My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult
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Book Reviews of My Sister's Keeper
Book Review: My Sister's Keeper Book Review
Summary: 4 Stars
"We are all, beholden to our parents-the question is, how much?" This question drives the entire novel, as 13 year old Anna soon files legal emancipation for medical purposes; in other words, the right to her own body because, "no one can make you donate an organ if you don't want to."
I found My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult superb, page-turning, and heartbreaking because of its stunning issue, author's style of writing, and the characters developed.
The topic of this novel reveals one of a kind. Anna is a perfect genetic match, when Kate ends up in the hospital for treatment, Anna does too. This issue broke my heart; not only because it is the first time I had been introduced to it, but because it grasps all concepts of human nature. Was it fair for the Fitzgeralds to develop a designer baby, Anna, just to use her? The topic allows further insight to this issue, and a careful outlook on the family's perspective.
Picoult's style of writing drives me to turn every page, waiting to uncover another image or be blown away from such a powerful sentence. My favorite line: "See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you." Picoult's interesting style technique: each chapter is narrated by a different character-revealing a different viewpoint. The best example: Anna places a front when talking with Campbell and Sara, however, her chapters reveal personal thoughts of the lawsuit.
Another intriguing concept of this novel is the characters Picoult creates. "We've all got our scripts down pat. Kate plays the Martyr. I'm the Lost Cause. And you, you're the Peacemaker." The Fitzgerald's are a family that I feel I have known my whole life. From Anna's call for attention to be placed first, to Sara's desperate need for her Kate to stay alive. From Jesse's loss of purpose, to the heartbreak of a sister's relationship. Picoult demonstrates this dysfunctional family's attempt to maintain a `normal' lifestyle.
This novel is one that I found hard to put down, especially with the unexpected ending. I recommend My Sister's Keeper to every audience not only to become educated on such a unique topic, but to grasp the carefully crafted language. A novel to remember; flawless from beginning to end.
Book Review: Great...until the last 100 pages.
Summary: 2 Stars
I loved this book...right up until the last 100 pages.
Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of Leukemia, and needs bone marrow in order to keep her alive. Her sister, Anna, is a perfect match. She should be -- she was specifically chosen out of several embryos to match her sister. The parents created a donor for their one daughter, Kate, in the form of another daughter, Anna. After 13 years of hospital visits, painful procedures and medical treatments, Anna enlists the help of an attorney, Campbell Alexander, to help her obtain medical emancipation from her parents. She has had enough, but what about her sister? This is the story of My Sister's Keeper.
Let me explain why I love the first 3/4 of this book. In my opinion, any book that makes you feel, or makes you question your own morals on any given topic, is a success (like The Reader or The Road). This was the first Picoult book I ever read, but I think it will be my last. I am a mother, and my heart broke for the parents; but I also have a sister, and my heart broke for Anna as well. I felt like Picoult manipulated me somehow and sucked me into her formulaic novel just to lead me to a cheap ending.
Without ruining the ending, (I won't, I promise), I have to explain why the ending was so horrible. Did you ever see movies like Con Air, that just when you think the movie is over and everything is wrapped up, all of a sudden you're watching 30 more minutes of gratuitous violence and airplanes being blown up on the Las Vegas Strip because some prop master had some extra M-80s in the store room or they needed to stretch the time? This is how the ending felt. Gratuitous, self-serving, and disconnected with the overall sentiment of the story. My question is this: Was it the editor's decision or the author's? Without knowing the answer, I have a feeling this might be my last Picoult book.
Note #1, dated 3/09: I have yet to find a Picoult book jacket that doesn't make me want to jump off a bridge just from reading the blurb. Any suggestions?
Note #2, dated 6/09: I am usually the first person to go see a movie based on one of the books I've read, but I have yet to see My Sister's Keeper. Has anyone seen it yet? Thoughts?
