Lone Wolf (↑)

I could expect anything less than amazing and moving from Jodi Picoult. I just finished Lone Wolf (and I mean JUST finished. As in not even 5 minutes ago!), and I'm still in awe. I'm not one to cry when reading books, but I actually got a lump in my throat when I was at the end. I loved that I was able to learn so much about the pack mentality of wolves, and yet also be able to relate it back to what was happening within the human family. I mean I didn't spend an immense amount of time on it (only because my brain was lazy haha), but you know that the symbolism was there if you just thought about it long enough. Although Jodi Picoult's has a certain style and flow to her stories, this one did have a slight tweak. Although there was a twist, it actually didn't influence the outcome as much as I had thought it would. All in all I LOVED this book, and I can't wait to read the next one by her (The Storyteller I think it's called.)

This book starts off with a car accident where a teenage girl is severely injured, and her father has a traumatic brain injury. The son who was estrange is called and returns to the US to help make decisions as to his father's life. The son is charged with murder for unplugging his father's ventilator. The charges were dropped, but unfortunately another court case comes about to determine who should be the permanent guardian of the father. The sister wants the father to continue to live on machines as she feels guilty about the last thing she said to her father, while the son believes he should honour is father's wishes and terminate his life. In the end the son 'wins' (would one really consider it winning in this case?) the position, and the plug is pulled, and the father dies and his organs are then donated.

Amazing story, with a great premise. Jodi Picoult always knows how to choose the touchiest subjects, and make a great story behind it.  I will always continue to read her novels. Unfortunately I don't have her most recent book, but I think I will start the Divergent series. Until next time, Happy Reading!

A Secret Kept (~)

Finished another book! Not as quickly as the James Patterson one, but quickly compared to the last few books! This time I finished A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay. Although I enjoyed this book, I can't say it's my favourite, nor that it's as gripping as Sarah's Key. I just didn't find the storyline as interesting. Although there was an internal struggle in the main character, honestly, I didn't find it as heart wrenching as her other novel. I'm not saying I hate it (as you can see from the rating I gave it, there were some redeeming qualities) I'm just saying it's not my favourite. I certainly didn't get bored with it, and I wanted to continue to read it, but I'm not sure if that was because I wanted to see if there was more depth to it, or if it was truly interesting for me.

This novel follows a man who had gotten into a terrible car accident with his sister when they were returning from celebrating her 40th birthday at their childhood vacation spot. His sister about to tell him a flashback she had encountered during their stay there when she veered off the road. During her recovery, she told him that she remembers going to their mother's room and seeing her laying there naked with another woman. Antoine then spent the rest of the novel determining who this woman was and why/how their mother died. There are other personal/familial events that occur that honestly confused me a bit as to why they were even in the novel, but I'm not going to mention them as I don't deem them important.

I believe this book is a meh read. You can read it if you like, but don't compare it to Sarah's Key as you will most likely be disappointed.  I must say though, this won't stop me from reading more of her novels as they come out! Anyway, I'm off to read a Dean Koontz book! Until then, happy reading!