Final Review: House Rules, by Jodi Picoult

This review represents the views from Lindsay Briggs and no one else. Especially not that weirdo who posted below me.

I give House Rules four out of five silver glittery stars. I actually liked this one overall more than previous Picoult books that I've read. As mentioned by Leslie below, this one lacked a big plot twist which was a nice change, and it also lacked the "neatly tied up, everyone gets a happy ending" ending that typifies Picoult novels. This one was much more realistic than most (as in, I could actually see it happening without too much eye-rolling) and still had a good story throughout.

The reason I didn't give it five stars was due to the dumb romance of Emma & Oliver and the fact that it was pretty predictable and took a little too long to wrap all up. The last two books I've read of Picoult's seemed like her editor fell down on the job. They were longer than they needed to be and good have been edited a little better. There were two parts near the end that were almost verbatim repeats of stuff she had already written previously. That was kind of lame.

Overall I would recommend this book if you like Picoult novels OR if you would just like a light, but interesting read.

Final Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

This final review is the express, written review of Leslie Reed. I will not be held to the same views as my counterpart, Lindsay Briggs, nor will she be held to my (awesome) views.

I give House Rules by Jodi Picoult 4 out of 5 pink stars. Overall I was thoroughly engaged by this book. I read 3/4 of the book in one day even though I was trying to hold off for Lindsay so that we wouldn't speed through the book, but alas, I had to finish it. 

As a teacher I have had several experiences with children that have specials need. This past school year I also had a boy with Autism who was such an awesome kid. I also babysat a 1st grade boy several years ago named Jacob that had Asperger's syndrome so this book really connected with me (even with his name!).

I have read several of Picoult's books and usually she keeps you guessing but this book was a little more predictable than others, which I didn't mind too much because I didn't want Jacob to go to jail. Her endings are usually big but this one wasn't although it was a little abrupt. I couldn't give it the fifth star because it was missing just a little something. Every character had a little bit of extra something to them that made it more dramatic or unbelievable than it needed to be. But, I still enjoyed it and will continue read Jodi Picoult books.

Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult, Asperger's & The Justice System

This review is an extension of Leslie's previous review on the trial and it has to do more generally on Jacob's autism and Picoult's characterization of his condition. I mentioned previously that I had wondered if when writing from Jacob's perspective if that was true to how people with Asperger's really think. I honestly have no idea. I do not know anyone with Asperger's or autism and actually have never really interacted with anyone with that condition either. This is not to say that I am naive in any manner. Both my sister and mother have worked in public schools as teachers for quite some time and have had experience working with kids on the spectrum. I am also a public health researcher and although my area of research is unrelated, if it has to do with health I feel like I am pretty well informed. Finally, I feel like unless you live under a rock you have at least SOME knowledge of autism. It's kind of the childhood health condition du jour. I feel like I can't go through a day without hearing about a new research study, or a commercial about autism, or even seeing a bumper sticker about autism. Which leads me to my main question related to the book...would Jacob REALLY have been treated so poorly by the justice system?

Throughout his arrest and subsequent trial I kept thinking "What's wrong with these people? Are they that dense?" I felt like all the main characters outside of Jacob's family had never even heard of autism and were acting like complete dorks about it. I mean, maybe 10 years ago the reactions to Jacob and treatment he received would have been believable, but it's hard for me to believe that in 2009 or 2010 (which is when I think the story was based) that people would react and behave the way they did! Maybe this is just my naivete or even wishful thinking; I'm really not sure. As I mentioned this is really outside of my personal experience and I really don't know how this story would have panned out in real life. Am I over-assuming how wide-spread the knowledge and awareness is on autism? Am I giving too much credit to our justice system? I really don't know.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult, The Trial

Rather the review specific chapters, I thought I would look at the trial that Jacob goes through starting with his arrest. Once Jacob understands that he needs a lawyer while being questioned by Det. Matson everything gets crazy! His mother and his new lawyer bust into the Det. office but it's too late. Jacob has said some things that seem pretty suspicious; almost a confession even.

