Book Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

 

Read from April 13 to 17, 2013

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. 

My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

Basically, the only reason why I dragged this book off its lonesome shelf in a bookstore was because I watched the ending scenes of that movie. It was so heartwrenching that I just grabbed the book and stuffed it in my cart. I'm glad I did!

It was no secret that the story was going to be sad from the very beginning, and it was! It was as if the very family in the story had forgotten what life was like before disaster struck, and I liked that. Having witnessed a cancer patient's deterioration over a span of two years myself, I knew that was what it was like. So, in a way, the story gripped me from the start.

I was glued to book throughout and it was impossible to distinguish between my feelings and those of the characters. Picoult's writing was so intense that I didn't realize that I was feeling the very exact emotions of the characters until I neared the end.

Throughout, the novel was a great page-turner! There was nothing boring about it! It was as if I myself was trying to do what the characters were trying. I couldn't bring myself to hate anyone either. It was hard to judge (am I thinking what the rest of you who read this book are thinking?) who was doing the right thing when the very line between good and bad was blurred.

And that ending was shocking! I was so shocked that I actually gasped out loud! Anyway, I'm not going to say too much about that because I just might spoil it!

Overall, this book was real good! A must for all readers!

My Goodreads review