Vanishing Acts

Reader reviewed by Mel Zimmerman

This sad, happy, mysterious theme that Jodi Picault has given through the book leaves you wondering once you put it down. Its a fictiong story but in actuality it could really happen, which makes it even easier to relate to.
Vanishing Acts is about a mother named Delia, who just realizes when the police come to her house that she had been kid napped by her father at age 4. The story unravels as mysteries from Delias past creep around the corner and surprise even her. She reconnects with her alcoholic mother, finds out her step father abused her, and ends up finding who she really can trust in the end.
One of the main things I admire about Jodi Picault is that each chapter is written in a different characters point of view. So, when a new story is revealed you get to see what each character feels and views how things will work out in the end. Also, the book has twists in it to keep you reading and you absolutely NEVER get bored. Its a wonderful book.

Reader reviewed by plentyo'moxie

This is the latest from Jodi Picoult, and it is pretty much what weve come to expect from this author. A little bit of a mystery, a bit of romance, a court room crime drama situation that manages not to derail the book, and so on. I really like her stuff, but Ill have to be honest, this one comes apart at the seams a bit. They are all good page-turning beach reads, but some of Picoults books are definitely better than others.

Our main girl Delia is a semi-single mom (maybe in her late 20s?) whose relationship with her baby-daddy, Eric, has been rocky because of his alcoholism. She has a very close relationship with her own father, who solely raised her because her mom died when she was very young, or so shes been told. Turns out, her mom is not dead, her dad kidnapped her from Arizona when she was really young, changed their names, moved them to New Hampshire, and has been living the suburban life of a fugitive ever since. He did this, he insists, because her mother was a terrible mother, being an extreme alcoholic.

So Delias father is arrested, she is having a real true identity crisis, Eric is a lawyer so hes trying to represent Delias dad, Delia meets her mom, this other best friend of theirs is actually in love with Delia and gets all up in the mess, Delia has an experience with this Native American spiritualist, and on and on. I could list about fifty more plot elements without giving anything away, and therein lies my point: there is just too much thrown in here for a cohesive novel to emerge. Its an ok book, but most of her other books are way better, especially My Sisters Keeper.