Rating: 
Summary: Farfetched
Review: This is the first book I have read by Jodi Picoult and the review I have written, but I felt I had to tell other people how farfetched this book was. First of all they make the woman in the book sound like a heroine when in fact she is an awful woman. It was ridiculous how she lead this one man on while she was married, and also how her husband and everyone else in the storyline accepted everything she did as just. The ending is just appaling and the book may not have even been so bad if it weren't for that.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down, but couldn't suspend my disbelief
Review: I have a problem with this book. Yes, I found it hard to put down, but whenever I did put it down, I had a LOT of questions. Like, for example, just why did everyone adore Nina Frost, even to the point where Patrick tells Caleb she is a goddess, and Caleb apparently agrees? I find it irritating when an author simply informs us (over and over again) that a woman is the ultimate in appeal, but gives us no evidence whatsoever as to why. I thought she was pretty much idiotic in most of her thoughts and actions, so I guess brains aren't the draw. She borders on neglectful as a mother, so her nurturing demeanor can't be it. Maybe a full figure drawing of her should have been provided, so readers would have some clue why men found her so irresistable. Further, it's not believable that Caleb would just allow Patrick to tag along throughout their marriage and family life. I can't believe he never told Nina what I was thinking all along--that this kind of behavior is understandable in a high school kid, kind of creepy in the college years, and then moves swiftly into the realm of stalker status. The other thing is, the kid is kind of weird as well. He is five years old, but can't yet read one word? Don't they have Sesame Street in Maine? And yet when he asked where the snow goes, Nina (who doesn't otherwise have any time to spare for her family) is compelled to take him to the library, where they look up the concept of "sublimation." Give me a break. That said, it was an enjoyable read, even though I feel Ms. Picoult's expressiveness is way ahead of her logic.
Rating:
Summary: Outraged Mother Turns to Crime
Review: Nina Frost is a lawyer who prosecutes child molesters, and is very familiar with the difficulties in getting a conviction when the main witness is a fragile, hurt, confused child. She has seen many criminals escape the system to prey on other helpless children. Her husband, Caleb Frost, is a methodical, meticulous stonemason. But in spite of their respective skills, they are unable to protect their 5-year child, Nathaniel. He suddenly stops talking, and the psychologist to whom they take him for an evaluation discovers that he has been molested. However, he isn’t talking and they have no clues as to the identity of his molester. Patrick Ducharme is Nina’s oldest and best friend and has also befriended Nathaniel. Nathaniel whispers “Father” to Patrick when he questioned him about the molestation, and they leap to the conclusion that Caleb was the guilty party. Fortunately, they soon discovered that he really meant Father Glen from the nearby parish. Nina, horrified about the crime and obsessed with protecting Nathaniel from further harm, decides to take the law into her own hands and sets off a chain of events that she has no control over. The book explores the depth of love and commitment that a mother feels for her child and raises the question of what actions can be justified in the interest of protecting that child. I was engaged by the plot twists and the legal arguments for and against Nina’s actions, but in the end I decided that the conclusion was just too unrealistic. If our society is to function ethically and equitably, no one, not even a mother who loved her child so deeply and totally, can be allowed to be the judge, jury and executioner.
Rating:
Summary: Not So Perfect
Review: I loved "Plain Truth" and set out to read everything
by Jodi Picoult. If there IS another book of that
quality in her other novels please tell me. Perfect Match
starts out as a page turner, gets absolutely disgusting
as Nina becomes a vigilante---something totally farfetched
from an officer of the court. Through a contrived plot
twist her actions become even more repulsive. It's very
hard to identify with a supposed experienced attorney who
doesn't bother to seek out credible evidence before taking
the law into her hands. The cold husband and puppy dog
policeman add little to the story however the latter at
least is not completely offensive in his actions. The
ending was bizarre and seemed as contrived as the rest of
the book. Sign me as hoping that Ms. Picoult has another Plain Truth
in her. This is not even close. Lisa Nyberg
Rating:
Summary: The most powerful Picoult yet...
