Saturday, May 10, 2008

Change of Heart - review

I have been trying to get Darci to read Jodi Picoult forever. I lent her my copy of "The Pact" which she promptly gave back to me and said that she couldn't get into it. So it was fitting that the first Picoult book that she read (and finished!) was called "Change of Heart". I think she liked it, didn't you, Darc?

I had read a few Jodi Picoult books before this one, and she stayed with her typical "ripped - from - the - headlines" / "hot - button - issue" main plot. This time she was dealing with the death penalty and more specifically the rights of those inmates on death row. She really did a good job of getting you to see the world from Shay's point of view. He's not a character that you would normally feel like identifying with, since he was convicted of murder, but you really do feel for him and what he's going through. I also really liked the romance storyline for Maggie. As a parent, it was hard to think that a mother could be presented with the type of choice that Mrs. Nealon was presented with in the book - what would you do? What a difficult choice to try to honor your one child that was taken from you in a horrific way, or to try to save your other child that is here with you now.

I really liked this book and still love Jodi Picoults style of writing. She writes a gripping novel that keeps you interested from the start.

2 comments:

Darci said...

Yes, I did like this book. It was very different because each chapter was one of the characters in first person and that was different for me, but it was good.

pitbull said...

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was interesting that each chapter was from one of the characters' point of view. It was a difficult decision for Mrs. Nealon to make, but I don't think there really WAS a decision; a donor heart is a donor heart - characteristics from the donor don't pass on to the recipient...or do they? Interesting points on religion, too. Just how would the Savior come back to earth? A good read for me.