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If you know me or have read this blog long enough, you know I LOVE Jodi Picoult. I discovered her when I was probably 13 and have read every single one of her books. Every year when she releases a new one it's on my birthday wish list. This year was no exception.
I was so excited for Leaving Time because a few months before it was released Jodi released a FREE digital short story. It was the book about elephants that I was telling all my nurses about when I was in labor. I loved the short story and was really excited.
It starts with a teenage girl looking for her mother who seems to have vanished into thin air after a dramatic night. She teams up with an old retired and alcoholic cop and a washed up psychic to find the answers. As in all of her books, Picoult uses different chapters to go back and forth between the different characters. One of those points of view is the mother who is missing. Her story reads as a flash back history lesson, while the other characters are speaking of present time.
It's clear Picoult did extensive research (just like all of her books) and the topic of research for this story was Elephants. I learned more about elephants than I thought I wanted to know (just like the topic of wolves in "Lone Wolf"). One of my favorite things about her books is learning about something in the process of reading and this was no different.
I read almost the entire book waiting for the other shoe to drop. While it was entertaining, it didn't make me question things like her past books. It didn't change my view or look at a topic with a new set of eyes. Toward the middle of the book I was actually getting bored thinking the plot was moving pretty slow. It wasn't until nearly the end of the book that a huge PLOT TWIST leaves you with your head spinning and your mouth wide open. Once the dots start to connect you look back on everything you just read with a totally different perspective.
If you had asked me if I liked the book as I was reading it, before the twist, I would have said EH. It's OK. But by the time I closed the book my mind was blown and I was entertained for a few days afterward just thinking about it.
Leaving Time is different from a lot of her other books, but I am a true blue fan and really enjoy anything Jodi Picoult writes. If you found her past books to be a little too intense or deep for you- this one would be a little more up your alley.
As with all of her books I was finished within a few days. Not her best book*, but not her worst either.
*In case you were wondering: my favorites are "The Storyteller", "House Rules" and "Nineteen Minutes". I really didn't like "Sing You Home"
I read almost the entire book waiting for the other shoe to drop. While it was entertaining, it didn't make me question things like her past books. It didn't change my view or look at a topic with a new set of eyes. Toward the middle of the book I was actually getting bored thinking the plot was moving pretty slow. It wasn't until nearly the end of the book that a huge PLOT TWIST leaves you with your head spinning and your mouth wide open. Once the dots start to connect you look back on everything you just read with a totally different perspective.
If you had asked me if I liked the book as I was reading it, before the twist, I would have said EH. It's OK. But by the time I closed the book my mind was blown and I was entertained for a few days afterward just thinking about it.
Leaving Time is different from a lot of her other books, but I am a true blue fan and really enjoy anything Jodi Picoult writes. If you found her past books to be a little too intense or deep for you- this one would be a little more up your alley.
As with all of her books I was finished within a few days. Not her best book*, but not her worst either.
*In case you were wondering: my favorites are "The Storyteller", "House Rules" and "Nineteen Minutes". I really didn't like "Sing You Home"
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