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Book review: Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Author: Jodi Picoult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: 30th November 2021
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Summary:
“Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.
But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.
Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. The whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.
Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.”
My review:
It is no secret that the pandemic was an extremely difficult time for many people around the world, especially healthcare staff. In Wish You Were Here, Jodi Picoult highlights some of the struggles that many of us faced by introducing a main character, Diana, who is hoping to soon be engaged to a doctor, Finn. As the pandemic sets in full force, Finn has to stay behind and work on the frontline while Diana decides to travel to the Galapagos for the holiday they had originally planned. This forced separation is one that many couples can relate to with the imposed travel restrictions during the pandemic and is a significantly important turning point in their relationship.
I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of the Galapagos islands and the characters that were introduced during the first part of the story. This was done exceptionally well and it truly seemed like all of the sites and landmarks were carefully chosen to fit well into the storyline. I felt fully immersed in the beautiful surroundings and could imagine the vivid backdrop that Diana was experiencing for the first time.
Unfortunately both the character development and plot fell flat for me. There were times where Diana seemed selfish and immature and not in love with Finn. While the story is told in Diana’s point of view, Finn is a key character in the plot and is told through her eyes in both a glorified way and towards the end in a somewhat malicious way. It almost felt like this was done on purpose and rather unwillingly as, apart from one incident in the Galapagos islands, there were no other concrete reasons on why their relationship took the turn it did.
Jodi Picoult is renowned for her incredibly moving novels that shed light on important and often times controversial topics where the main characters are forced to make difficult decisions. This trait is usually what sets her books apart from others in the market and she somehow manages to do this with ease. However, her writing has recently transitioned into a different format, tackling themes that are not as hard-hitting as in the past. Wish You Were Here is the perfect example of this. Although I was slightly disappointed with the storyline and not too impressed by the characters, I loved the setting and was pleased to read a book set during the pandemic that focused on some of the difficulties that society faced.
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Book review: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Title: The Maidens
Author: Alex Michaelides
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publication date: 10th June 2021
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Summary:
“Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike. Particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated when one of The Maidens, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything – including her own life.”
My review:
The Maidens was one of my most anticipated books of 2021, driven by the success of The Silent Patient which spread like wildfire in the book community and quickly became one of my favourite Thrillers I have read to date. Needless to say I was extremely curious to see how Alex Michaelides would develop his writing and if he would stick to some of the themes and techniques that were so prominent in The Silent Patient.
Edward Fosca is a professor at Cambridge university specialising in Greek tragedy and becomes a key person of interest in the murder of a young girl which stunned the community. I found Edward to be an intriguing character with a similar mystery and darkness to that of Theo in The Silent Patient. This type of character development of a male antagonist is something that the author excels at with seemingly effortless ease. The other characters include Mariana, a psychologist who comes to the rescue of her niece Zoe who is Fosca’s student, and the Maidens who each seem to hide their own secrets. Unfortunately none of these characters were particularly refined and I felt like the author tried to make them too weak and soft in comparison to Fosca.
The Greek mythology theme was central to the plot and character development in The Maidens. It was clear that Alex Michaelides had researched this area well, both in language and culture. Ultimately this was the glue that held together Mariana to the maidens and Edward Fosca. I particularly liked how the author developed this point with the use of postcards written in ancient Greek.
The plot in The Maidens was ambitious but didn’t deliver compared to the high expectations. The pace was even and the storyline interesting enough to capture my attention but at no point did I feel engrossed enough to keep reading in the same way as The Silent Patient. I also believe that there were too many minor characters which took the attention away from the potential of developing the three main characters further to make the book even more captivating.
Overall, I enjoyed The Maidens and it promised to be an exceptional thriller. The Greek mythology theme was thoroughly researched and well implemented but more work is needed on the characters and smoothing out the plot. Nevertheless I am interested to see how this author progresses in his career and will certainly read his next books.