Nineteen Minutes ~ Jodi Picoult
By: Kitten
Blog: Hallucinations of a Kitten
A boy named Peter has been bullied by the same students for 17 years of his life. Ever since day one of kindergarten his superman lunch box that his mother got him had been thrown out of the bus. Coming into highschool was no different when you're in the same school, Sterling High where anyone knew everyone.
One March 6th 2007, Peter goes to school and kills off 10 students and wounds another 18 of them. A policeman interferes just in time to spare the lives of the rest.
The next 450 pages or so deal with trying to crack up the mystery and motives of Peter. Truth be told, only few were working on Peter's side when all of Sterling wanted nothing more than to see him dead. The parents of the deceased cannot see a reason why he should be alive when their sons and daughters aren't.
The question that Picoult lays in front of us is: If your son says the bullying was unbearable but his revenge was murder, what would you do?
Personal opinion: The reason why I like Picoult's work is that throughout her novels she leaves you hanging on the many details yet little clues. She gives you room to ponder on your own, to come up with scenarios while having the scenes of the story playing in your head over and over again even when you've put the book down. You'll find that there's always a reason to come back and read in order to find out if your assumptions were right and that's the most important silver lining; they're not. Most of the time, that is.
My Rating: 8.5/10 I liked it a lot that giving it a 15 would suffice but then I wished if the ending was different. I wished if it didn't have to be a sad and painful ending to the characters. One way to find out is to read it. You'll easily find it in Borders; just look for the shelves with Picoult's name.
I recommend it to those who would want to understand what a mother-daughter/son relationship is like, especially if those in the question were high school teenagers.
I love Jodi's book, they always make you wounder and they also makes you really in the middle of that situation and that sometimes is painful!
ReplyDeleteI have the book, and will read it .. Someday!
Me too, you already know that about me. Her characters feel so real that you feel like you're in their shoes.
ReplyDeleteAGREE, she paints a picture of her characters so vividly that you feel like you are there during every event. She is truly an inspirational writer! She adds twists that make you keep reading for more.
ReplyDeleteWhat this book has that others like it often don't is compassion not just for the bullying victims, but for the "in-crowd" as well. It is more complex than "We Need to Talk About Kevin" because Peter is capable of love and not just a run-of-the-mill sociopath. The end is a little odd, but not as jolting as the one in "My Sister's Keeper." Highly recommended.
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