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My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
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My Sister's Keeper (original 2004; edition 2013)

by Jodi Picoult (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
20,835686205 (3.97)1 / 398
Wow, I just loved it. What a fantastic storyline. So moving. In order to not spoil it, at the end of the book there are book club discussion questions, read the first one, it will be an eye opener. ( )
  CK31 | Sep 22, 2019 |
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I read maybe 1/3 of this book before I gave up. I don't care for the writing, the characters (the mom is a TOTAL bitch), anything about this book. I will say that I skipped through and read the last several pages to see what happened, to see if the book had the same ending as the movie (it doesn't.) I read this one in paperback, but I have another book by Jodi Picoult (Plain Truth) on my e-reader, and if it's anything like this one, I won't be reading it all the way through, either. ( )
  thatnerd | Mar 2, 2024 |
This book broke me. I ugly cried and it's been a very long time since I have read a book that brought that sort of reaction out of me.

I will never read it again but I am very glad that I read it this one time. The characters were so damn real. Anna...spunky, independent but my heart ached for her. I felt so bad for Jesse too. Don't get me wrong, I felt bad for Kate too, but I figured she had her mom all up in feelings so she didn't me too much. Dad...well, he was rather checked out for most of the story, if I am honest. Going back to mom. I was not a fan of her even though I absolutely empathize with her situation. Dealing with a child that has cancer...I can't even imagine. But I DO KNOW that you can't just let the rest of your family cease to exist as way of coping. I felt better about her character towards the end, a little. I enjoyed the side story of Campbell, Julia and Judge. That was a nice positive in a very sad and dark book. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, read the book first. I am going to watch the movie now, but I am glad I did the book first. ( )
  Becky_From_Kansas | Jan 8, 2024 |
I did not expect this ending!!! I cried my eyes out.

Loved it. ( )
  Hello9876 | Jan 6, 2024 |
My Sister's Keeper

By Jodi Picoult

Published year : 2004

Page count : 412

Medium used : Paperback

Genre : Court Room Drama, Family Issues, Fiction, 2023-read.

Rating : 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The twist at the end is jarring. I was pretty unmoved and really reading with some detachment, counting the time it is taking me to finish this novel, because the course of action to be taken is so obvious to me but everyone in the story is just clueless and acting in order to complicate matters. But the ending is a gut punch and I didn't see it coming! It shows the hand of God playing in our lives everyday.

Till the last few pages, the author has us believe that the parents - especially the mother - are callous enough to just focus on one of their three children and literally throw the other two into winds of non existence. They were so concerned with the health and well being of their second daughter Kate that they will go to any distance, put their other daughter Anna through any amount of discomfort and misery to make Kate well. It all felt surreal and fiendish. But then it turns out that Anna herself is operating under the directions of someone else and she is just as vulnerable, clueless, indecisive as her parents and brother Jesse.

The courtroom brawl is a bit different - they are verbal interrogations as opposed to any presentation of evidence etc. Those episodes were emotionally triggering and very touching. The lengths some can go to preserve something damaged and forgetting that the damaged person might themselves not want to be preserved in their state - is an all too common happening it feels like.

Despite everything, providence/God will do everything for a reason and he makes things fall into place perfectly. The child that has been born and reared for the explicit purpose of keeping her sister safe and alive does just that. :) Unforgettable novel - if only for the different plot setting and including terms like "designer babies" , "kidney donation", "sacrifice one daughter's future for the benefit of another". ( )
  nagasravika.bodapati | Dec 15, 2023 |
So upseting and hard to take at times and yet I couldn't put it down. Not sure how I feel about the ending. ( )
  jskeltz | Nov 23, 2023 |
I couldn't put it down! From cover to cover, you ride along with all of the main characters, how they see the whole situation from their point of view. You feel for this family that is torn between their two daughters. ( )
  LinBee83 | Aug 23, 2023 |
Here's what I wrote about this read in 2008: "It was nearly impossible to put this down once the reading began. Explores the life of a girl conceived to provide needed donor match to her sister, and the associated moral, ethical, and legal dilemmas. Interesting introduction to dogs who help epileptics; never previously knew about this!" ( )
  MGADMJK | Jul 23, 2023 |
My Sister's Keeper tells the emotional story of the Fitzgerald family, whose eldest daughter, Kate has been battling leukemia since she was two; their youngest daughter, Anna - who is Kate's perfect genetic match and was born specifically for the purpose of being a medical donor and keeping Kate alive and their only son, Jesse who has been very little more than an afterthought since the diagnosis.

When Anna is scheduled to donate a kidney, one more donation in an endless parade, she decides enough is enough. And proceeds to sue her parents for medical autonomy of her own body. Begging the question, who knows best? Who can decide best? And where should the lines be drawn?

