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The author always goes for the cheap twist at the end. She assumes she knows how kids feel. This is a mixed up mess.
Especially in regards to her very complex relationship with her boyfriend Matt. Warning Spoilers.I am a relatively new Jodi Picoult fan, having only read My Sister's Keeper a little while ago. I thought that it was incredibly well written and thought provoking. I thought that Picoult wrote about her in such a way that I couldn't help connecting with her. Unfortunately in this instance, it ruined the book for me. I found myself both hating and empathizing with all of the chararacters in the book during various parts of the story, which was something I had never expected to be able to do.
Having become such a big fan of Josie and being able to understand how she could still love Matt even though he was abusive, I felt that her actions at the end of the book were unrealistic and not at all what the character I had come to know would do. Having heard that this was better than that book, I was very anxious to read Nineteen Minutes. That being said, I absolutely HATED HATED the very end of the book. The complete humiliation that Peter suffered at the hands of the popular boys (ie Matt and Drew) was gut wrenching and after reading about the scene when they humiliate him in the cafeteria, a part of me actually understood why he went on his rampage. I was also really drawn to the character of Josie. I have been told that Picoult loves to end her books with a twist that you don't see coming.
Even ruined, I still have had difficulty thinking of little else since I finished reading it.
As despicable as Peter's ultimate actions are, I still found myself wanting to hug the little boy whose lunch box was thrown out the bus window time after time. Picoult's Nineteen Minutes does a good job of showcasing a tragedy from multiple viewpoints. I enjoyed - although I'm not sure that's the right word for it - reading this novel, but it's not easy subject matter. So many "if only's" are realized in the aftermath of tragedy. The twist at the end may throw you for a loop, but it almost seems like kicking you when you're down.
This well written book is a must-read for parents, teachers, guidance counselors, service providers, and anyone who has any contact with children and adolescents. What happened here can literally happen anywhere, and this is what can happen when bullying is allowed to continue, unchecked and unabated, for years.Piccoult does a phenomenal job of taking the circumstances from all sides--and while people may take issue with her style and methods, the message is clear. Compassion and empathy could have prevented much, and the resounding lack of both created a perfect storm of pain, anguish and loss for everyone involved.Powerful.
Peter Houghton, the outcast teen, the one who did not fit in from kindergarten on, the one who was unmercifully teased, thin, bespactacled, unathletic, sensitive, friendless, misunderstood.turns into a killer as he guns down his tormentors and innocents in a high school massacre.The high school students, victims themselves, administering some innocent teasing, then unwittingly judging and becoming cruel and impervious to understanding, taking it one after another step to a right of passage. How many of us have been where Peter Houghton was, have witnessed or been subjected to the kind of treatment he endured. Where was their guidance and example.it cost them their lives. How many of us have listened as our children either spoke or we subsequently learned of their being the victim or the tormentor. How many have witnessed or learned of the aftermath.brutality, suicide.There was so much pain in this book. It is such a sad story. It should awaken every reader to safeguard and respect every being, to be loving and positive guides, to be inclusive, to be kind, to recognize distress, to get and give support.We have come so far and yet we haven't come far enough.
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