BOOK REVIEW: THE PACT by JODI PICOULT

 

About

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty—they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more. They've been soul mates since they were born.

So when midnight calls from the hospital come in, no one is ready for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head. There's a single unspent bullet in the gun that Chris took from his father's cabinet—a bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself. But a local detective has doubts about the suicide pact that Chris has described.

My Thoughts

This is the third I've read by Jodi Picoult book. So far I read My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes and now the Pact. I really like Jodi's writing because of the messages that I somehow manage to take away from her stories. The Pact followed teens Emily and Chris, neighbours, friends and eventually lovers. One midnight their parents were awakened by the news that Emily had been shot and Chris injured. When Emily succumbs to her injuries and dies, Chris reveals that him and Emily had a suicide pact as they both planned on killing themselves. This revelation led to a chain of events that land Chris, a model student in jail and cause their parents The Golds and The Hartes (Once very close drift apart).

What I liked about the story were reading about Emily and her struggles. Most teenagers do struggle in silence and being unable to deal with trauma and everything that goes with it may end it all. IT shows that no matter how perfect someone's life may seem, they can also be dealing with trauma. Like Nineteen Minutes, another point that Jodi Picoult emphasized quite well in this story was how little parents really know their children. Melanie and Gus (the mothers) were both convinced that they knew what their kids were capable of without really knowing them at all.

People like different things about books and writers,  honestly I really liked the court room and jail scenes in this book. I find it added not only a dramatic element but so many lessons came out of it. And let us not forget the closing argument of lawyer Jordan Mc Afee on "truth".  

This is a really good book. I thought initially it would have been more of a romance but it was that and so much more. I'm glad I a finally read this.

This was my book club pick for August 2022.  Join Between the Pages Book club on Goodreads by clicking the sidebar and join the discussion.