the value of perspective

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: This book is a bit of a departure for Picoult, as it doesn't involve an ethical dilemma where both sides are, if not sympathetic, at least fully fleshed out.  Here, the focus is on one character, Diana, who must decide if she really wants what she always thought she wanted from life.

The story starts just when things are starting to get serious in New York City with the COVID-19 pandemic.  Businesses and schools are being shut down and Diana's doctor boyfriend tells her how the hospital is becoming overrun with patients.  Is it too soon for a novel about the pandemic?  Maybe, but not in Picoult's hands.  Perhaps because the first part of the book keeps the pandemic at a remove.  I think the bigger reason (for me at least) is that, because the timeline of the book is largely the spring of 2020, I was able to read about what was going on with a whatever-the-opposite-of-nostalgia is (because I definitely wouldn't wish for those days all over again).  "Oh yeah, I remember all those celebrities singing on YouTube!" "That's right, I had forgotten about wiping down packages!"  "Oh yeah, I remember how we thought this was only going to last two weeks!"

Being able to achieve that kind of perspective is one of the great gifts of fiction and Picoult gives it to us in abundance.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

all lead-up

Eleanor by Jason Gurley
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: Fantasy
Review:  I don't know how to rate or review this book.  I feel like I started at least three separate books between the same covers.  One book was a fairly normal story of a family broken by tragedy.  Another took place somewhere outside of reality.  And the third took place in a very contained world populated by a single person.  Although all of these stories came together well, I couldn't decide whether I was supposed to be reading "normal" fiction with a touch of fantasy, or the other way around.

The writing itself is lovely, at least in 2/3 of the stories I was reading.  Gurley's descriptions are vivid, and the pace of the novel is very well done.  I think my ultimate problem with this book was that I didn't get the story I wanted.  The bulk of the book is taken up with the idea that Eleanor's ultimate mission is to unravel the tragedy that happened to her family, which she ultimately does.  But I found myself not overwhelmingly compelled by the lead-up to the reversal (i.e. the entire book), because I wanted to know what happened next.  Maybe Gurley will write that story, along with 2 or 3 others, in his next book.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.