Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wanted to like this book more but there were a few things that stood in the way. But first I need to say that, as a mom of a high schooler, the first chunk of this book sent my anxiety soaring. I spend more time than I probably should being afraid of my kid being mowed down because someone did what Peter did. It happens regularly and it scares the shit out of me.
As far as the things that prevented me from being totally engrossed in the story… There were many sections that seemed to drag on for no reason. Too much detail about things that weren’t moving the story forward had my attention straying. The constant back and forth in time was tough at times, too. I get the point and it certainly helped build up the tension but there were some points that it was more annoying than helpful. There were also weird POV shifts that were just for a line or two.
There was a lot of good stuff that made sticking with this very long novel worthwhile. While reading, I knew that there was something much more to the story than what we were being told but I didn’t expect what actually happened. I love that. Being in the heads of the kids was well done and those were my favorite parts.
I don’t see myself reading this one again but I’d still recommend it.