Saturday, January 2, 2010

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

Originality- 17/20
Characters- 19/20
Remembrance- 8/10
Quote-ability- 8/10
Entertainment- 18/20
Ending- 9/10
Recommend to read- 8/10
TOTAL- 87/100
Grade- B

What happens when you do all the right things for all the wrong reasons? As an assistant district attorney in York County, Maine, Nina Frost prosecutes the sort of crimes that tear families apart. She helps clients navigate their way through a nightmare – even though the legal system is not always the faultless compass they want and need it to be. She learns that the easiest way to cross this devastating minefield time and time again is to offer compassion, battle fiercely for justice, and keep her emotional distance.

But when Nina and her husband Caleb discover that their five-year-old son Nathaniel has been sexually abused, that distance is impossible to maintain. The world Nina inhabits now seems different from the one she lived in yesterday; the lines between family and professional life are erased; and answers to questions she thought she knew are no longer easy to find. Overcome by anger and desperate for vengeance, Nina ignites a battle that may cause her to lose the very thing she's fighting for.
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Just like all of Picoult's books this one was extraordinarily written. The story was told by several different people including Nathaniel. It broke my heart when he would stop speaking and blame himself for the abuse, and everything else that was going wrong. I just don't know what it is about these books, they're able to talk about a touchy subject and make me feel like I am in each person's shoes.

The characters as usual were wonderful. The whole book was mostly character development which let me down a little bit. I found myself getting a little bored and hoping that something interesting was going to happen. Don't get me wrong, plenty of crazy stuff happens but there were several gaps. Thankfully they didn't last too long and I got pulled right back into the story.

My heart not only broke for Nathaniel but also his family. The family dynamic is so close and comforting it's hard to think about something so bad happening to them. There are so many twists in this book I was kept guessing until the very end. I wish I could tell you more but I don't want to spoil anything.

The ending was completely amazing. I felt like I could walk away from the book happy and realizing that Nathaniel wouldn't be hurting forever. I would recommend this book to anyone that has family problems to see that it could be so much worse.

-Amanda

6 comments:

Briana said...

I adored this book :)

-Briana

Anonymous said...

I was looking at this book earlier today. I so have to read a book by this author. Pretty much all of the ones I've stumbled across catch my attention.

Robby said...

I've read all of Jodi Picoult's books, and they're all so beautiful. Some are better than others, but this one sticks out in my mind as really great. Jodi Picoult is wonderful.

Krista/Tower of Books said...

I haven't read any of Picoult's novels, but I really should. They sound amazing.

Stephanie said...

I wasn't crazy about this book, though I agree that Jodi Picoult writes beautifully. For me, the twists in this book strained credibility too far. Great review!

Unknown said...

I'm a huge fan of Picoult's and I really enjoyed this book. I've read most of her books too, so I was looking for something similar and I discovered Barbara Delinsky. She deals with a lot of the same major themes, namely family ties. I just read her latest book Not My Daughter and really enjoyed it. Just a suggestion if you're looking for some new and similar reads. Loved your review :)