I had to finish reading this one first, before I dove into my fresh pile. I started reading My Sister's Keeper a summer ago. I was at the beach in Madison with Katie and my other sisters and (for something to do) had borrowed this random book from Katie's apartment. I read the first chapter and after we left the beach, I left the book too. A year later, and I see previews for the movie of the same name, loosely based off the book (or loose I have heard). I remember I had started this book, and suddenly have a reason to return to it. I ask for Katie to loan it to me, and she agrees, stressing it belongs to a friend and should be handled with care (And don't worry Katie, I have taken care).
The story is of a family with a son and daughter and when at the age of two, the daughter is diagnosed with leukemia, they birth another daughter to be a donor for her older sister. The book begins with thirteen year old Anna suing her parents for medical emancipation, and the whole book is basically dealing with this case, stories from Anna's family, and the lawyer and guardian ad litem assigned to Anna.
I knew the ending to this book before I ever knew I would read it. Katie had read it and was complaining of the bad ending to Amy, I think, when I was around. I never forgot. So I was not disappointed by a bad ending. The whole book got me thinking about cancer and the whole, "If you had cancer, would you want to know?" dilemma. It's a dilemma for me at least, because I don't think I would want to know. A big point in this story is that cancer enters a life like a monster who may leave the room but never leaves the house. I knew that from Kate's perspective, she would be dealing the best she could with what life had given her. But she wouldn't want others to continually suffer on her behalf. I was very satisfied with the last chapter. I also appreciated the technically unnecessary romance that shows up, because it creates a nice sub-plot and distraction from the main drama. I liked every character in this book and their inner struggles EXCEPT for Sara, the mom. She made me so angry with the way she handled everything. This isn't a very good review, I know. I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I didn't like all the talk about Kate's different ailments. I thought it was a bit longer than it could have been. I would definitely not call this Jodi Picoult's best book, but I liked it.
RECOMMENDED FOR: People who are interested in cancer, dysfunctional families, court cases, or Jodi Picoult.
AND NOT FOR: People who prefer action, mystery, suspense, or are bothered by diseases or cancer.
3 comments:
slash NOT FOR: Amy.
haha I really dislike Jodi Picoult's books. Sure she's a good writer I guess, but they are too depressing, I prefer to read books that will make me ponder the wonderment of life. :)
I agree, Jodi Picoult is not my favorite author... too depressing, like Amy says. Plus, I was very bothered by the ending of the book My Sister's Keeper, particularly because it made the whole story seem pointless... why did Jodi make me read the whole (excruciatingly long) book just to have it end like that? Sure, sure, I "learned" from Kate and Anna, but.... lame.
Sorry, just had to let that out. haha. I heard that the movie ends differently than the book, however!
Yeah. No one would want the movie to end like that. I've read her 'Keeping Faith', 'The Tenth Circle', and now 'My Sister's Keeper'. The first was ALSO about a court case, and wasn't entirely interesting. I did like 'The Tenth Circle' though. It had more variety, and I did learn things.
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