House Rules: A Novel (edition 2010)

I love most of [a:Jodi Picoult|7128|Jodi Picoult|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1305417712p2/7128.jpg]'s books, this one not so much. I enjoyed it but the ending just sucked!!! After reading 500 and some pages and then it's over. The ending was a let down. The characters were OK. I understood how Theo felt. As a child he was suppose to understand that Jacob could do whatever but he was just in the background. ( )

Jodi creates a world where one can feel, touch and taste the experiences or situations which she writes so passionately and knowledgably about. I was fortunate to be invited to an exclusive breakfast with Jodi in January 2013 in SA shortly after Lone Wolf was launched. Jodi was about to launch "The Storyteller" and was researching about Elephants for her next book. I asked Jodi how she came up with the topics for her books. She simply replied that these were things that kept her awake at night. Hopefully someday she shall write about Human Trafficing in order to give a voice to all those caught up in this most disturbing trade. Ashley Judd's "All that is bitter sweet" is a powerful story of the desperate conditions that these children, women and men are condemned to, whilst we the world merely looks on and doesn't do anything to stop the cycle of abuse. ( )

Once again Jodi Picoult examines a social issue through its impact on a particular family, with emphasis on the mother and children. This time out it's a kind of murder mystery in which Emma Hunt's oldest child, 18yo Jacob, is on trial for the murder of his social skills tutor. Did he commit a brutal murder? Or was he playing at staging a crime scene? Or was he protecting the real murderer?

A good yarn, with engrossing characters. I left feeling as though I had a better handle on what Asperger's is all about. ( )

Finished this book 2 days ago and I wanted it to go on. I did not expect it to be that good cause not everybody appears to like this book.
I did. Liked the way the story was told by various people. Only thing I would have changed maybe was how it ended. I would have liked to know a little bit more what happened but all in all another great read by Jodi Picoult. It is not easy to write as a person who suffers from Asperger's disorder but she manages to do that very sufficiently. Can't wait for her next book. I think that I have read all her books now. I've been playing catch up this year (way too quickly though ;) ). Why I love her books is cause she always manages to pull me in. ( )

I swore I'd never read another Picoult books - they are so written to template, and the endings tend to be cop-outs. But here I am with the latest one on my bedside table. My excuse is that I have Asperger's and I'm always interested to see how other people overcome the social problems. So far though, the book hasn't hooked me, its reading like a lecture on a kid with low-functioning Asperger's, a Rain-Man obsessive and brilliant character who can just about live in the world. It doesn't read like the majority of people you work with, but do not lunch with, those of us who can't read you.

So what to say about the rest of the book? It was stupid, a lot of basic questions weren't asked which made a bit of a mockery of the story and the ending, just for a change was exactly what you expected. Sadly, it seemed that Picoult ran out of steam and what could have been an enjoyable few pages or even a chapter, was reduced to a single explanation. I bloody hate books with disappointing endings. I want my money back!



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