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Summary: Valley Review
Review: In this riveting novel, The Pact, Picoult discusses and portrays the feelings of anger, guilt, and loss. His writing techniques bring the characters to life and get you wrapped up in their story. The Hartes and the Gold family are dynamic characters caught up in a tremendous tragedy. These two families live right next door to each other in a small, quaint New Hampshire town. Their lives are the same considering both of the husbands are doctors and the wives are pregnant. Having both of the wives pregnant, it sets up their soon to be son and daughters relationship right from the beginning. When Emily and Chris are in their teenage years, they plan to accomplish a double suicide. However, everything did not go as planned. Emily Gold died while Chris Harte was still alive. Inevitable, Chris is charged with first-degree murder, but wasn't actually involved. Jodi Picoult does an excellent job at showing the relationship between past and present. This helps show how Emily and Chris' friendship and love grew into each other. When the trial begins with Chris, he and many others questioned Emily's feelings towards suicide, if it was even possible for her to commit such a dreadful crime. Although Emily's feelings of self infliction never seemed visible on the inside no one knew that she was pregnant. I believe this is the true reason she decided to take her own life and the life of her baby. Even though Chris was at the carousel when Emily committed suicide, he did the pull the trigger, but he did it because she wanted him to. I think since he pulled the trigger that he is still innocent because she wanted to die so badly but she couldn't do it herself. Chris loved Emily so much that he would do anything for her even help in committing suicide. This book is heart felt, mind boggling, filled with sorrow, and wont ever let you put it down.
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Summary: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY
Review: If you've yet to read a book by Jodi Picoult, The Pact is a good place to start. Once here, you will be introduced to a terrific author and will probably vow to read everything she has written. This is how it was for me when I read this book. There are very few books that I'll read and be able to say "I absolutely LOVED it." This was one of those rare books that I was able to say those words. This story tracks the lives of two American families, the Hartes and the Golds, living on a cul de sac and raising their kids together. Chris Harte and Emily Gold were born just weeks apart and spent most of their childhood playing together. Of course, it was each family's dream that they would grow up and eventually fall in love giving credence to the "happily every after story". As we follow Chris and Emily through their childhood into their teen years, we share the same dreams as the parents and are delighted when the two finally find their friendship becoming one of intimacy. When Emily dies of a gunshot wound, there are plenty of questions to be answered and what follows will keep you spellbound. This is a book that any parent of a teen can relate to and also should be suggested reading for teens themselves. This book screams to be an Oprah pick...it's that good and even better.
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Summary: I love this book!
Review: It's by far one of my favorites!
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Summary: Truly Touched
Review: Jodi Picoult's ability to keep reader's on the edge of their seat left me unable to put this book down! I absolutely loved it!I have never read anything by Picoult until now and I definitely will read more in the future. The Pact was amazing. I could relate to many aspects of the novel and each event left me thinking. The story makes you wonder how life could be so perfect and then change in an instant. Picoult uses great detail in showing the love between two teenagers and how their once close famalies become split apart, left with a mystery of one child dead and the other accused of murder. This book truly touched me and I would strongly reccomend it for readers who enjoy the strength of love and the search for truth.
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Summary: An amazing story of love and death
Review: I have recently become a fan of Jodi Picoult. I enjoy her stories and her writing---always very interesting and compelling. I ordered her older books after reading "Plain Truth". And I'm so glad I did.
This novel was gripping from the first page--I had a hard time putting it down. Having known "kids" who were very similar to Chris and Emily, I believe that I understood their feelings about their love, their being "joined at the hip", the families being closely tied together. I also understood the painful reality of a young girl feeling so desperate that suicide would be the only way out of her pain.It was so real--and powerful to read. I couldn't put it down------except that I was reading it in the midst of our nation's terrible tragedy on Sept. 11---and found it was too painful to read about Emily's death when thousands of other deaths were happening in real life. I had to take a rest for a couple of days-----and finally finished it last night. A powerful ending to a tremendous story.
I hope Jodi Picoult continues to write such terrific stories. She's one of my newest favorites and I'll continue to read her books.
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Summary: Good one
Review: This was a good book. However, I felt a little bit dissapointed that the plot was very similar to Keeping Faith, a book I had read before this one. It also seems very similar to other books by Picoult that I have read the back cover on. I don't know why, but it just made is seem a bit... can't think of a word to describe it! But it dissapointed me. Don't get me wrong, this was a great book! It really questioned some things to do with love, death, and expectations of people. It also really made me feel for Emily. I felt so sad that he life went down the drain from a single incident, and I was just screaming at her "tell someone! Let it out!!" I don't know why, but i felt like if she had just done that, her life would have been a whole lot better... she would have had alot more confidence anyway. That was the main thing about this book that really got me
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Summary: Loving the Good Cry
Review: This book made me cry as I read the climax. And I only cry three or four times a year. So, if you want well written angst that truly transports you, this is the thing for you.
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Summary: Can it get any better?
Review: I loved, loved, loved this book. I have read it 3 times now. I can relate to this book in so many ways and it's amazing what Jodi Picoult can write. I think this is her best book by far. I recomend this to everyone who wants a good book to read, but ladies bring a box of tissues with you, the end will get you.
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Summary: Don't judge a book by its cover
Review: 'The Pact' may look like paperback's answer to the ever-popular cheesy chick flick. Regardless of the rather insipid storyline, this book was actually rather disturbing, bringing up the frightening question of how well we can ever really know another person. The Golds and the Hartes are next-door neighbors and inseparable friends, so as soon as their children's friendship grows into something more, both sets of parents are ecstatic. However cliché the plot may sound, an interesting twist is delivered right up front; Emily Gold is dead at seventeen, and the local detectives doubt Chris Harte's story of a suicide pact. The mushiness of Chris and Emily's picture perfect romance is kept to a minimum with most of the book concentrating on how Chris and both sets of parents deal with Emily's death. The couple's relationship is limited to a series of flashbacks, starting from childhood and progressing to Emily's death. Jodi Picoult manages to keep you guessing at what really happened on the night of Emily's 'suicide' right until the very end when all the characters finally realize just how little they actually knew one another.
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Summary: Summer reading gone right
Review: I was catching up on some summer reading this past year and was striking out terribly, until I came to this book. I had never heard of Jodi Picoult, but I'm terribly happy I found her. From page 1 the book hooks you and doesn't let go. The pace, the plot, the point of view are all engrossing, but the best part is the characters. I found myself identifying with them in their heartaches, losses, and triumphs. I found myself wanting to talk to them, my mind constantly screaming, "if you could only see!" Even though I spent the summer desperately searching for a good book, when I found it in this one, the previous disapointments vanished.
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