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Nineteen Minutes
Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Small Great Things pens her most riveting book yet, with a startling and poignant story about the devastating aftermath of a small-town tragedy.
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.
468 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2007
About the author
Jodi Picoult
111 books85.2k followersJodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-eight novels, including Wish You Were Here, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Picoult lives in New Hampshire.
MAD HONEY, her new novel co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audio on October 4, 2022.
Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodipicoult
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodipicoult
MAD HONEY, her new novel co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan, is available in hardcover, ebook, and audio on October 4, 2022.
Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodipicoult
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodipicoult
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 19,940 reviews
June 12, 2007
This book is a hard book to put down because the entire time you're seeking answers. Why? What actually happened? What made it progress to this? Things like that. Things that people asked after Columbine, most recently after Virginia Tech, and after all the other school shootings. Once again Jodi Picoult tackles a sensitive and controversial issue, in an amazingly strong and dignified manner that doesn't have you choosing sides.
She did it to the reader in My Sister's Keeper, where the minute you began to go to one side, she presents something where you're suddenly seeing it all from a different angle. Every time you begin to thing Peter was in the right, an angry and upset parent stands up and says something to make you think again. A writer who can play devil's advocate to her own characters is a gifted writer indeed.
Nineteen Minutes ends with stunning results. We think we know exactly what happened, but as the story progresses and we delve deeper into various characters psyche we begin to realize everything is not what it seems. I don't want to spoil anything, but if you're like me you'll begin to suspect things earlier on. In the end the book will leave you with a feeling of sad hope, a feeling I never knew existed until I finished this book.
I'd say more, but as with other books I've reviewed, sometimes I just have to let the book speak for itself. It's such an amazingly sensitive story, to critique it too much might skew your own opinion going into it. The writing is beautiful, the characters complex and real. That's all I'm going to say, I think you need to find the rest out for yourself.
She did it to the reader in My Sister's Keeper, where the minute you began to go to one side, she presents something where you're suddenly seeing it all from a different angle. Every time you begin to thing Peter was in the right, an angry and upset parent stands up and says something to make you think again. A writer who can play devil's advocate to her own characters is a gifted writer indeed.
Nineteen Minutes ends with stunning results. We think we know exactly what happened, but as the story progresses and we delve deeper into various characters psyche we begin to realize everything is not what it seems. I don't want to spoil anything, but if you're like me you'll begin to suspect things earlier on. In the end the book will leave you with a feeling of sad hope, a feeling I never knew existed until I finished this book.
I'd say more, but as with other books I've reviewed, sometimes I just have to let the book speak for itself. It's such an amazingly sensitive story, to critique it too much might skew your own opinion going into it. The writing is beautiful, the characters complex and real. That's all I'm going to say, I think you need to find the rest out for yourself.
September 14, 2023
I haven’t read a book affected me so deeply, shook me to the core, made me scream! The high tension story telling of school shootings, the earth shattering, soul shaking events aftermath the tragedy, all those young people’s intense traumas, thought provoking perspectives, shocking revelations!
I reread this and I believe this is the best book the author has written!
Too many things can happen in 19 minutes... you can mow your front lawn, watch the third of a hockey game, color your hair, cook scones ( not me), get a tooth filled, fold laundry for family of five ... you can stop the world or jump off!
Poor Josie Cormier recently survived from a school shooting, judge’s teenage daughter, state’s star witness of the soul crushing incident. She wishes she may have stopped the time, taken back her 19 minutes which could change so many people’s lives!
This is sitting on the edge of your seat, busting your entire nails then your hands, getting jumpy, restless kind of memorable read with WTH I just read kind of shocking ending. In one sit, your hands stay glued to your book and your beliefs, your look at the events will completely change!
I’m shutting my mouth. It’s freaking fantastic! If you haven’t read it, it’s never too late, go and grab it ASAP!
I reread this and I believe this is the best book the author has written!
Too many things can happen in 19 minutes... you can mow your front lawn, watch the third of a hockey game, color your hair, cook scones ( not me), get a tooth filled, fold laundry for family of five ... you can stop the world or jump off!
Poor Josie Cormier recently survived from a school shooting, judge’s teenage daughter, state’s star witness of the soul crushing incident. She wishes she may have stopped the time, taken back her 19 minutes which could change so many people’s lives!
This is sitting on the edge of your seat, busting your entire nails then your hands, getting jumpy, restless kind of memorable read with WTH I just read kind of shocking ending. In one sit, your hands stay glued to your book and your beliefs, your look at the events will completely change!
I’m shutting my mouth. It’s freaking fantastic! If you haven’t read it, it’s never too late, go and grab it ASAP!
