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Reviews (1)
01 June 2017
Interesting premise, disappointing ending
I read this for my book group - I wouldn't have chosen it for myself. The person who picked it said it would make me cry. It did not.
The idea was interesting, although I'm not sure I found it plausible (and would you really tell your child that they were born specifically to be a donor for their sibling? Surely that's asking for a lifetime of therapy!).
The lawyer's specious mysteriousness about his service dog was irritating. I worked out early on what the issue was and his continued coyness was just annoying. Not sure what the point was of the relationship between him and the guardian; it didn't add anything to the story.
The characters I liked best were the brother and the guardian's sister - they were interesting and feisty.
The mother, despite having a very sick child, managed to come across as completely unsympathetic - quite feat. The father was just a bit bland.
A disturbing but largely over-looked feature, for this Brit reader, was the US health system, which is all about money.
As for the ending - I can't go into it here without a massive spoiler, so suffice to say that I found it extremely disappointing and unsatisfactory (not to mention being signalled a mile off).
I won't be reading any more of Picoult's books from choice and I don't think anyone at my book group will be picking another one either.