Jodi Picoult is an author that has become very popular over the past years for writing good books about sensitive topics such as school violence, sexual abuse and religion. The Pact was written over ten years ago and focuses on teenage suicide and assisted suicide.
This book introduces us to two families who have lived next door to each other and been best friends for years. The parents are all thrilled when their children Chris and Emily begin dating. This relationship ends in tragedy with Emily dead, and Chris surviving. The gunshot that killed Emily came from a gun that Chris brought from his home. The story tries to figure out what actually happened: whether it was a suicide pact and Chris didn’t follow through, whether he killed Emily or if something else entirely had happened.
This tragedy obviously shatters the friendship of their parents. Chris also goes through very interesting transformations as he very much blames himself and wants to take responsibility and receive punishment for what happened. The feelings that Chris goes through of confusion, guilt, depression and anger are all very real and appropriate to the situation.
The story goes between present and past time which helps to develop the characters and relationships more fully. The highlights for me were the way that a tragic event effected the parents of the children and the things that Chris went through. This has been one of my favorites by Jodi Picoult.
08/09/2010 at 1:17 pm Permalink
Although her books can be fairly similar to a certain extent, I’m a Jodi Picoult fan and this one was a really gripping read — my favorite of hers is Keeping Faith.
09/09/2010 at 8:53 pm Permalink
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll need to check it out.