This was intense. I don't even really know where to start because this book tackles the controversial issue of how far you'll go to save someone you love - even if it's at the expense of another loved one. Is it fair to ask Anna to dedicate her entire life to being the backup plan for Kate? No. Do I understand why her mum did it? Yes. But I don't think I could make the same choices.

And as much as I was determined to know what happens - I don't know that I could say this book is good. It's long. Too long. 400 pages that could have been condensed because I don't know that half the words added anything to the story. I was interested to know what happens but I didn't particularly like any of the characters and I wasn't emotionally invested in them. And the ending ??? Seriously? I don't know how I wanted it to end but it seemed too abrupt (like oh crap, I should've finished five chapters ago but I wrote more and now I have to sum it up in two paragraphs type thing). It felt very unfinished, for all it wrapped up all the main points in a neat bow.

It was an interesting topic but overall fell flat in execution. 2 stars. ( )
  funstm | Jul 5, 2023 |
A very good bioethical study. Autonomy vs. beneficence. Tensions between moral, legal, and ethical behaviors.
  MarjorieDT | May 10, 2023 |
Great book, but hated the ending with a passion. ( )
  LisaBergin | Apr 12, 2023 |
Spirited, full-flawed characters and the ingenious scenario are doubtless the reason this book is the most popular of Jodi Picoult’s many writings. A child conceived primarily to be a ready-match organ donor for her serially-afflicted sister is now coming of age and finding her own voice. Although the plot doesn’t develop that much beyond that impactful setup, and sometimes the flashbacks become tiresome, the main characters are variously credible, humorous, or likeable enough to keep our interest. Ultimately the plotting devices may strain the readers’s sympathy, especially at the end as the author tries to tie up the themes and character arcs neatly. In a transcribed interview, included here as an afterword, Jodi Picoult notes that her young son was anguished by this very ending, and, despite her attempted justifications, many readers will share his shocked outrage. ( )
  eglinton | Apr 8, 2023 |
You guys have probably heard of the movie about this book, starring (among others) Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin. It’s pretty famous because it brings up ethical debates such as designer babies, organ donation, and medical emancipation.

So it’s a wonderful novel about family, family values, and cancer. As the child of a woman with cancer, this novel hits home in a different way, but it still hits home. It’s wonderfully written, and Picoult takes on a multiple narrator style where you have Anna (the daughter seeking emancipation), Sara (their mother), Brian (their father), Jesse (her older brother), Campbell (her lawyer) and Julia (her guardian ad litem) telling different parts of the story to give you an idea of what’s happening. Anna basically sues her parents for the rights to her own body, because she’s tired of donating parts of her body to her sister who is eventually going to die anyway, with these medical procedures having effects on Anna’s life. One procedure, a kidney transplant, would mean that Anna would forever be at risk if she were to continue playing hockey as she does, because you can’t actually play strenuous sports if you only have one kidney, because you need to protect the other one.

To do this, Anna hires a lawyer with his own baggage and problems with his health to represent her, going up against her mother who used to be a lawyer. Her father, Brian, truly is the glue that keeps the family together; he’s a fireman who knows when to treat his daughters like grown ups and when to treat them like his daughters. Her mother Sara is coping with potentially losing not just one, but two daughters – one to cancer, and one to the law. Jesse, the oldest sibling, is a delinquent who is tired of being ignored by his family and does things his own way. The cast of characters is absolutely delightful and full of life and backstory that, while fleshed out, is also implied so wonderfully that you don’t really need to dig far into the story to find where these characters are coming from. While Picoult is an incredible story teller, one of her greatest strengths is creating brilliant characters.

If you have watched the movie, and have decided you want to read the book though, I advise this: the book and the movie have completely different endings, and the book’s ending is MUCH sadder.

SPOILER ALERT EFFECTIVE

The terrible thing about this novel is that Anna actually does get medical emancipation from her parents, and then dies shortly afterward in a terrible car accident. Being brain dead, her lawyer – who is legally responsible for any medical decisions that she makes – tells the doctors to take her kidney and give it to her sister, because she isn’t going to need it anymore. All her organs are donated, and Anna dies instead of her sister. And I think that this part of the novel makes a really good point: the whole time, Sara and Brian were preparing for the death of their oldest daughter, Kate. Never did they think that their youngest child would die instead, in a way that they weren’t prepared for. The ending teaches us a very important lesson about death – it’s always unexpected, even when you’re waiting for it. And sometimes, it comes from the place where you least expect it.

As Kate says in the book, it’s almost as if God was intending on taking somebody anyway, but instead of taking Kate, he took Anna, which meant Kate got to live.

