Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Dede

One of the things I like about Jodi Picoult's books is that she writes utterly believable characters and describes their feelings in a way that most people have experienced them. She also writes not just about one central person's dilemma, but all of the others around them too. Trixie is a typical teen, but her world crashes when her boyfriend Jason breaks up with her. He is a star hockey player. After the breakup, with the help of her friend, Trixie decides to try to get him back at a party. It all goes horribly wrong though, when Jason rapes her. What follows is a look at rape, the feelings associated with it for the victim and her family, and what rape really means. A detective working the case realizes that Trixie has given conflicting statements and begins to wonder. Trixie's mom is a professor and was having an affair with a student of hers. Trixie's dad, Daniel, has a troubled past. He buried that past when he became a dad, but his daughter's rape brings up old habits, feelings, etc. As the story seems to twist and turn around the truth in this book, it leaves the characters, and the readers, wondering what really happened, who is telling the truth, and what justice entails. This isn't one of my favorites of Jodi Picoult but it's still good enough for fan's to appreciate it.