My Sister's Keeper Review

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
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 -- 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.

This book caught me from the beginning as a very powerful story, which of course it was. It deals with a very controversial issue from a variety of lights.

I didn't like the changes in PoV at first. It was hard for me to keep up with who was talking, especially in the first few chapters. I didn't even recognize Sara's name at the top of chapter two and it was a few pages in before I realized it was Anna and Kate's mom talking and not Anna anymore. Once I got used to the changes though, I started to like them. Strangely enough, I like Campbell and Julia's sections the best and the story wasn't even about them. I really loved the side story of their romance, and Campbell's dialogue.

The characters in this book were so amazing and rounded they could very well have been real. Best characters I've read in a book by far, I think.

The end took me by surprise, ripped my heart out, and left me in shock, torn, and covered in tears. I'm not going to lie, I cried. A lot. Looking back I'm not sure if I like the ending or not. It felt like it really came out of left field for me. I didn't see it coming at all and it was so not what was expected.

Overall: 9/10

Comments

Brianne Carter said…
Love this book, and love that your favourite POVs weren't even those of the main characters. I was the same way; my favourite POV was Jesse's, which is kind of strange since I'm terrified of fire :P But I could have spent the entire novel in his head, and skipped ahead to read his parts.
May 26, 2010 at 7:45 PM
Nomes said…
It's a while since I read this - but I liked it too. And the ending, while it shocked me, really resonated - even though it's not the way I would've wanted things to turn out.

As a writer, I really want to write endings that resonate, you know?

And, they totally changed the ending in the movie! That's Hollywood for ya ;)
May 26, 2010 at 9:48 PM
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