Jacob is then sent to jail to await arraignment which doesn't go well. Once his cellmate touches him, he goes berserk, banging his head on the bars until he is finally stopped by guards and brought to a padded room. The time he spends in the padded room is told from his point of view. He describes that when he normally goes to another place to get away from it all, it's like another planet. Once he wakes up in the padded room though, he thinks he's dead until he goes through a list of question like asking himself why he would be breathing if he were dead. He gets frustrated that he can't be like everyone else and cry.

Once his mother and his lawyer find out how jail has been for him, they find a way to go back to court to request he be released. They manage to get him out which makes me wonder about real life. If this book were nonfiction, how would the real Jacob deal with staying in jail rather than being released to his home? I cannot imagine what would happen. What would inmates do? What would be his mental (or even physical) state once the actual trial started several months later? It makes me sad to think someone like that could potentially end up in jail while waiting. 

Before the actual trial finally starts, Oliver (the lawyer) manages to negotiate some accommodations to help him through the trial. He has a sensory room in the courthouse which can be access at almost any time. The trial is separated into shorter time frames and a shorter day. His mom is also allowed to sit at the bench with him although she isn't allowed to speak. These things actually allowed Jacob to have a mostly smooth trial. He had a few meltdowns but they were all triggered by things he had a lot of trouble with normally (crumpling paper, missing Crime Busters).

The whole time they are prepping for the trial and proceeding in the trial I was a little annoyed that Jacob didn't get to talk about his actions or that no one ever asked him what actually happened. I understand the whole lawyer/perjury thing but no one else asked him. Picoult put so much emphasis on how he always told the truth yet the one time he needed to say the truth, no one asked!

As the book nears the end, the jury goes into deliberation. Three or four days pass and Theo has a birthday. Jacob gives him a special gift that changes the whole trial! As the family and Oliver rush to the courthouse to stop everything I wonder again about a real life trial. Would they have convicted Jacob? The longer a jury takes, the harder I (usually) think it is to come to a decision. Of course I was glad that Jacob didn't actually commit murder but I kind of wished she would have included what happened next. The last case she included helped the outcome become a little clearer.

Review: House Rules by Jodi Picoult, Chapters (Cases) 1-3, Pages 1-146

So I am ahead of everyone else at this point in the reading. I've been trying to stay ahead because I am also working on my dissertation right now so I don't have a ton of free time on my hands & Leslie has a tendency to devote an entire day to reading and will knock a book out in under a day so if that happens I don't want to be eons behind. But in case our schedules don't jive I thought I'd write down my thoughts so far...

So I've read three chapters so far. I'm calling them chapters even though the book isn't really divided into chapters. Every once in a while Picoult will put in a "Case" that are numbered chronologically. I'm guessing these are like chapter markers? At least how I'm treating them. I am not sure why the cases are in the book--they don't have anything to do with the story (as of yet) and they are just a random one page summary of some murder case. We'll see if they have any importance later in the story.

So far I like how Picoult divides up the story from different viewpoints. I like when books show different authors speaking so you can get a different piece of the story from lots of different characters perspectives. The one thing that makes this difficult in this story is the telling of Jacob's perspective. All of the other characters are easy to relate to and there isn't so much "explaining" that is done. I feel like when she is writing from Jacob's perspective she has to do a lot of "this is how people with Asperger's think/act/behave" which makes it seem like Jacob is talking TO the reader, not like the reader is experiencing the story AS the character which is what it seems like when you are reading the other character's perspectives. I don't know how Picoult could make it better and I think she's done a good job of trying to represent the inner workings of someone with Asperger's but it's just different. Also, not really knowing anyone with Asperger's I don't know how "true" it feels. I'm excited to see how it pans out through the rest of the book.