January 3, 2008
I have read most of Jodi Picoult's books, and they are always entertaining and easy to read. However, this one was definitely not my favorite, and I often found it a bit formulaic and poorly executed. Maybe it's because I HAVE read so many of her books that I was looking for her signature "twist" at the ending (which an astute reader will guess at halfway through the book, if not earlier), and her characters seem to act in certain ways that are not fitting.
***Spoilers Follow***
************************************************************
SPOILERS BELOW
The book is centered around a high-school shooting, the culprit a teenage boy named Peter Houghton, who to my mind is not a very convincing villain. The reader is supposed to empathize with Peter from the time he's a baby - this supposed "monster" is shown as a tender, loving boy who gets picked on mercilessly at school. The point, really, is to show that even the most sensitive, nice child can be turned into a killer when he is bullied relentlessly. But I still never really saw Peter, as he is portrayed in the flashbacks, as the same kid who was purported to have killed ten of his classmates in a murderous rampage.
Another loose end that never seems to get tied up is Peter's questioning of his sexuality. In one chapter, Peter is going to a gay bar and a GLAAD meeting, thinking he likes men. He is sitting next to Josie, another main character, and thinking that although she's pretty, he feels nothing for her. Fast forward fifty pages, and he's sending Josie a lovesick email about how much he wants to be a "couple" with her. The point of this, ostensibly, is to show that because the bullies tormented Peter with cries of "homo", that caused him to even question his own sexuality. But the email to Josie just seemed to be a convenient, and very out-of-character, move to tie plot points together.
The most baffling of all, and the hardest to accept, is the infamous Picoult plot twist which is set up through the whole book, via a "second gun" with only a partial fingerprint, that seems to have been fired but nobody can find the bullet, and it's lying on the floor in the room with Josie, her dead boyfriend, and the shooter. Glimpses of a quasi-abusive relationship between Josie and her jock boyfriend surface, and then the bombshell - JOSIE shot the boyfriend! And THEN Peter shot him too! Despite the fact that Josie loved him. Or hated him. Despite the fact that Josie has shown no inclination toward homicide, and happens to be standing face-to-face with the boy who has just slaughtered all of her friends. Does this seem believable to anyone? Again, it's ostensibly because Josie doesn't see another way out of this relationship - the jock boyfriend has threatened to kill himself if she ever leaves him. But shooting him in the gut? That's a bit overwrought and hard to swallow.
I write this review as a loyal fan of Jodi Picoult's work, and an ardent fan of books like "The Pact" and "My Sister's Keeper". I just wish Picoult would step out of the box a little bit and shake things up - just like moviegoers are starting to tire of M. Night Shyamalan's plot twists and wacked-out endings, so I'm beginning to be unsurprised and underwhelmed by Picoult's work.
***Spoilers Follow***
************************************************************
SPOILERS BELOW
The book is centered around a high-school shooting, the culprit a teenage boy named Peter Houghton, who to my mind is not a very convincing villain. The reader is supposed to empathize with Peter from the time he's a baby - this supposed "monster" is shown as a tender, loving boy who gets picked on mercilessly at school. The point, really, is to show that even the most sensitive, nice child can be turned into a killer when he is bullied relentlessly. But I still never really saw Peter, as he is portrayed in the flashbacks, as the same kid who was purported to have killed ten of his classmates in a murderous rampage.
Another loose end that never seems to get tied up is Peter's questioning of his sexuality. In one chapter, Peter is going to a gay bar and a GLAAD meeting, thinking he likes men. He is sitting next to Josie, another main character, and thinking that although she's pretty, he feels nothing for her. Fast forward fifty pages, and he's sending Josie a lovesick email about how much he wants to be a "couple" with her. The point of this, ostensibly, is to show that because the bullies tormented Peter with cries of "homo", that caused him to even question his own sexuality. But the email to Josie just seemed to be a convenient, and very out-of-character, move to tie plot points together.
The most baffling of all, and the hardest to accept, is the infamous Picoult plot twist which is set up through the whole book, via a "second gun" with only a partial fingerprint, that seems to have been fired but nobody can find the bullet, and it's lying on the floor in the room with Josie, her dead boyfriend, and the shooter. Glimpses of a quasi-abusive relationship between Josie and her jock boyfriend surface, and then the bombshell - JOSIE shot the boyfriend! And THEN Peter shot him too! Despite the fact that Josie loved him. Or hated him. Despite the fact that Josie has shown no inclination toward homicide, and happens to be standing face-to-face with the boy who has just slaughtered all of her friends. Does this seem believable to anyone? Again, it's ostensibly because Josie doesn't see another way out of this relationship - the jock boyfriend has threatened to kill himself if she ever leaves him. But shooting him in the gut? That's a bit overwrought and hard to swallow.
I write this review as a loyal fan of Jodi Picoult's work, and an ardent fan of books like "The Pact" and "My Sister's Keeper". I just wish Picoult would step out of the box a little bit and shake things up - just like moviegoers are starting to tire of M. Night Shyamalan's plot twists and wacked-out endings, so I'm beginning to be unsurprised and underwhelmed by Picoult's work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2019
YOWSA!! What a thought provoking, absorbing listen!!
