Second Glance

I took a detour from what I called the "let's re-read all the novels in your library" spree to read book 7, The Commitment. After I finished the book, I immediately started the spree back up again! I was organizing my bookshelves, and had put my Picoult books in order. As I was doing so, I realized that after The Tenth Circle, Second Glance was my next favorite.

Second Glance tells the story of a number of characters, so it is hard to summarize. The story is about love that is timeless, about ghosts who are so tied to the world that they cannot leave, and the sacrifices that everyone makes for the people that they are tied to. It also spans across decades, taking place in the 1930's, and the current days of the 2000's. There is romance, there is death, there is life, and there is hope. On top of that, there is an unsolved mystery of a murder, a missing baby, the sordid history of eugenics, and the study of the paranormal. I know it sounds like she's grasping at plot-straws and trying too hard, but it all works and comes together.

This is Picoult at her finest. There are so many characters in this story that I worried, the first time I read it, that I would get certain people lost with others, or that there wouldn't be enough character development. Within just a few pages I knew that I had been wrong, and that the story needs all of these characters, and Picoult does not let one of them fall through the cracks and get lost. By the end of the book, you know exactly why each and every character was there, and what their lives and actions mean to all the other characters.

I give this book a 5 out of 5.

The Pact

It seems I've started a pattern of reading a new book or two, then going back to a re-read. This re-read was Jodi Picoult's The Pact. It was the first book I read of hers, and it was the book that got me hooked on her as an author. I gobbled up her books in quick succession when I start to read her, I think two years ago. Regardless, I came back to this book and I have a distinct feeling that I will go through the rest of her books before starting anything new. Not that it's a complaint.

The Pact chronicles the lives of the Hartes and the Golds, and their children. Emily Gold, and Chris Harte, grow up together in a small town in New Hampshire. They are so close they seem like family, and eventually become lovers. Suddenly, Emily is found dead and Chris is at the scene. What first seems like an interupted suicide pact between teenagers quickly becomes something more, as you're taken through the drama of Chris's murder trial.

As I said before, this is a book that prompted a quick and obsessive love for a particular author. Picoult's chapters are short, which I personally love in a novel, and her characters are deep and intense. Even though I had read it before, I could not recall all the minute twists and turns and character details, and the twist at the end was as fresh to me as when I had first read it. This book takes place in a locale she uses often, and introduces us to a character who shows up in a few more of her novels, lawyer Jordan McAfee and his family.

This book is rich in detail and while it jumps through time, you never feel like you're lost in memories. Emily is as real a character as Chris, even though she is dead by the first page. Her story, and their love, become so real to you that you are sure you knew them.

I give this book a 4 out of 5. The only reason I didn't give it a higher rating was because I am often weary of court books written by someone who has no court experience. Picoult has done a mountain's worth of research, however, and the scenes are all believable, regardless of my trepidation.