Review: I openly admit to being a Jodi Picoult fan... I have loved all but one of her novels, and *Perfect Match* is no exception. She somehow knows how to pick a tough subject and dig in to write a provocative and moving novel. I can't wait to find out what she's up to next! In *Perfect Match*, Nina, a seasoned prosecutor and Caleb, a successful contractor, discover that their 5 year old son, Nathaniel, has been sexually abused. Within days, Nathaniel has named his abuser, and the family is on their way to court. Nina, who knows how the system is run and that so many guilty defendants are set free due to lack of evidence, decides to take matters into her own hands and finds herself on trial... for murder... The novel shows how Nina's relationships with her family, her friends, and her colleagues evolve during the trial. Caleb wonders if he's able to accept Nina's actions while Nina wonders if she'll ever have her family back. The presence of Nina's childhood friend, Patrick, who has been in love with her since high school, both helps and hinders Nina's journey. I stayed up all night just to find out what happens in the end! As usual, Picoult delivers a gem of a novel. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Interesting
Review: What do you want from an author? If you have to have indisputable facts and flawless logic then perhaps non-fiction is for you. The nay sayers of this book are hard to figure. Picoult has offered up a story that is unique and included some pretty good characters. This is not an epic novel to rival Twain or Hemingway but that is not what it is meant to be. It is meant to be a really good story that is well told with excellent flow of words. Our hero is a prosecutor of child sexual assault cases whose own 5 year old is sexually assaulted. Picoult does not get too graphic but adds enough to give the feel of crime scene drama. The plot blazes some new ground in originality. How she handles having a son as a victim will make you say Holy cow. Don't you get sick of the same stuff over and over? That is not the case here. Here is a new twist with decent characters and what I thought was a very novel close. I read lots of great stuff and have no qualms about blasting the bad stuff but this is a really well written volume that keeps your interest and has good characters. What more do you want from a book?
Rating: 
Summary: poor charaterization & riduculous ending
Review: I've read most of picoults novels..to me she has great plots but very corny descrpitions of emotions and often un believable characters. "Perfect Match" started with an interesting and realistic premise.. child sexual abuse , the legal system and the church.
However, about 100 pages in it went off the rails.... I know im in the minority with this opinion
Rating:
Summary: worthwhile and enjoyable read
Review: The story develops smoothly, the writing is good (if sometimes overblown), and the characters are, for the most part, well-developed. The scenes written from the viewpoint of the abused child are particularly well done - showing the confusion and guilt and longing for family the child feels. To my mind, the protagonist's character was the least believable. The book drew me in from the start and kept me in the story the whole way. But it also doesn't ring true in many respects and left me with a bad taste by rejoicing in the murder of an innocent man because the killer's motive's were "well intentioned." It seemed to me the author had written herself into a hole and didn't know how to get out and so contrived the uneasy but supposedly feel-good ending.
Rating:
Summary: Another great read!
Review: This was the first book I read of hers and I enjoyed very much. It had a lot of many different aspects in it and it actually made me feel like I was reading a true to life book. I am reading Salem Falls, lets just hope it is as good! I have a lot of favorite authors and she is now on my list also!!
Rating:
Summary: A superb legal thriller
Review: This is a first-rate thriller that redefines the definition of a legal thriller. After the fantastic Plain Truth & the fabulous The Pact - I expected a superior thriller form Picoult - & Perfect Match is magnificent! Dedicated Assistant D.A. Nina Frost specializes in bringing to book sexual abusers. As a woman lawyer she understands the heinous nature of these offenses & battles hard & fierce for justice, at the same time keeping an emotional distance from her clients/victims. However, one day she finds that her toddler son, Nathaniel, has been sexually abused, & the shock has left a scar - he doesn't talk. All he does is convey messages in a crude sign language. As an experienced attorney she knows what has to be done, but for the first time, she now truly understands what it is to be the "violated." Caring & coaxing, she brings out from Nathaniel the sign for priest, & Nina Frosts' suspicion are cast upon Glen Szyszynski, Nathaniel's Sunday school teacher. DNA tests match semen stains found in her son's underwear with Szyszynski's DNA profile. Charges are filed, but on the day of the preliminary hearing, Nina does the unthinkable - she shoots & kills the abuser. Some days later, Nina finds out that Szyszynski was not the actual offender - he had once undergone bone marrow transplantation, & the DNA strain in his body actually belonged to the donor - his half-brother, another priest in the same church. Now the plot takes a turn. Whatever sympathy the jury might have had for Nina, disappears in the light of the fact that she has shot an innocent man. Nina engages defense attorney Fisher Carrington, & what follows is courtroom drama at its best, with a twist in the tale's tail. The reader is put in the shoes of the jury, as he tries to analyze whether Nina is guilty or not. Perfect Match addresses the sensitive legal question of transferred malice - a situation where a person does an act to kill one, but causes the death of another whom he never intended to kill. The law (in India) prescribes that the same punishment should be given to the accused, as if he had caused the death of the person whom he had intended to kill. So the case should proceed in the same manner as if Nina had actually killed the person whom she intended to kill. It is in this standpoint that the whole trial progresses, & the author does a great job in keeping the "legalese" thick & strong for both sides. Not since Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent have I read such a superior legal thriller! The crime of child abuse has been effectively dealt with only by few legal-fiction authors, Richard North Patterson's Eyes of a Child & Jay Brandon's Loose Among the Lambs the only notable exceptions, & Perfect Match adeptly fills the vacuum. A worthy read, a worthy buy!
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