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Life sure can be ugly, messy, and complicated,
A perfect example of that is depicted in Jodi Picoults “My Sisters Keeper, ”
The emotions I felt while reading this heartwrenching novel were mainly anger, frustration, and a whole lot of sadness,
At thirteen, Anna is the little sister, though from everything shes gone through you wouldnt know it, From before conception, her parents had a very specific plan for her, They designed her. Their firstborn daughter, Kate was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia AML at a very young age, The doctors said that her best chance of survival would be to receive a blood transfusion, bone marrow, and potentially organ donations from a matched sibling.
Enter Anna. Since the age of five, at her parents insistence, she has had to undergo multiple surgeries to save her sisters life, with nary a care for her own.
When Anna turns thirteen, however, and kidney donation is the next step, all of that changes, For the first time, Anna decides to take a stand,
For Anna, this is a life choice, For Annas mother Sara, it is an abomination, as Anna is effectively writing Kates death sentence, Sara is a woman who admittedly, I did not understand, Yes, I know, shes just a fictional character yet, my blood boiled at her actions while reading this novel, I wanted to shake her or slap her or if Im being completely honest do a whole lot more to make her realize that she had three children to take care of, not just one.
Seeing as I am not a mother perhaps my feelings for her would have been less, say aggressive if I had more insight into motherhood.
For those of you who are mothers, perhaps your take on her is altogether different than mine,
The standout character here, for me, is, of course, Anna, Strong, forthright, kind, and brave, so very brave,
I first read this novel when it came out many moons ago, however, I have been rereading some of my old favorites with my book buddy Kaceey.
Though this was a difficult read, which garnered a lot of discussion between the two of us, it was an incredible one, Though this was a reread for me, I admit to shedding a few tears throughout, Thank you for sharing it with me Kaceey, If youre looking for another novel to read that has a partially similar premise, check out “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, Having read almost every Jodi Picoult novel to date, this is one of my favorites, I look forward to sharing the rest with you
Published on Goodreads on, I'm guessing everyone has read this book but maybe not When I saw another GR's post she just read it, . . and it was one of the most
disturbing books she ever read, . , I can relate.
WAY before this movie came out, . . with its different ending . .
I couldn't move at one point while reading,
I was on my way to the gym that early morning, . . but I was just a wreckcrying just too hard at the house alone, . . not knowing anyone who had read this book at the time, . ,
I didn't get off the 'floor', I was in shock.
For years later, . . This became one of the most talked about books, . . with valuable discussions
AGAINST HER WILL
If Jodi Picoult's intent was to shock readers and make them cringe, she has succeeded beyond belief.
As the mother of an extremely ill child, she was desperate to find a way to keep her alive, The premise was to conceive a sibling that could be a resident "body parts donor" for her older sister, I was incensed by the painful, invasive procedures she had doctors inflict upon the younger sibling, Although, as a mother, I fully understand how imperative it was to forge ahead and do whatever was necessary to save her older daughter I, too, would do everything.
. . everything, that is, short of creating an innocent child to be a living body parts donor,
I found myself angry with the mother, and my anger eventually transferred to the author, It wasn't until an author/friend of mind reminded me that when a novelist evokes such strong emotions, it is exactly what s/he had intended.
So, although I find the premise nightmarish and cringeworthy, I will not "kill the messenger," after all instead, I applaud Picoult's superb writing style,
Phyllis Eisenstadt Spoiler Alert, This review contains spoilers.
I hated this book so much, I only kept reading it because I had to find out why Campbell, the lawyer, had a service dog, since he kept that such a secret.
I hated the clichés Julia chose just that moment to crash through the door Anna chose that precise moment to speak up Rita chose this moment to gag on bad writing.
I hated the overwrought melodrama, Everything was just so saturated with heavyhanded tearjerking prose that the book was soggy and just about dripping, About halfway through the book, I started skimming it, looking for dialogue relevant to the plot, Brians metaphors about fire and Saras reminiscing about the kids childhoods and Campbells backflashes about Julia and Julia being pathetic in every possible way and Annas cluelessness just got so very dull.
If I was ever to find out why Campbell had that dog, then I needed to get through the material faster, Putting the book down to groan out loud every few paragraphs was taking too long,
The characters were twodimensional and irritating, They really were just like paper dolls, given name tags, dressed up in stereotypes and given lines to say and melodramatic thoughts to spill out.
It was like, This is the mom and shes a big martyr who puts her children first all the time shes a GOOD mother, she just got blinded by trying to be too good, so she seems kind of bad now.
But well be on her side in the end because of her deep insight, Waggle mom paper doll and have her blah, blah, blah and then Over here is the Big Bad Lawyer doll ooooh, hes a ruthless gogetter with a hazy past, but hell have some secrets to pull out at the end so well realize hes a decent, stand up guy after all.
Waggle lawyer paper doll and have him blah blah blah, and so on,
The plot was all right through all of that until the big Law and Order courtroom twist at the end, That was just a convenient trick to get out of actually trying to find a solution for such a dilemma, She worked it up to such a point that there was no way out that would sit well with an audience, there was no good way to wrap it up, so she pulled a rabbit out of a hat.
Then she went a step further and did something that I guess some might find bold, but it just made me shout a stream of obscenities and then made me thankful that I had just skimmed the second half of the book and didnt really invest in it at all.
