Jodi Picoult is my hero.
It’s funny though, cause there are probably so many other authors like her out there who I’m missing out on. But then, at this moment I couldn’t care about other authors, cause this woman is just awesome, and I could just live off her imagination for the rest of my life. Again, she hasn’t failed to turn me into a giddying mess after finishing one of her books, although I must admit, this one didn’t have such a big impact as Second Glance did (get this, my mother’s reading it atm, and she says it’s awesome. ^_^ I wish she’d hurry up though, it’s sat in the bathroom gathering dust and I just wanna grab it and read it again).
Anyway. I forgive Jodi for SO TOTALLY STEALING two of my main character names off me: Anna from Losing Place (although, fair play, I wouldn’t let myself call any of my characters ‘Andromeda’, haha, Annabel’s enough for me) and Jesse from my as of yet unnamed masterpiece. I know, loads of people have used those names before, but it was just weird that I had to first pick up a book and see my name, spelt correctly, in it, and then the next one and find two characters named like mine. Haha, I suck.
Anyway. My Sister’s Keeper is about a girl named Anna (YES) who files a lawsuit against her parents for rights to her own body. She was conceived and born solely for the purpose of donating blood to her sister, Kate, who was dying of a rare form of Leukemia (it was de javu actually, cause I wasn’t long ago reading a book about a girl dying of Leukemia). But along with that main skeleton of a story there are other twists and turns and character backstories, and a pretty thought provoking prologue that actually hurts my head to think about.
What made me love this book was how similar it was to The Pact, one of Jodi’s previous books that got me into her. It has the same feel to it - characters struggling to cope with seeing those who’re taking them to court everyday - the same kind of court scene at the end that just completely grips me like some sticky glue, and the same sort of twist at the end during the courtroom scene. Although if I were comparing The Pact and My Sister’s Keeper, I’d say the first was better, just because the court scene went on for longer and was more surprising than this one.
What I really love about Picoult’s writing though is just how simple it is. She has really inspired me with all three of her books to just get off my friggin bum and write my eyes out, no matter whether or not I’m any good at it. I can’t actually remember now if reading The Pact in any way helped me through Losing Place, or if I ended up stealing things from Second Glance to make my words flow better. But all I know is now, with my current project, I’m finding it alot easier to write basic sentences that have this amazing impact on how the story goes, and I’m handing all the credit to her. Although Stephenie Meyer may have inspired me with her concepts, Jodi Picoult is inspiring me with just her words. And for that, I’m forever in her debt.
What I need to do now though is give Picoult a break and go find some other authors. Anyone care to recommend? =P
