My Sister's Keeper: A Novel (original 2004; edition 2009)

Written in the first person, it is a story of a young girl who was conceived to be a bone marrow transplant source for her leukemia=stricken older sister.
A fascinating book. At times difficult to read because of the heart-rending subject, but all in all, I'm glad I read it. ( )

At first, I wasn't going to write a review of this. My Sister's Keeper deals with a controversial issue and is very confusing. However, I figured that if I can write "mean" book reviews and not care if people hate it, I can write a book review about this book.

Anna Fitzgerald is a thirteen year old girl that has had blood transfusions, shots, and surgeries. It is not Anna that is sick though, but her older sister, Kate. The medical procedures were to help Kate live a little longer. In fact, the reason Anna was born was to be Kate's donor. One day, she gets pushed too far. Her parents are asking her to give up a kidney for Kate. Anna gets a lawyer to sue her parents for medical emancipation.

There are valid arguments of why Anna should donate her blood and why she shouldn't. Both make you think a lot. Sometimes, you might hate Anna for being selfish, but other times, you'd cheer her on. Either way, this book makes you think a lot.

The characters of My Sister's Keeper were well developed. They all had their own issues they needed to deal with.

There was a main plot of this book, which was Anna suing her parents, but there were other subplots, unlike in many other books.

Campbell Alexander, the lawyer of Anna, was very fun to read. He has a service dog, and he tells many people different explanations of why he has the dog. Over the course of the book, he changes from an uncaring jerk to a caring one.

I both hated and admired Sara Fitzgerald. She did everything she could to save one child, but what about the others?

I really enjoyed the multiple point of views in this book.

When I started reading, I was expecting a serious book. I read what I thought I would read, but there were also a couple of jokes in there, which I did not expect. It didn't take away the seriousness of the book but actually lightened it a little bit.

And the ending. I know most reviews talk about the ending, but it was very unexpected. Well, it was unexpected to everyone except for me because my friend ruined it for me. I'm looking at you, Tiny Korean.

If you read this book, and I really recommend you do, you really have to keep an open mind. If you don't you're probably going to hate it a lot. And, if you didn't understand the hints in this review, this is not a quick and light read. You're going to sit and think of what you might have done in their situation and change your mind a lot.

I am definitely going to read Picoult's other books. Her writing style is very interesting and is hard to pull off, but she does.

Read this is you want a compelling book. However, do not read it out in public. You'll probably start crying, and that's not embarrassing at all.

And now, some of my favorite quotes from this book. I think I'll start doing this in reviews.

“You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not.”

“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it's not because they enjoy solitude. It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”

“Maybe who we are isn't so much about what we do, but rather what we're capable of when we least expect it.”

“The bottom line is that we never fall for the people we're supposed to.”

“It is the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you.”

Find this review and more here ( )

recommended for: those interested in medical ethics & kids w/cancer

I loved this book. I don't think it was a GREAT NOVEL but I really enjoyed reading it. Told chapter by chapter first person from several peoples points of views made it particularly interesting. About 2 sisters, the older with cancer, the younger conceived for her newborn cord blood in the hopes it will cure her sister, and how, after many donations as a child, the younger sister decides she no longer wants to have to help her sister in her battle with cancer. The story talks about the effects this has on all the family members and some of the people who get involved in their lives. I guess the story was kind of manipulative, but I found the book satisfying. ( )

I gave it an 8 our of 10. ( )

In My Sister's Keeper, Anna sues her parents for the rights to her own body, because they keep using her as a donor for her older sister, Kate, who has leukemia. There is a lot going on in this book -- Anna and Kate have an older brother named Jess who is the stereotypical "teenage screw-up"; Anna hires a lawyer named Campbell, who shockingly ends up being the ex-boyfriend of the appointed guardian ad litem; Anna's parents are going through marital problems because of all the stress and lack of communication, etc. Really, it's a typical set-up for a book with pretty typical characters.

Despite that, I really enjoyed the first three-quarters of the novel. It was fast-paced, entertaining, and the characters were so dysfunctional that they were kind of fun to read about. There were some moments when I was able to connect with them, which allowed me to continue with the story. I like the way the point of view shifts from character to character -- actually, this was my favorite part of the novel. Picoult shows a very well-rounded view of the situation, which helped to understand the characters' reactions and where they were coming from. If it was just from one person's point of view, this story would have seemed incredibly melodramatic and unrealistic. Also, it's obvious that the Picoult put in the time to research leukemia and the hospital setting. All of the medical stuff rang true to me, which I appreciated.

But my enjoyment of the book ended when things started to wrap up. A lot of people mention hating the ending, and I didn't at all mind the events that happened, but I did mind the changes that took place in the characters. When everything was nearing a close, all the characters underwent some sort of strange epiphany that gave them perspective and made them better people. All at once, they realized the real root of their problems and just decided to be better people, it seems. I would have liked this to happen more gradually, which would have taken away from some of the drama in the middle, but it would have made the transformations so much more believable. And it happened so quickly that I was just left frustrated and wondering why they all couldn't have realized that two hundred pages ago when their transformations actually could have been helpful.

Also, I HATE when the only reason a couple isn't together is because of some stupid misunderstanding or lack of communication. It's annoying enough (though believable) when this is short-term, but Campbell and Julie spend years in that limbo of lack of communication (and of course, after all those years of heartbreak and what-ifs they still "love" each other). It's just not the most interesting choice to make in terms of relationship issues.

Anyway, I think some people will be able to forgive the ending and get real enjoyment out of reading this story. It's good, but I think the characters and the ending could have been so much more interesting in this type of situation. ( )