While I’m 12 years late, it was great to finally get around to this incredible read, no matter how difficult the subject matter, and unfortunately, still so relevant today.
I chose the audiobook format and found it very hard to hit the “pause” button.
It was impossible for me to not to fall in love with some characters and feel utter hate for the actions of others.
I am purposely being vague about the storyline, as I cannot encourage you enough to go in totally blind for the most powerful and surprising effect.
This is definitely one I will never forget!
It had been way too long since I was entertained by Jodi Picoult and will check my local library’s inventory for more of this author’s audiobooks.
Extremely well written and narrated!
While I’m 12 years late, it was great to finally get around to this incredible read, no matter how difficult the subject matter, and unfortunately, still so relevant today.
I chose the audiobook format and found it very hard to hit the “pause” button.
It was impossible for me to not to fall in love with some characters and feel utter hate for the actions of others.
I am purposely being vague about the storyline, as I cannot encourage you enough to go in totally blind for the most powerful and surprising effect.
This is definitely one I will never forget!
It had been way too long since I was entertained by Jodi Picoult and will check my local library’s inventory for more of this author’s audiobooks.
Extremely well written and narrated!
June 17, 2008
Believe it or not, I have never actually read one of Jodi Piccoult's books before. I'm not really sure why, but I haven't.
This particular book has really stayed with me as I finished it, and I think Piccoult makes a few very important points/observations.
1. Sometimes the perpetrator of a heinous crime is the biggest victim of them all. Reading the things that Peter went through sometimes brought me to tears. I have never understood how people can treat others so badly, and the behavior of the bullies in this story was beyond the pale. It was easy to see how he could have been driven to do what he did, even though it was absolutely horrific.
2. High school is hard. I think most of us can look back on our high school days and remember struggling to fit in, remember the cruelty of some kids, and remember thinking that being "popular" meant you'd made it in life. Now, with my adult perspective, I can see how silly much of it was, but I remember that it was very real to me. I wasn't popular, but I did find my niche. I went through my share of teasing, and in the end I think it made me a stronger person, however I never endured anything like what Peter had to endure and I wonder how I would have gotten through something like that.
3. Nobody can judge a situation perfectly equitably. Not even a superior court judge. The storyline of Alex and her daughter showed that quite well, but so did the stories of most of the characters. You can't judge only on face value, or even on actions only. Piccoult did an excellent job of playing Devil's advocate for every single character...so much so, that it is difficult to make up your mind one way or the other.
4. Schools may have a zero tolerance policy for bullying, but in reality, they turn a blind eye to much of it. I have experienced this a bit with Bria's schools. I think it is impossible for the teachers and administration to really see what is going on all the time, but I do think that they need to be more aware of who is the bully and who is the victim. It was very sad and even gut wrenching to see how the teachers either didn't want to deal with Peter's situation, half heartedly dealt with it, encouraged it, or punished him right along with the bully. I don't really know what the answer is, but it seems to me there's got to be something better.
5. Peter's crime shouldn't be blamed on his parents, but they aren't guilt free, either. We can see that Peter's parents did what they thought was best, and they loved him. However, from the time he was born, they constantly compared him to his older brother, who was seemingly perfect. It got to a point that Peter couldn't confide in them about the hurt he was experiencing, because they always asked why he couldn't just be like Joey. And then to have Joey killed tragically a year before Peter's shooting spree didn't help. Both parents eventually admitted to themselves that they would have rather had Peter been killed in the car accident instead of Joey. Wow. I am pretty sure that kind of an attitude is evident to children, no matter how hard you try to hide it. Other mistakes these parents made were writing off Peter's anti social behaviors for normal teenage boy actions, and not really trying to have a relationship with him. Allowing him his privacy, instead of finding out what he was up to and what was going on in his life in a way that showed they truly were interested about him and truly cared. They seemed to be the poster children for loving, but lazy, parenting. (Which really isn't loving, actually).
Likewise, Alex had issues being a mother, and it took a tragic event to help her to reevaluate her priorities and her actions as Josie's mother. I was happy she recognized her mistakes and worked to be better, but still, much of the damage had already been done. At least it wasn't as bad of a situation as Peter's parents were in, where the damage had all been done and there was no repairing any of it.
6. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what the mitigating circumstances are. The law is still the law. Alex dealt with this early in her career as a judge...not agreeing with some laws but still having to uphold them legally (gun control). And of course, Peter and Josie needed to pay for their actions. That is the law. I don't think it could be any different, and of course, I don't excuse Peter for what he did. As the trial showed, there were other kids who were bullied just as much who didn't decide to shoot up the school.
