The Pact

Apparently, Jodi Picoult is divisive. When people saw me reading The Pact, they either wrinkled their noses or excitedly asked what part I was on. After finishing the novel, I am decidedly in the latter group.

The novel begins with a teenage couple who have a suicide pact which one survives. The rest of the plot details the couple's relationship and those of their parents. This was a gripping novel that I devoted a day to reading, I couldn't do anything else. At multiple points, I declared, "I have no idea what's going to happen next!" Was that because I usually read young adult novels or because the plot was so unpredictable? Either way, I was hooked.

In a response to her novel being challenged, Picoult writes, "Although it was not written for the young adult reader, over the years it developed a cult following among high school students." I agree with the author; this is not a book that I could recommend to the young students at my school. The story involves sex, sexual abuse, and suicide. Still, it is a book that I would have loved to read in early high school. I will play it safe and recommend it to alumni whole still patrol our library for great books.

I have a lot more to say but instead am going to start my next Jodi Picoult novel, Mercy.