This ending, I feel, gave the novel a much more realistic view than the movie. The movie felt almost forced in the ending – a happy ending where the parents had to come to terms with Kate’s death and then move on and Anna got what she wanted. Real life is never that simple. People will die. And sometimes, they die young. And that’s exactly what happens here. It’s almost ironic that Anna had to die after making a point that she didn’t want to donate a kidney to her sister. But…that’s life, I guess.

SPOILER DIVERTED

Guys, if you’re into legal stuff, I cannot stress reading Picoult’s novels enough. And it’s not just about the interesting legal stories that she writes; it’s about the characters. This is my third Jodi Picoult novel in two months and I am so convinced of her ability as a writer. She’s got such a brilliant way of creating lovable characters who make you want to keep reading that they’re half the reason you do. It’s about the story, but it’s also about the people who make the story, and that is wonderful.

Read this novel, really think about what organ donation means, and really hug your friends and family who you love because you never know when they’ll disappear.

Final Rating: 7/5. ( )
  viiemzee | Feb 20, 2023 |
Wonderful tale of drama intertwined in the lives of a family torn apart by suffering. Tear jerker... ( )
  cuteseal | Aug 17, 2022 |
The way Picoult chose to end the book feels all wrong. Disappointed. ( )
  vpor1222 | Jul 21, 2022 |
This book had my attention and I read it quickly. I knew there would be a twist at the end, but I didn't know what it would be. I didn't like the twist at all (personally) and it kind of ruined the book for me. And the whole thing seemed a little drawn out to me as well. ( )
  MBTC | Jul 9, 2022 |
Once again, I'm disappointed by Jodi Picoult. I found this story about Anna, struggling to find her identity in the shadow of her sister Kate's life-long battle with cancer, over-dramatic as Kate's soap operas. The narration, told from several different points-of-view (each with their own font), was distracting and interrupted the flow of the plot. The "twists" were obvious. The ending was, once again, a let down.

Remind me to never again read one of her books. ( )
  liannecollins | Jun 10, 2022 |
This book totally wrecked me at the end. 400 pages of thought provoking medical ethics going through my head and then quickly the last 20 pages had me bawling like a baby. Whew. ( )
  WellReadSoutherner | Apr 6, 2022 |
You almost had me, Jodi. Almost. After hearing glowing gushes from my girlfriends about your writing, I finally decided to give you a try. I was spellbound and emotionally taken into the tragedy of this family and Anna's right to choose what to do with her body ... [spoiler alert] ... until you conveniently killed her off! I would have had so much more respect if you had allowed Anna to truly answer the question as to whether to continue to be a donor to her sister or not. Ethical questions/debates get thrown out of the window when you have such a contrived ending. I am so DISAPPOINTED! ( )
  crabbyabbe | Mar 30, 2022 |
After awhile I could not put the book down. The ending was completely unexpected. ( )
  Dairyqueen84 | Mar 15, 2022 |
Like all her books this features a moral dilemma told from the viewpoints of all the people concerned.

Sara and Brian have two children but when Kate is diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two the only important thing is to get her better. The only problem is her brother Jesse isn't compatible. So they undergo selection of an embryo who will be the perfect donor.

Anna undergoes many processes to help her sister but at thirteen hires a lawyer so she has control of what she does and this means Kate will most likely die.

We are shown the parents' anguish as they desperately try to persuade Anna she's making a mistake. Anna is resolute in her actions.

The lawyer Campbell has a dog who he says is a service dog but he won't say why and this adds a light hearted touch.

The reader is taken through the journey with the parents and also Anna and can see both sides of an impossible dilemma which cannot conclude to everyone's satisfaction.

There are some twists and turns some of which I saw coming but others were totally unexpected. The ending in some ways was too tidy but it's still plausible.

Yet again Jodi Picoult has written a thought provoking book ( )
  Northern_Light | Feb 25, 2022 |
Absolutely unputdownable although annoying at times. Minus one star for the lame, soap opera ending. ( )
  alissee | Dec 8, 2021 |
Excellent book. I cried at the end... ( )
  _Marcia_94_ | Sep 21, 2021 |
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate–a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
  BLTSbraille | Sep 20, 2021 |
Predictable and overly dramatic. Strongly disliked. ( )
  Tosta | Jul 5, 2021 |
I read this on a long trans-atlantic flight. Maybe it was the fact that I had a good nine hours to read the entire thing but I did get drawn into the story even though the outcome was predictable. It was also a bit difficult to get past the trite writing style, but I tried to focus on the secondary characters and how interesting their story was. If the "surprise twist" at the ending hadn't existed, I would probably have liked it much more. As it was the ending was too predictable and felt a bit too much like the writer wanting to wrap everything up nicely and neatly; which, given the story matter, was impossible to do. ( )
  taimoirai | Jun 25, 2021 |
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