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Book Review: An Ethical Conundrum that Keeps You Thinking
Summary: 4 Stars
I was already a Jodi Picoult fan when I plucked this book from my young guy's bookshelf. It's required reading for the sophomore at his Catholic high school, which further piqued my interest. Of course I knew from the movie trailers that this would be a story to inflame debate on ethics, sacrifice and family entanglements. In her other books, the writer has explored challenging questions with no easy answers. But, what could Picoult have to say this time that could possibly ignite a cross-generational conversation that interests a fifteen-year old beyond PS3 and basketball? Well, the writer, through her mostly well-formed characters, says a lot to each reader regardless of his age, medical history or place in the family hierarchy. At different levels, my teenager empathized with each of the teenagers in the novel, asking a startling, "What if?" What if he were Jesse, or Kate, or Anna? The step-by-step descriptions of Kate's diagnosis and years-long treatment are educational without overwhelming non-medical workers. These details are important for the reader to understand fully Anna's role as Kate's designated savior - and the impact on Brian and Sara, the parents, and Jesse, their son. Again in this book, Picoult turns research on several topics into powerfully layered connectives among the characters. I did not close the book with a changed mind: the idea is still abhorrent to me for parents to design a baby for her genetic compatibility with a sibling. Further, Brian and Sara commit the minor child to several painful and risky medical procedures to save the dying sibling. Sara's last request to Anna to donate a kidney to Kate is the catalyst for the storyline. The major characters clearly present their unique takes on the unfolding drama. So, Sara's love-driven motives are understandable; but, I could not sympathize with her or like her. This is a realistically presented portrayal of a mother that would - and does - sacrifice two children for the uncertain survival of one. This page-turner was headed for five stars until the last few pages when the contrived closing left me tearful but not convinced.
Book Review: Honestly. What do you expect?
Summary: 3 Stars
Considering how 'mainstream' she is, I can hardly pick up a Jodi Picoult novel and expect classic literature. That said, I bought the book anyway because I plan to take my daughter to see the movie, and it's my general rule that we cannot see a film based on a book until we read that book. In addition, the plot appealed to my personal interest in biomedical ethics.
The characterization and pacing of the novel were ok for me. I found enough in both that I liked. The plot (and subplots) was engaging enough, and it was treated with adequate sensitivity. Unlike some, I found no problem following the alternating perspective from which each chapter was written. The obvious problem is the ending... wrapped up in less than a page, really. It in no way resolved the central conflict of the story, and I honestly felt short-changed. I spent hours enthusiastically moving from page to page to see how Anna or the family, informed by medicine and law, would resolve this issue, only to have the rug pulled in the final pages; I asked myself, when I closed the book, "What the hell was the point of all that?" Ms. Picoult really took a cheap way out, and she did a terrible disservice to one of her characters in the process (Anna). For that, I almost want to go down to 2-stars.
However, like I said, one probably ought not to expect grand literature from a mass-market author (think Danielle Steele with greater ambition and a different kind of social conscience), and I didn't and don't. My Sister's Keeper is what it is... a thoughtful author cashing in on the ethical issues and moral dilemmas of our times. I'm honestly glad Ms. Picoult is out there attempting to give authentic treatment to these issues. Unfortunately, in the case of this book, the ending sucks. But, you know, that's life. To risk sounding as trite as Picoult, we don't always get the endings or cut-and-dried answers we want.
So, 3 stars it is. Not godawfulburnitnowplease terrible; not ohmigoshgottareaditagainrightnow fabulous.
Book Review: Sister's Keepers; Readers Weepers (WARNING: SPOILER!)
Summary: 1 Stars
UPDATED TO ADD SPOILER ALERT!!! Thanks, Emma, for letting me know!
I thought of giving this book two stars because of the concept. Also, because it is rare to find a book that gets worse by the chapter. The concept of telling the stories from seven different points of view promises to be interesting, but ends up just seeming lazy. The author doesn't really flesh out the characters enough to give them each a unique point of view, so it ends up that she is just telling the same story more than once.
Aside from the implausibility of the book as a whole (several knowledgeable reviewers have commented on the rigorous rules governing organ donations, especially from donor children), the ending is the biggest cop out to resolving a story ever! And, even if you are okay with the ironic-tragic ending, the last/epilogue chapter (the first time we hear from the sister directly) is even more ridiculous. Are we supposed to believe that Kate not only rose from her death bed but pirouetted out of it to become a dance teacher? Are we to believe that, without any intervention other than his father telling him that he knows what he did, the brother stops being an arsonist and becomes a cop? The father has a brief spate of alcoholism but then is okay? Nonesense!
I think the bigger crime is that the book did not explore some of the more interesting, but perhaps less dramatic themes-for instance, that of the brother, whose childhood is cut short by his ailing sister, but who has no direct role to play in her illness because he is not a good genetic match. Instead, the author does a halfhearted attempt at a love-lost; love-found story between the lawyer and the court liaison, which is also never really fleshed out very well.
C'mon! If you are going to write a book about something this compelling, don't be so lazy about it! Do the research, take the time to develop the characters, and write a good book instead of a marketable movie treatment!