19 Minutes By Jodi Picoult Book Review

5/5

Non Spoiler Part...
Once in a while I read a book that makes me reevaluate my entire life... this is one of those books. This is by far one of the saddest most moving books I have ever read. On the topic of bullying it breaks my heart. I have such sympathy for people who go through it. I wish that I could just wrap them all in a hug and never let them go. But unfortunately I can't. Like any Jodi Picoult book she has made me think about a topic I don't really want to think about. This book was written in 2007 and bullying in school are getting worse. I will be honest I expected to not like this book. I thought that I would hate Peter Houghton and the other characters but turns out I felt some sort of sympathy for every single one of them. Mrs. Matheny was right there was no way that  I could have read this during the school year. Jodi Picoult writes beautifully, the words fly off the page. She has written a somewhat long book and made every page interesting. The flow was wonderful and the character were real. Also the plot twist was amazing. By the end of this book I was sobbing and thought that I could never read another book again. I was so sad that I emailed Jodi Picoult a long email to witch she did reply... I screamed out of happiness for about five minutes. Unfortunately I can't show you all of it because it does reveal some huge spoilers. So yes I did enjoy the book...i'm still trying to get over the ending. The reason that I didn't finish this review yesterday was because there was no way that it would have made any sense. It would have just been a jumble of sentences. Just read this book!
Spoiler Part...
Like I said before I didn't think that I was going to like this book. That's why it's been on my bookshelf for so many years. I went through so many emotions with this book. I wanted to hate Peter so much but I couldn't because I felt sorry for him. Obviously school shootings are one of the most devastating things that we could ever hear about. I thought Peter was just going to be some messed up kid with some serious problems. I can see that after years and years of bullying that it doesn't do wonders for your mental health. Peter's parents patronized his brother Joey way to much which also made me feel for Peter. No child should have to go through not being the 'favorite one'. That shouldn't happen in any family.  At the same time no parent thinks that their child is going to shoot kids in their school. When Lacy was talking to Jordan about his own son and how she asked him how he would feel if he found out that his son would become a suicide bomber
"I don't really want to think about that," Jordan said.
"Neither did I," Lacy replied.
I cried at that because it's so true. Lacy and Lewis are living every parents nightmare. They get punished socially because of what Peter did and even though that seems natural it still doesn't make me feel any better. Also the relationship between Josie and Alex was really well done. It seemed like the typical daughter/mother relationship which I don't think is a bad thing. I also really wanted Alex and Patrick to get together which luckily did happen. There are only four characters that make it out of this book somewhat happy. There were times in this book where I had to put it down I was so disturbed. Matt was such an asshole and I don't understand why Josie could have possibly stayed with him. The plot twist at the end was so shocking. I really didn't see it coming. I didn't think that Josie could have just killed Matt. Again I can see why she did it and I was glad at the end of the book that he kept her secret for so long. The ending with Peter was what really got me. I can't believe that he killed himself. I had to check on Google to see if I had read it right. He was never going to go home though and how could he possibly live a normal life if he did. It is such a terrible ending to a person who could have been really great.
DFTBA
-AB