First, let me say that I could not put this book down.
There. That's out of the way.
But here's the strange thing.
After I finished it, I found a ton of problems. I think the unique nature of the plot and the pace is what pulled me through and allowed the suspension of disbelief. Ultimately, the important thing is that it did pull me through and I enjoyed it, but I'm curious as to what others think.
Here's what I found (Warning: Plot spoiler here!)
_ The MC and her father move into the fire station: No way would any fire department allow a firefighter to move in full time, especially with his 13-year-old daughter. And then, he lets her ride on the firetruck and in the ambulance and even help with a patient. As a journalist, I had to go through lots of legal hoops to ride on ambulances and accompany the paramedics into homes. The liability for the department is insane.
_ The teen-aged son recovers from his life as an arsonist and druggie and completely turns his life around after a brief confrontation with and hug from his dad. He also becomes a police officer despite his juvenille and adult record.
_ The parents allow their daughter to ride home with a man who just had a grand mal siezure.
I love Jodi Picoult's books (Most of them) and the fact that they are generally fast, entertaining, yet emotional reads. But I have to wonder about her editors. Who would let some of this stuff slip through?
RANT AND SPOILERS AHEAD:
Not to mention, if I'm thinking about the right book, that the whole thing is about the daughter fighting to get her own life, then she gets killed in a car wreck at the moment of her freedom. Ugh. Breach of implicit promise to the reader.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the fad is to worship such meaningless death endings as realistic. But guess what? This is fiction. It should be better than real, with endings defined by the characters, not chance. To swat aside a growth/change arc with an oopsie is as mindless an act of vandalism as knocking the arm off David seconds after Michelangelo gives it the last hammer tap.
Unless, of course, your whole point is that life sucks, everyone's helpless and nothing matters. Then let the wild coincidences roll! Critics don't mind wild coincidences, as long as they screw the characters sufficiently.
From what I gather, that wasn't the kind of book Picoult was writing.
Whew, I feel better now. Where's the steps to this soapbox?
I couldn't give a flying fuck about the characters. DEM is a lazy-ass way to wrap up a book and I don't know how any writer could think it's a good way to end a book.
Yeah. Spend the entire book taking control of your life, then have it taken away by an act of God?
Good one, Picoult.