Title: The Pact
Author: Jodi Picoult
# of pages: 389
Date Completed: April 11, 2008
4/5 stars
Chris and Emily were like "two flip sides of a coin." They grew up in adjacent houses in a quiet New England town. Inseparable from the time they could walk, they were not only best friends, but they deeply felt the other's happiness as well as pain, as if it were their own. When Emily's secret pain becomes too much for her to bear, she makes up her mind to end her already short life. Emily tells her plan to Chris and he now is faced with deciding what is best for his beloved--telling a parent about her decision, physically stopping her from committing the act, or helping her do what she feels is the only way out of her torment.
Knowing the subject matter, I was conflicted about this book even before I began reading it, and that feeling stayed with me throughout the book. Most of the time, I am an overly optimistic person, and I have a difficult time reading books that I know contain really sad events. Since "real life" can often be so depressing (just watch the nightly news any night of the week), I generally like to escape by reading about people/ideas/events that are happy or at least have a happy ending. The Pact definitely did not make me feel happy!
Jodi Picoult wrote a page-turner--I had a hard time putting the book down. I needed to find out the truth of what happened with Chris and Emily, but all I really wanted to do was to put the book in the freezer (like Joey of Friends) and try to forget about it. What makes me truly sad is that though this was a fictional story, there are many people who have felt or feel like Emily--that they are completely out of options.
I did recently buy Nineteen Minutes, but I will be waiting awhile before reading another Picoult book. She is a good storyteller, but I'm not ready yet for such a heart-wrenching story.
4 Comments:
I don't think I saw that episode of Friends, but another blogger Lisa explained it and since then we've joked about "freezer books." I'd say that's a good way to describe Picoult's books. Her newest book hasn't gotten that great of reviews, so I've a little reluctant to read it.
I discovered this book buried in TBR Mountain when I organized it. Since I bought it (or bookmooched it or however it got here) I have read two Picoult books. I liked one ok but the other one annoyed me so much I couldn't finish or review it. This one sounds like it could be pretty upsetting for me in the same way it was for you, but I suppose we'll see!
I read my first Picoult book earlier this year and I had to take a few months off before reading another one too. I read "My Sister's Keeper." It was so much better than I expected it to be and I finished it in only a few hours but it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster. I finally picked up my second Picoult (The Tenth Circle) from the library a few days ago and am looking forward to it.
The Pact sounds really interesting. I'm going to put it on my TBR list, but I'll probably wait awhile to get to it.
The Pact wasn't one of my favorite Picoult books. I've read four and I'd say The Pact was my least favorite of the four. My favorites so far have been My Sister's Keeper and Salem Falls. Plain Truth was just okay as well. She is an excellent writer though, and even if I'm not that excited about the topic I still feel like I haven't wasted my time reading her books.
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