Review :: A Spark of Light :: Jodi Picoult
December 03, 2018
Today I'm revisiting another review I wrote for the Bookish Escape Crate blog on Jodi Picoult’s A Spark of Light, which was the book included in the October crate.
I have bookish confession this month: October’s Bookish Escape Crate book – A Spark of Light
– is the first book I have read by Jodi Picoult! I used to read mostly
fantasy books, and if I was reading something contemporary it was
probably young adult. Then I had my daughter and was too scared of my
feelings to read about the kinds of issues Jodi often covers in her
books. Having now read this one, I’m still not quite sure what to think
of her work – whether I’m a ‘fan’ or not. I’m looking forward to talking
to people who love her work to find out how A Spark of Light compares to her backlist, and whether it’s representative of her usual writing style.
When Vonita opened the doors of the Center that morning, she had no idea that it would be for the last time. Wren has missed school to come to the Center, the sole surviving women's reproductive health clinic in the state, chaperoned by her aunt, Bex. Olive told Peg she was just coming for a check-up. Janine is undercover, a pro-life protester disguised as a patient. Joy needs to terminate her pregnancy. Louie is there to perform a service for these women, not in spite of his faith, but because of it. When a desperate and distraught gunman bursts into the Center, opening fire and taking everyone hostage, Hugh McElroy is the police negotiator called to the scene. He has no idea that his fifteen-year-old daughter is inside.
I thought the writing itself was wonderful - I found it descriptive without being laboured, and I could really picture what was happening so clearly in my mind as I read. I also really liked the range of characters in the book, and the fact that we get to see the story unfold from so many different points of view. I was surprised though that I never really felt closely connected to any character in particular. I’m not sure whether this is because there are so many people, or because of the way the narrative is structured.
A Spark of Light is told backward through the hours of the day. I think this is probably to try and focus the reader on each of the character’s backgrounds and how their beliefs and life experiences had led them to be in the same place for difference reasons on that day, rather than focussing on what happens to them through and after the siege. While this is a clever idea, I didn’t really think it quite worked for me. I think I missed the suspense and tension that you would usually get from this sort of story and maybe already knowing pretty much how things were going to turn out for the characters kept me a bit removed from them. It also meant that the characters didn’t get an opportunity to really learn from each-other or get a better understanding of each-other’s beliefs.
Overall, I enjoyed this in the kind of way that I would enjoy an episode of something like Law and Order on the TV. It was a pretty easy read, but perhaps a bit flat and didn’t really leave a big impact on me or make me think about the issues it deals with afterwards the way I expected it to.
I gave this 3 stars and I think I would probably recommend it as a good summer read for someone who is looking for something a bit serious but not too heavy (or murder/crime-y). It would also be a good read for someone who wants to learn more about both sides of the pro-life/pro-choice debate, since the writing is quite balanced, and it is clearly well researched.
When Vonita opened the doors of the Center that morning, she had no idea that it would be for the last time. Wren has missed school to come to the Center, the sole surviving women's reproductive health clinic in the state, chaperoned by her aunt, Bex. Olive told Peg she was just coming for a check-up. Janine is undercover, a pro-life protester disguised as a patient. Joy needs to terminate her pregnancy. Louie is there to perform a service for these women, not in spite of his faith, but because of it. When a desperate and distraught gunman bursts into the Center, opening fire and taking everyone hostage, Hugh McElroy is the police negotiator called to the scene. He has no idea that his fifteen-year-old daughter is inside.
I thought the writing itself was wonderful - I found it descriptive without being laboured, and I could really picture what was happening so clearly in my mind as I read. I also really liked the range of characters in the book, and the fact that we get to see the story unfold from so many different points of view. I was surprised though that I never really felt closely connected to any character in particular. I’m not sure whether this is because there are so many people, or because of the way the narrative is structured.
A Spark of Light is told backward through the hours of the day. I think this is probably to try and focus the reader on each of the character’s backgrounds and how their beliefs and life experiences had led them to be in the same place for difference reasons on that day, rather than focussing on what happens to them through and after the siege. While this is a clever idea, I didn’t really think it quite worked for me. I think I missed the suspense and tension that you would usually get from this sort of story and maybe already knowing pretty much how things were going to turn out for the characters kept me a bit removed from them. It also meant that the characters didn’t get an opportunity to really learn from each-other or get a better understanding of each-other’s beliefs.
Overall, I enjoyed this in the kind of way that I would enjoy an episode of something like Law and Order on the TV. It was a pretty easy read, but perhaps a bit flat and didn’t really leave a big impact on me or make me think about the issues it deals with afterwards the way I expected it to.
I gave this 3 stars and I think I would probably recommend it as a good summer read for someone who is looking for something a bit serious but not too heavy (or murder/crime-y). It would also be a good read for someone who wants to learn more about both sides of the pro-life/pro-choice debate, since the writing is quite balanced, and it is clearly well researched.
***
My review of A Spark of Light was originally published over on the Bookish Escape Crate blog.
I received a free Bookish Escape Crate box in exchange for my review.
You can check out A Spark of Light on Goodreads here.
2 comments
I was interested to hear what you thought of Jodi. I've read a few of hers until I swore off any more (probably...). I kept getting sucked in because the topics are always really interesting. The switching points of view I think is characteristic of her writing, and quite skillful. With the ones I read, each time there was a twist at the end and I felt skillfully manipulated. Hard to explain why it annoyed me, perhaps because it felt very clinically done!
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting to hear! I felt like this one was a bit clinical, like it was very matter of fact and I also think maybe that made me feel like I was being held arms length from the characters.
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