Skip to main content

Review: "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult


From Goodreads:  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.

My Thoughts:  I read this book in one day because I could not put it down.  The story was amazing; one sister, Kate, dying of cancer and another sister, Anna, brought into this world to save Kate.  The story centers around Anna's decision to petition for medical emancipation so she does not have to donate her kidney to her sister whose kidneys are failing.  This creates all kind of drama in her family especially with her mother, who has devoted her whole life to saving Kate.  I actually hated the mom in this story.  I know she did everything to save Kate but is was completely at the expense of the happiness of her other children.  She was extremely self-absorbed and really got on my nerves.  I loved all of the other characters in the story, especially Jesse who was Kate and Anna's brother.  He was very well-developed and I felt really bad for him.  All of this being said, as much as I loved this book, the end was AWFUL.  All I can say is WTF?????  The end of the story completely ruined the whole book for me and left me incredibly angry at the author and in tears.  I cannot believe that was the best ending she could come up with and now I am not sure if I want to read another Jodi Picoult book (this was my first).  2 stars.

Comments

  1. "All I can say is WTF?????"
    Heeeee. That made me laugh. ;D

    I'm sorry it upset you so much. I've never read any Jodi Picoult, but I would hope that maybe this one was just an anomaly? Everyone seems to enjoy her books so much. Anyway, I don't think I'll be picking this one up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That ending does really stink. Have you watched the movie? I have not. I heard it has so many differences in it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hated the ending too, I think I vaguely get in though I think the Picoult did really think it was right SPOILER for Ana's actions to 'cause' Kate's death, only problem with that is that it was Kate's choice.

    I've read most Picoult and this was my first too, I didn't let the ending spoil it for me and I'm glad because I've loved most of her other books. My favourite is Handle with Care, although the end of that is wonky too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review and Giveaway: "Distant Signs" by Anne Richter

Synopsis: Distant Signs is an intimate portrait of two families spanning three generations amidst turbulent political change, behind and beyond the Berlin Wall. In 1960s East Germany, Margret, a professor’s daughter from the city, meets and marries Hans, from a small village in Thuringia. The couple struggle to contend with their different backgrounds, and the emotional scars they bear from childhood in the aftermath of war. As East German history gradually unravels, with collision of the personal and political, their two families’ hidden truths are quietly revealed. An exquisitely written novel with strongly etched characters that stay with you long after the book is finished and an authentic portrayal of family life behind the iron curtain based on personal experience of the author who is East German and was 16 years old at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Why do families repeat destructive patterns of behaviour across generations? Should the personal take precedence over...

Mailbox Monday (49)

It's time for another Mailbox Monday post!  Once again I could not resist the cheap ebooks that Amazon and Barnes and Noble were promoting this week.  I really need to stop!  I already have more than I can read.  I also was able to spend a little time browsing at the library and I came home with a nice stack of books.  These days, I hardly ever get to spend time at the library by myself for more than a minute or two so it was wonderful to have time to just wander and see what I could find. Purchased (for kindle): The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford The One I Was by Eliza Graham House of Bathory by Linda Lafferty   Purchased (for nook): One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore  Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams From the Library: The Messenger by Daniel Silva   The Ripper's Wife by Brandy Purdy Hotel Moscow by Talia Carner Brazen by Katherine Longshore What books did you get...

Mailbox Monday (78)

 Happy Sunday everybody!  September is over and I can hardly believe it.  It seems as though the month has flown by.  Now I'm excited for fall and all of the upcoming holidays.  October is the start of my favorite time of year and I'm hoping there will be plenty of room for reading in between all of the upcoming events. I requested some new holiday books from the library and had no idea all of my holds would come in at once so I need to get moving on these.  I'm really excited to dig into some sweet, fluffy reads and these will do just the trick. From the Library: A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller This is the fourth book in a series that I really enjoyed so I'm eager to get started on it. Holly and Ivy by Fern Michaels The Christmas Room by Catherine Anderson I was so intrigued by the cover on this one that I had to pick it up. For Review (from NetGalley): I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon   ...