On a sidenote related directly to Asperger's I was a little wary when Picoult went into the whole vaccine related issue (do vaccines cause Autism?). I kind of wish she'd left that out because I didn't think it was relative to the story at all. I know that people who are invested in the debate WANT to talk about it, but it's so controversial I feel like it could have been a potential distraction to the story. I know when it first came up I was ready to just skip over it because I didn't want it to taint the rest of the story. However, I must say, for bringing up the issue Picoult did as good a job as possible to try and stay balanced in the debate. I just wish she wouldn't have brought it up at all.

Another predictable (but kind of annoying) thing that I see developing is a love story between Emma and Rich. It seems like that is one pattern in all of Picoult's books. Two of the main characters, usually two who have "had it hard," end up falling in love. It's one of those stereotypical romance lines that you find in fiction geared towards women that I find distracting and lessens the quality of the story. But that's my bias. Maybe some people like to have romance in all their stories. I'm just here for the interesting part of the plot (the Asperger's storyline).

Another interesting sidenote is that this story doesn't seem to be a "ripped from the headlines" story, which tends to be a lot of Picoult's books. Maybe it is and I'm just not aware of it, but I can't recall ever seeing anything about anyone with Asperger's that may be involved with the criminal justice system. I mean, the connection with Autism being a media-related story is sort-of in line with her past story telling, but that's about it. This doesn't have much to do with my review of the book, but it was just interesting to note.

Overall I am enjoying the book. I'm curious to see what happens because it seems like, at this point, it is obvious who DIDN'T kill Jess, although the real culprit is yet to be identified. I'm only about a fourth of the way through the book so it will be interesting to see what happens as it develops and how Picoult rounds out the story because at this point it doesn't seem like 3/4 of the book could still be about this case! I'm sure she'll do a good job of twisting and turning the story until the end.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Lindsay and I started reading House Rules the other day as our 2nd book. Our mom also just started reading it too! Anyone else, feel free to join in!

This book is about a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome. He is really into crime scenes and the forensics side of figuring out crime. One night there is a death and because of his social awkwardness, the police department thinks that he is looking guilty. So the question is, does Jacob have anything to do with this death?

Possible Future Book Club Selections

Like I mentioned in our first post, we have very divergent tastes in books. We are going to have to do a lot of negotiating to find ones that will be mutually enjoyable or take turns picking books one of us may like more than the other.

Some ideas so far...

The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Black Boy by Richard Wright
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Feel free to leave other ideas in the comments!

Taste

Lindsay and I have both loved to read since we first learned how to pick up a book. Our taste in books haven't quite been the same though. I will admit that I like to read some lame-ish books. I love anything by Sarah Dessen (or books that are similar: YA fiction). I also love the Harry Potter series which Lindsay claims to dislike, even though she has never read it. I also like to read mystery books and because I teach 1st grade I love children's books. 

I am however trying to broaden my horizons and read other genres or just books that have been recommended in general. Because I can read a book in a few hours, I figure that I might as well read as much as I can get my eyeballs on. So here I am, setting off into a new adventure of reading with my sister who loves to read African stories/memoirs/narratives, research studies, and various public health topics. Here's to finding common ground!

The Inagural Post of The Sister Book Club

If you are like SOME people (who think we are complete WEIRDOS) you might be wondering, why a sister book club?

Well, for one, I love reading and so does my sister.

That really should be enough, but of course, people like more than one reason generally. So, I'll also add that my sister and I are BFFs and what is better than doing some you love and having fun with your BFF?

Finally, I am moving to California in one month and this will be a fun way to stay connected to my BFF who is living in smelly old Indiana.

We are both very fast readers and provided we have the time, may be reading and discussing a lot of different books on this blog. If we get busy? Well, you'll just see less. We're pretty simple.

We already read one book (before we created this blog): Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal. If I have time and the inclination I will write a review. The short and sweet review goes like this: So much hope, and so much disappointment.

Our second book that we are starting today is House Rules by Jodi Picoult. One of the challenges of the sister book club is that we have very different tastes in books so we have to work hard to find mutually agreeable books. This was one we could agree on.

Off we go!