All about the books, paper and electronic, that I am reading.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
I've read several books by Jodi Picoult and enjoyed each of them. This book, however, was extremely intense. So much so that I found it difficult to put the book down. I'll be posting this book to the 50 Book Challenge web site shortly, and have logged it in my paper journal.
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My Sister's Keeper is a wonderfully written book that keeps the reader pulled into the life of a family going through a hard time. I really enjoyed this book because of the way storyline was never predictable to me. I would recomend this book to friends because I know they too would love to read it.
ReplyDeleteMy Sister’s Keeper is touchingly sad. What happens to Anna in the end made me mad, and sad, because it was so unfair. I didn’t like the way the author chose to end the story. I’m not trying to say that I wanted Kate to die, but Anna’s fate was totally undeserved.
ReplyDeleteMany of the characters have different ways of dealing with loss. Anna has mixed feelings about losing Kate – she’d be sad to have lost her sister, yet happy that she’d, finally, get to live. Sara is so afraid of losing Kate that she’ll go to extremes to save her, even if it means endangering one of her other children. I think the way Sara reacted to Anna’s emancipation suit was a huge overreaction, because Anna was just trying to stick up for herself. Brian is sort of the “gentle giant” of the novel. He never lets anyone see him cry, and he acts like a rock for everyone else to lean on. Campbell doesn’t deal well with losing Julia – when he sees her again he feels attracted, yet he pushes away. Jesse doesn’t really feel anything about his family, because he’s sort of the “forgotten child”, even though he’s always there when someone needs him. He often turns to fire and arson for his energy.
If I were Anna, I’d have felt the same way. I wouldn’t want to give up a kidney, just to save my sister. I know it sounds kind of selfish, but sometimes people need to think of themselves first. If we put everyone else ahead of ourselves, the world would be full of saints, and who wants that?
On the topic of genetic creation, I think that Sara and Brian had a justified reason for “creating” Anna... they wanted to give their daughter a chance to live. However, I think that they went too far in getting angry with Anna for not wanting to give her kidney to Kate… especially Sara. The chances were stacked a mile high against Kate, anyway.
Overall, I think this novel was very well written. Jodi Picoult has a style that’s easy to follow and a plot that’s easy to make sense of. The most difficult part of reading the novel, in my opinion, was the medical terminology. Titling each chapter with a character’s name (and using a different font for each character) makes it easier to keep each person’s point of view straight.
Jodi Picoult is a great author, and I look forward to reading more of her work!
I thought this book was excellent. I realized that Anna and Kate have a special bond that no one can take away. I have that same bond with my own sister and I know that no one could ever take that away from us. It was hard to accept the end because it was so sad. I wish Jodi didn't end the story like the way she did.
ReplyDeleteI felt bad for Anna because she is stuck in the middle of everyhting. Brian and Sara just seem to ignore her and focus on Kate. It is understandable they need to pay a little more attention on Kate, but Anna is thirteen and she in in her teens, when she needs the most attention. It was also good to see that Kate did have some humor. She could joke about things, even though she knew she was dying.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is one of a kind. I am going to read more of jodi's because this one is excellent and i am sure her other ones are too!
My Sister's Keeper is one of my favorite books. It is one of the very few books that keeps me interested throughout the whole thing. Each chapter shows a different characters point of view, which lets you in on each characters feelings about what is going on.
ReplyDeleteI liked every character, although Sara, the mother, I didn't like at times. I sympathized with Jesse, even though he didn't seem to mind his situation much. I felt extremely bad for Anna but also felt bad for Kate, so I didn't know whose side to take if I were to take one.
The ending of the book was very surprising. Since the second I started reading the book I wanted to skip to the end. I would recommend you wait, because it is a very good ending.
I really enjoyed My Sister's Keeper and recommend it to everybody.
It's hard for me to find a book that I enjoy at all, but My Sister's Keeper managed to be one that I loved. With well-developed characters, twists and turns, and a new and invigorating controversial topic, I think it would be hard for anyone to not love it.
ReplyDeleteThe author, Jodi Picoult, does a great job of making the reader sympathize with each character's position. Through Anna, the author is able to make the reader oppose the situation Anna is in because it takes away from a person's freedom and presents added health risks. Anna wants to grow up and explore who she really is, but she feels too connected to Kate's disease. On the other hand, Sara's character pulls on reader's emotions by explaining her feelings: Creating Anna in an effort to save Kate was worth it, a natural parent-reaction. Jodi Picoult manipulates readers well.
The author also made relationships in the book relatable. As a girl with two brothers that are atleast 5 years older than me, I couldn't relate personally to the bond between Anna and Kate who are only 3 years apart in age. By choosing to allow readers to see each characters internal thoughts, it was possible for me to grasp how closely connected sisters can really be.
The only things that I disliked about the book were (1) the medical terminology and (2) the end. The terms were way out of my vocabulary, so I found some of this material difficult to understand. However, it was still easy to get the general idea. I didn't like the end of the novel because I felt that it was too predictable. The event had crossed my mind halfway through the novel as a possible way of concluding. Once that thought entered my mind, I noticed that it being foreshadowed. For example, in my text, the chapters beginning on pages 399, 401, 402, 403 and 404 all began with the same sentence. If you've already read the book, you'll recall the initial phrase. For me, I would've appreciated a more surprising end to the story.
My Sister's Keeper is a great read. The author makes the characters loveable and relatable, no matter what side of the spectrum they may stand on. The rarity and controversy of the plot outweigh the predictability of the end and difficult terminology. My Sister's Keeper is definitely worth the time.
My Sister's Keeper is an intriguing and often puzzling book. There are some ideas that are off the wall for some and ideas that hit very close to home for others. The idea of genetic engineering is on the minds of millions of people and this book really brings it into the light.
ReplyDeleteBringing this topic to life in an everyday situation with Kate fighting everyday for a chance to live, and Anna fighting throughout the whole book to be able to make her own decisions, brings the reader into an intricate web of a family at crisis. About how certain things bring a family together, and how others seem simply to push them apart.
All in all, I suggest that you devote the time to this heart-felt book, you won't regret it.