My Sister's Keeper *Spoiley Spoilers*

[veela]

alright, so i finished this (my third picoult book) the other day. i know she always throws curve balls but damn, this came out of left field!!! the entire time, i was waiting and waiting for kate to die and for it to happen in some way that would be extra terrible. like jesse's arsons or something! but anna??? ANNA?

damnit!

i sobbed for a very long time. that was freakin' tragic!!!

anyway.... thoughts???

[elizabeth]

It was a really good read. I didn't like the twist at the end very much. But this book was really touching ...I was glued to the mother's, Sara's, parts because we just went through something similar with my daughter when she was diagnosed with a benign tumor...so her whole tone of anxiety and waiting was really familiar. And the dad's feelings too were really familiar. I could relate to so many of their feelings.
It was really sweet in some way how Jesse, when his dad confronted him, turned out to be just so unhappy that he couldn't be the one to save Kate...very childlike and boylike. I liked Jesse a lot.
Some of the plot things I didn't like...but very sweet moments. when they are just looking at anna's picture at the end trying to remember what it was like to be with her....and when they are all circling Kate thinking she will die....well, it's an important lesson, I think. To try to cherish our children, our sister, brothers, etc. as much as we possibly can. I liked the intimacy in the book between the two sisters, in their room, even the intimacy between them and Jesse. Between the firemen and Anna and her dad when they bunked together. I loved all the talk about the stars so much. The trying to understand them and how that paralleled trying to understand losing Kate. I'm glad Carly recommended it.

[veela]

i am too. thanks carly!

i'm sorry to hear about your daughter, elizabeth. i hope it's okay and what fantastic news that it was benign! still difficult, but still some good news in there...

so back to the book...

i definitely agree about the intimate moments. i liked those. as someone with siblings there is certainly something that you have between you that parents just can't get or be part of. so that was very cool. but my favorite parts were anna's. i liked seeing the whole thing from her perspective, even though until the end it didn't really clear up her reasons for doing what she was doing. i spent most of the book alternating between really feeling for her and being really frustrated with her! i so wanted her to give in and give kate her kidney to save her but at the same time i wanted her to stick to her guns and do what she had to for herself. which, it turned out, she was doing for kate anyway...

jesse bugged me for most of the book. i felt he was being very selfish and passive aggressive towards his father (by possibly hurting him in one of the fires he started). though at the same time i could understand that growing up in a family that revolves around your sister would have taken it's toll. but it still bothered me. then it got to the heart of the issue and i lightened up on him! haha...

i really felt for the parents though. being torn between all the kids and what is best for them. i think she did a great job of putting across how incredibly difficult and the toll that it took on everyone (and on the parents' marriage too).

what a controversial subject too! it really got me thinking about what i would do if i was in a similar situation. how do you ask a child to be continually poked and prodded and under the knife to save someone else? and as their main function in even being brought to this world?? but how can you not do something like that if it would save a child you had already??

ugh... tough...

[♪Carly♪]

Ok, I'm here! lol...

I hated the ending because it pissed me off soooo much. But I think I would have been annoyed had it ended with rainbows, puppy dogs, and ice cream. I don't know what copy you girls read, but I was reading a copy with supplemental questions at the end (for bookclubs) and an interview with Jodi. SHE was even fighting the ending at the "23rd hour" of writing the book. She said she called a nurse and asked if there was a way to end it differently and still be feasible. The nurse said no. lol...

I think Picoult did a wonderful job with the characters. I felt for each and every one of them. I don't think any of the characters fell flat. I adored Anna. What a precocious teenager. Which makes perfect sense, considering the hell she had been through.

The topics are really tough. I wish Picoult would have developed the controversy of genetic planning a bit more, but I don't really know how she could have done that without seeming like she was interrupting the plot with Public Service Announcements about genetic planning. But I think that topic was secondary to the one of medical emancipation. I was on Anna's side from the very second I realized why she was suing her parents.

[veela]

haha... glad i could peer pressure you into jumping in!

you're right though -- it definitely wouldn't have worked if there was a "happy" ending. i just really wasn't expecting precious anna to go (i also adored her). especially as i almost felt TIRED for kate. i felt that if i was her i too would have been "enough already"!!

oh, and another reason why i was expecting kate to die was that in the beginning of the book (not sure if it was technically a prologue or not), it said something along the lines of "i didn't kill my sister. technically, she did that herself." something like that... and so from the beginning i expected kate to die eventually.

i see what you mean about the genetic planning thing but i think she actually did it quite well just by putting the thought into your head. and making you feel for the people on all sides of the issue. i could not help but wonder about it as i was reading and think about if i would be willing to do what these parents did, but at the same time, how could i not? but what would that mean for the new child who is brought into the world for a specific purpose? it got me thinking about it anyway, which i think was pretty interesting...

i'm still angry about it though.

[Aims]

Finished it this afternoon!
Didn't take me long to read, either. It was definately one of those books you just want to keep reading.

I actually didn't mind the ending. Sad, but also kind of sweet.

[veela]

yeah, there was a sweetness about it, but it still angered me!