn't asked Anna to not donate her kidney, Anna would have given it to her anyway. And since Anna died she got one anyway. So if anyone should feel bad in this book it should be Kate.
-I ended up liking Campbell and Julia more than the main characters. They were way more developed.
-The whole "stars" thing was so boring. No wonder Brian is not a strong person. He always runs away from his problems with a telescope and then starts believing and wishing on stars instead of making decisions for himself.
-All of a sudden getting a kidney was what Kate needed. At the end of the book she says she hasn't gone into relapse for eight years, something even "Dr. Chance can't understand". It makes you wonder if this is Picoult's way of dragging in supernatural phenomena or a bond so strong between sisters that Anna is keeping her alive. I'd like to believe it's the latter.
-I find it funny how Brian wanted to stop his son's pyromania but he goes into heavy drinking after Anna dies. Great parenting there. Guess Jesse got his way into a "police academy" by himself, which didn't seem realistic at all for his character..but I guess anything can happen with Picoult.
-I hate Sara Fitzgerald. And I obviously hate Brian more than I thought.
PROS
-One point I can see is that the family did learn something and it affected them all. Anna was created to help her sister but when she died that impact was so great it tore them up inside. Instead of being torn up over Kate, who they expected to die, it was Anna, and that hit them harder than Kate dying, because it was so unexpected.
-The book was indeed a page turner. It isn't really a boring read but there are some things that you just want to skim over because it can be boring or irrelevant to the plot.
-I liked the changing of views with every chapter. My favorite point of view was Campbell and Julia, then Anna. My least favorite was Sara. I really hated her. Campbell and Julia kind of brought out the comedy in the book since everyone else was so serious.
-I like the emotion and building up of characters, though some were annoying. I did like how everyone had a flaw and how childlike Anna really was. She was ignorant about a lot of things but she did have a good sense of what was going on. Her character was very realistic.
-I did like most of the characters. Campbell, Julia, Anna, and Jesse were my favorites, but I can't say that I was a fan of Brian or Sara. They just annoyed me and I groaned every time I read Sara's view because her chapters were always so long.
-By reading about Sara and her ridiculous mind frame, it makes you want to raise your own children with all the freedom in the world. Thanks, Sara, you've encouraged me to be the exact opposite of you as a mother.
This was overall a decent read. I would recommend it to anyone I know but I personally wouldn't read it a second time. It wasn't a bad book but it wasn't the best; And I don't plan on reading Picoult's other books. Overall, I don't regret reading it. Now on to another read!
Summary of My Sister's Keeper
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.
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