Otherwise, I would have been furious with such an ending,
This is the second Jodi Picoult book Ive tried to read, I didnt like the other one either Vanishing Acts, so I guess I wont be reading anything else by this author,
oh dear. where do i even begin with this one
the only thing i liked about this was the concept, the quality of one daughters life vs the sanctity of her sisters is phenomenally creative and very forward thinking for the time this was written.
i loved the ethically, morally, medically, and psychologically ambiguous questions/answers this story prompts, it just really makes you think,
that being said, i hated everything else,
there are wayyyy too many POVs, several of which are unnecessary, and i really dont like any of the characters, but i absolutely loathe the mother, omg. im not a violent person but i seriously was concerned by how often i wanted to strangle her to death,
i also dont like the way the narration was told, there are too many switches between present day and past memories with no transitions, its soooo annoying and really disrupts the flow of the story,
and the ending is the biggest disappointment of them all, i feel like JP took the coward/easy way out because she wasnt brave enough to see either side of the argument through, i would have respected her as an author for committing to and seeing a decision through, regardless of the sad consequences that would have followed.
but she didnt and it ruined the story for me,
this story had a lot of potential that was quickly flushed down the toilet,
stars My Sister's Keeper was one of the most heart wrenching stories I've ever read, Anna's sister, Kate, is dying from a rare form of leukemia, She was conceived as a genetic match to help save her sister's life, It was supposed to be a onetime deal, but over the course of heryears, Anna has donated multiple times, Her sister is in need of a kidney and Anna's decided she's had enough of being told how to use her body, She decides to sue her parents for medical emancipation and refuses to give up her kidney, She knows the possible consequences of her actions, but she wants to be the one to make the choice, not her parents, What follows is a harrowing tale told in the view of six people affected by Anna's decision, I really can't say too much else without giving anything away, but this is a must read, albeit an emotional one, I chose to reread this all time most popular and one of the most thought provoking Jodi Picoult novel! I think most of the readers already devoured it but know about it! Some of you may have watched the movie adaptation!
This is truly heart wrenching story, making you think from different perspectives!
Its a story of family suffering from big tragedies:
Little Anna at the age of thirteen is sick of being hospitals for so many operations including lots of transfusions, shots, surgeries to help her older sister Kate who struggles from leukemia.
She is sick of not deciding whats going to happen to her own body, Shes conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate! She loves her sister! She wants her live a healthy, long life! But enough is enough! She doesnt want to be her parents Guinea pig for another tests, surgeries she doesnt give her consent!
Kate is the older sister who wants to stop fighting.
She already spent her all life in hospital, Her parents do everything they can to give her extra years to live in expanse of killing their other daughter, But Kate doesnt want to live miserably anymore as her family tears apart,
Sara loves her daughters but she keeps forgetting she also has a son, Her only focus is making Kate alive in expanse of crossing the boundaries and she expects every one in the family obey her decisions, Cameron Diaz was the worst choice to play that character!
Jesse is the son living like wallflower in his own house, Nobody pains attention to him, He doesnt want to be shadow of the family, He unfortunately finds other destructive way to reflect his boiled up feelings: anger, hatred, resentment!
And
Brian loves his wife and his family.
But at the end he has to stand with Kate and the choices shell make,
Anna sues her family to be the decision maker about her own body! She doesnt want her body get cut at the operation table without her consent.
And the famous lawyer Campbell who has his own notorious tactics at court, takes her case, Campbell is the star player, His unresolved love story was a great part to take a big breath from big family drama!
Overall: character driven, strong, moving, sad, one of the best written books shaking you to the core! Whos the right side Whose side youre support These are the questions you cannot properly answer after reading this book! Emotional and profoundly thoughtprovoking.
If your child were deathly ill, what would you do to save them Move heaven and earth, . . right Would that include sacrificing your other child Stops you in your tracks, doesnt it,
Kate was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, Conventional treatment wasnt working. Her only hope was a bone marrow transplant, But no one in the family was a close match, And there was no time to sit on the register hoping beyond hope to find a donor,
Kates parents make the call of a lifetimethey decide to have another child through IVF to ensure as close to a perfect match for Kate.
Anna is ushered into this world with an abundance of love but also with the hope she will save Kates life, So many gutwrenching decision follow, Morals and values to be considered, When is it enough When will it stop What will the repercussions be when all is said and done
This book will have you taking a hard look at yourself in the mirror.
How far can you go Is causing harm to one daughter worth easing the pain of your other
Jodi Picoult did an amazing job of portraying a family in the most unthinkable crisis.
A buddy read with Susanne that kept us discussing as much as reading,
Highly recommend!
Posted to:sitelink . .
Thank you Susanne for gifting me a copy of this incredible book,
Emancipation
My Sister's Keeper is a hugely compelling novel that explores an agonising moral dilemma of doing everything possible for your child but can you choose between your children.
It is heartbreaking, sensitive, compassionate and superbly written to bring a serious illness and portray it through a novel, The true exploration of the story is the sanctity of life, the precious, fragile, nature of it, the ownership we each have over our bodies, and the respect we must pay to others.
Sara and Brian have a child Kate with Leukaemia and decide to have another daughter, Anna, to groom for the eventually of providing a kidney transplant and stem cells for Kate.
The plans go completely awry when Anna decides that she has her own life and will make her own decisions about her body, and decides to take legal steps towards medical emancipation from her parents.
As this ethical battle is being played out between legal teams and then in court, Kates Leukaemia treatment continues and she is experiencing all the issues and obstacles a Leukaemia patient will suffer.
Not only the physical suffering but the emotional and spiritual torment, It is very difficult to develop relationships with other patients and then deal with the deaths that occur, The tight bond that disappears in a moment! Utterly heartbreaking as it often breaks your hope that this illness is survivable,
My Sister's Keeper is an incredibly sad story and having watched a family member die of Leukaemia, it replayed all the same tragic decisions and experiences.
I felt Jodi Picoult captured the emotions and mental anguish so wonderfully, It was really authentic! If you suffered agonising moments throughout the book, the final twist will leave you floored,
I would highly recommend this book and it will leave its impact, especially if its directly relatable, .