The Pact by Jodi Picoult

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

This was a another novel handed to me by a co-worker. I hadn't read the flap, which is my latest habit (they give away too much,) so it was a surprise.

I have to say, when one of the central characters dies at the start of the book, it captured by attention. The parent figures were introduced, and then the book began to get on my nerves a bit. The parents both being fairly affluent, beautiful spacious homes, and seemingly perfect marriages.

There is a question of whether the death was the result of a suicide, or murder, and that was when things began to irk me about the book. The way the two mothers reacted to the death was what irked me most. But the fact that I wanted to know already was it a murder or a suicide, kept me turning the pages. It wasn't until the middle of the book that the central character's story really began to emerge in bits and pieces discovered about her from things left behind. Memories of the person reading her diary, looking at her artwork, or just reminiscing gave insight into Emily's thoughts, and we hear memories from Emily herself.

It made me begin to not like her boyfriend. And it made me sad to realize how trapped she felt, that suicide was the only possible alternative.

At that point, the defense lawyer, Jordan, and his partner Selena, and his 13 year-old teen aged son take a more prominent role in the book. It is the Jordan character that pulled it all together for me.

It isn't until the trial that we learn the whole truth, and it is shocking. One unselfish act reveals it to the world finally, and it was the perfect ending.

Picoult's writing did not blow me away. No amazing images were painted for me in this book, but the story itself. No terrific imagery, no sophisticated description of a character so that I felt I could see them and recognize them on the street. (Except for the mother of the boyfriend, whose description I just now realized is exactly like the picture of the author that I just saw on the website where I copied this picture. ) But, the story, even though I feel like it was too drawn out, like I had to pull it out of the authors mind little bit by bit, was after all a very powerful one. I'd say halfway through the book, I didn't want to put it down, and I spent time during work wishing I could be done already, rush to the train, and settle in for another chapter or two.

I would definitely recommend this love story to others, and I plan to read another novel by this writer.