The Pact: A Love Story

This is one of my favorite books. Which is why I bought a second copy when my original was old and in bad shape. I thought this new copy would also have a different cover. Since this Amazon listing shows a picture of a guy in a girl in like a field. The book that arrived does not have the same cover as the product listing. I'll keep it though as I love the book. But the product listing should reflect the proper book edition.

Originally released in 1997, "The Pact," is probably one of Jodi Picoult's best known works. It has garnered a pretty strong cult following. As a result it's one of those books we can say has a love it or hate it relationship. There are few who will find themselves in between. Love it or hate it, one can't deny how much Picoult's novel opens the door to a very serious issue.The Golds and the Hartes have been friends for a long time. They're next door neighbors who have become close. Their children Emily Gold and Christopher Harte have become close over the years, and it comes as no surprise to their parents. Then, out of the blue, Emily Gold kills herself in what was apparently supposed to be a suicide pact between Emily and Chris. Now Emily is dead, and Chris is alive and well, and he's the only one who has any answers. Now Emily's parents are trying to find out what happened to their daughter, and are also wondering just how well they knew her, while Chris is up to his neck in a legal squabble. The friendship between the two families that seemed eternal suddenly comes crashing down, as both sets of parents come to the realization that they didn't know their children quite as well as they thought.Needless to say, there's a lot of drama in Picoult's novel, and a lot of emotional turmoil. Jodi Picoult is no stranger to dealing with tough issues and exploring them. The Pact is no different, but here Jodi Picoult goes further into the heart of the matter. By exploring not just how the character cope with Emily's suicide, but also what lead Emily to do it in the first place. The book plays out by alternating between the past and the present. The reader literally gets to know Emily's life story. We're there from the moment she is born, to the moment all the way to her death. As a result, the reader really gets to know Emily Gold. And not just Emily Gold. We get to know Chris Harte as well. In fact, we get to know every character and they all become incredibly well developed. Sometimes a little too much. We learn a little bit more about some characters than we'd care to know. At times Picoult can carry on about a character, but at least she keeps it interesting.However, the story moves at a smooth pace. The read is, overall, a fairly quick one. And the drama keeps coming with all the twists and turns. It's hard not to feel Picoult pulling at your heart strings. All the drama and characters lead to a pretty big conclusion. In the past, Jodi Picoult has sometimes come to implausible conclusions. You might get a similar feeling here. The book is very enjoyable, and the conclusion is even alright, although it isn't entirely believable.The writing stands firm. It's very well written with elegant prose and vivid descriptions. Sometimes you get the sense that Picoult is providing too much description. At the very least you'll never feel drowned out in it. The dialog is also nice, coming off as very natural rather than scripted.The Pact is a very nice book that's filled with very lovable characters. Its sure to spark a bit of discussion among readers. It's a very likable book that is filled with it's own charms. It is one of Picoult's best.

Which is why I read this book: I have read others of hers. After reading her comments afterwards I would say she achieved her goal. But I only gave her 4 stars: today there are so many authors who deal with difficult subjects, manage to be uplifting but are far less contrived.Everything fit too conveniently here: the too close family, the exclusive relationship between Emily and Chris, the brief sexual abuse encounter Emily shut up about and was the real catalyst for what happened, but only beknownst to her. Too many convenient truths, not quite realistic to me set up in order to fit the narrative.I wouldn't have had the book banned, but I don't think I would praise it so much. Today children have to deal with traumas on an hourly basis: shootings in schools, an indifferent society, self-serving politicians, climate change, the possibility of WWIII, a world that offers them no protection at all. Emily and Chris were very much protected, so the book seems a little too indulgent and pretentious.However, it is a page turner.

As usual, Jodi Picoult does not disappoint. Her story shows the effects on all of her characters. You can never predict what happens; therefore this one, altho a serious subject, doesnt disappoint.

