Vanishing Acts

I don't normally read this genre at all, so it made a nice change for me. I quite enjoyed it, but I found some aspects a bit in too unsubtle. You really got a handle on the characters very easily, even the lead, with whom I found it hard to sympathise, I could still empathise. But there were just too many correlations between one life and another, one person's situation and another's. It was...more

I don't normally read this genre at all, so it made a nice change for me. I quite enjoyed it, but I found some aspects a bit in too unsubtle. You really got a handle on the characters very easily, even the lead, with whom I found it hard to sympathise, I could still empathise. But there were just too many correlations between one life and another, one person's situation and another's. It was mostly cleverly built, though, and even when it was in your face about it, it didn't detract from the book overall too much. Not so good I'd recommend it, but it certainly explored some interesting issues.   hide

I did enjoy this read, the story of a daughter who finds out her own dad kidnapped her when she was only wee, is moving and scary. Scary in a way where you wonder what you would do if it was you ect ect ect. It is a great read about real-life family issues. However, it is not as good as "My Sister's Keeper". Even so, if you are a fan of the lovely picoult, then you will enjoy this!

This is the 5th Jodi Picoult book I have read but I can't really say I have enjoyed it despite the elegant and assured writing. Her novels are somewhat predictable; examine a moral dilemma via cookie cutter trials where lawyers will resolve personal issues of their own and proclaim to the jury -' in this trial, you will see something very different. its called the truth. ' The contrived symmetry...more

This is the 5th Jodi Picoult book I have read but I can't really say I have enjoyed it despite the elegant and assured writing. Her novels are somewhat predictable; examine a moral dilemma via cookie cutter trials where lawyers will resolve personal issues of their own and proclaim to the jury -' in this trial, you will see something very different. its called the truth. ' The contrived symmetry in the subplots (delia's job and her real past, for instance) starts to grate after a while. Nothing in life is that neat. Much as I admire Picoult's balanced tackling of ethical issues we face but rarely think about, (loved The Pact and Salem Falls) I came away from this one with the impression that this book never forgets that it is a story, and hence, loses much of its effectiveness.    hide

I guess I'm the only one who thinks this book is just "ok." I think Picoult has written much better books than this one. Towards the end, it just gets pointless-the prison scenes were pretentious and dragged on (such as Andrew describing how to make Meth, etc.). I can't wait to read Salem Falls by her; this book just didn't do it for me.