Another interesting read by Jodi Picoult. It took me back to my own teen years and the thought process of a young adult. Jodi did a great job of explaining how intertwined these 2 teens' lives were, to the extent they felt each others physical & emotional pain. However, despite the self-centered nature of this age, I wasn't convinced that with their level of intelligence, at least one of them wouldn't have been able to reason out that Emily could have received counselling and possibly medication to help her overcome her depression and suicidal feelings, instead of drawing the conclusion that suicide was Emily's only option to end her pain (particularly since Chris had received some counselling of his own and had benefitted, even though he was skeptical and resistant at first). In addition, even though I don't need every book to tie everything together in a neat package at the end of the story, being a parent myself, I would like to have felt some closure with this story. I'm sure it was intentional on Jodi's part, but I couldn't decide why Emily felt so hopeless that she couldn't go on. Was it because she'd been molested at age 9, suppressed that memory and then had it come to light when she became sexually active with Chris? Was it because she loved Chris so much, she felt as though she was half of his whole and couldn't live without him, but she often felt their relationship seemed incest-like, since they'd basically been raised together and yet, when she got pregnant, couldn't endure the thought of a "forever" with him, for that very reason? This story brings the characters to life so well, I felt emotionally invested enough to want an answer to the question,"why?" Since Emily could not seem to verbally articulate her reasons to Chris while she was alive, perhaps she was able to explain it in her diary, leaving me to wonder if Emily's mother got answers when she found the diary. As a parent, I can only imagine the grief felt by the parents and their need to have a reason for this tragedy, with someone to blame. Saying that, they knew Chris since the day he was born, lived next door to his family and helped raise him as their own child. Emily's mother, Melanie, found some answers (possibly all?) in Emily's diary (the full contents were not shared with us) How could Melanie then burn the diary & let Chris take the blame for murdering Emily?

I absolutely adored this book. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve spent much of my day just wanting to get home to read more. This is a compelling read which leaves you wanting more each time a chapter ends.Although this isn’t a new release, I think it’s actually quite an important novel for where society is right now. Mental Health and Suicide is being talked about more than ever and I think this book highlights the sad fact that parents do not always know what is going on in their children’s mind and what is apparent on the surface isn’t always what’s going on inside. A painful reminder to many, I’m sure, to ensure that you are asking your kids the right questions and spending the right amount of time.Brilliant, powerful book.

Again I started reading this novel and everything goes to hell in a hand basket. (The same happened when I was reading 19 minutes). Dinner doesn’t get made, the dog is abandoned, I don’t go to sleep until really late. I love to read, but it is much easier to read something that you don’t feel so invested in, they are not so difficult to put down. I always avoided Jodie Picoult’s books, thinking they were ‘chick lit’. I now know that they are not. She tackles hard subjects that are not written about by many authors. I shall carry on ploughing through her books, the dinner, dog and my sleep be damned!

As with any of Jodi's book, this was well written and pulled me in from the beginning. Was this a murder, a suicide pact, a double suicide pact? And if so, why, and who was guilty of what? Unfortunately, as the story began to unfold, I found I couldn't accept the basic premise upon which the whole drama/mystery depended. I won't reveal the ending, but the more I learnt about the true character of each of the main protagonists, and the motivations behind their actions, the less I believed in them. Sorry, Jodi, but the book left me cold.

I have really enjoyed all the Jodi Picoult books I have read, and this was no exception.What starts off as a childhood friendship between neighbours Chris Harte and Emily Gold develops into a mature teen romance, but maybe not as idyllic as it seems. There is a deep mutual love between them, but some other more complex and complicated emotions on both their parts.The story develops in dual time-line, through the history of the Harte and Gold families and in their present, in which Emily is dead and Chris is a suspect. The legal side is both accurate and gripping, and the story pulled me in. I stayed up till silly-o’clock to finish the last section because I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended.

This seemed to take me a long time to get into it, but I stuck with it over a period of time and it began to grab my attention and wonder what really did happen that fateful night. It's really quite heartbreaking and is a very important story told about teen suicide. The court chapters are the best, they had me reading late into the night wondering how it was going to pan out. Only issue as a kindle reader I would say would be the long chapters and knowing how much you have left (some chapters were 45 mins long) caused many late nights needing to finish a chapter. Worth a read.