There are so many other things I could say about this book. Piccoult is obviously very good at bringing up hot button societal issues and presenting them in a way that makes you really think. I am excited to read more of her novels.
A few silly annoyances (because I always have them):
1. One of the first times we meet Judge Alex Cormier is when she is pregnant with Josie and she fills out a form with her name: Alexandra Cormier. Later in the book it talks about how her name isn't short for Alexandra like people assume. Well then, why would she fill out paperwork like that?
2. People are constantly "pinching the bridge of their noses" in exasperation. I swear I read that phrase more than 5 times.
3. I didn't feel the twist at the end was sufficiently explained. Maybe the abusive relationship she sort of showed between Matt and Josie explains it. She foreshadowed a bit that something big was up, but I didn't feel that what Josie ultimately did made a ton of sense in the situation. Perhaps a bit more backstory on the relationship, or at the very least, on Josie's feelings about the relationship, would have made more sense to me. As it was, I felt it was a bit out of place. Definitely twisty, though. So if that's what Piccoult was going for, then great.
This particular book has really stayed with me as I finished it, and I think Piccoult makes a few very important points/observations.
1. Sometimes the perpetrator of a heinous crime is the biggest victim of them all. Reading the things that Peter went through sometimes brought me to tears. I have never understood how people can treat others so badly, and the behavior of the bullies in this story was beyond the pale. It was easy to see how he could have been driven to do what he did, even though it was absolutely horrific.
2. High school is hard. I think most of us can look back on our high school days and remember struggling to fit in, remember the cruelty of some kids, and remember thinking that being "popular" meant you'd made it in life. Now, with my adult perspective, I can see how silly much of it was, but I remember that it was very real to me. I wasn't popular, but I did find my niche. I went through my share of teasing, and in the end I think it made me a stronger person, however I never endured anything like what Peter had to endure and I wonder how I would have gotten through something like that.
3. Nobody can judge a situation perfectly equitably. Not even a superior court judge. The storyline of Alex and her daughter showed that quite well, but so did the stories of most of the characters. You can't judge only on face value, or even on actions only. Piccoult did an excellent job of playing Devil's advocate for every single character...so much so, that it is difficult to make up your mind one way or the other.
4. Schools may have a zero tolerance policy for bullying, but in reality, they turn a blind eye to much of it. I have experienced this a bit with Bria's schools. I think it is impossible for the teachers and administration to really see what is going on all the time, but I do think that they need to be more aware of who is the bully and who is the victim. It was very sad and even gut wrenching to see how the teachers either didn't want to deal with Peter's situation, half heartedly dealt with it, encouraged it, or punished him right along with the bully. I don't really know what the answer is, but it seems to me there's got to be something better.
5. Peter's crime shouldn't be blamed on his parents, but they aren't guilt free, either. We can see that Peter's parents did what they thought was best, and they loved him. However, from the time he was born, they constantly compared him to his older brother, who was seemingly perfect. It got to a point that Peter couldn't confide in them about the hurt he was experiencing, because they always asked why he couldn't just be like Joey. And then to have Joey killed tragically a year before Peter's shooting spree didn't help. Both parents eventually admitted to themselves that they would have rather had Peter been killed in the car accident instead of Joey. Wow. I am pretty sure that kind of an attitude is evident to children, no matter how hard you try to hide it. Other mistakes these parents made were writing off Peter's anti social behaviors for normal teenage boy actions, and not really trying to have a relationship with him. Allowing him his privacy, instead of finding out what he was up to and what was going on in his life in a way that showed they truly were interested about him and truly cared. They seemed to be the poster children for loving, but lazy, parenting. (Which really isn't loving, actually).
Likewise, Alex had issues being a mother, and it took a tragic event to help her to reevaluate her priorities and her actions as Josie's mother. I was happy she recognized her mistakes and worked to be better, but still, much of the damage had already been done. At least it wasn't as bad of a situation as Peter's parents were in, where the damage had all been done and there was no repairing any of it.
6. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what the mitigating circumstances are. The law is still the law. Alex dealt with this early in her career as a judge...not agreeing with some laws but still having to uphold them legally (gun control). And of course, Peter and Josie needed to pay for their actions. That is the law. I don't think it could be any different, and of course, I don't excuse Peter for what he did. As the trial showed, there were other kids who were bullied just as much who didn't decide to shoot up the school.
There are so many other things I could say about this book. Piccoult is obviously very good at bringing up hot button societal issues and presenting them in a way that makes you really think. I am excited to read more of her novels.
A few silly annoyances (because I always have them):
1. One of the first times we meet Judge Alex Cormier is when she is pregnant with Josie and she fills out a form with her name: Alexandra Cormier. Later in the book it talks about how her name isn't short for Alexandra like people assume. Well then, why would she fill out paperwork like that?
2. People are constantly "pinching the bridge of their noses" in exasperation. I swear I read that phrase more than 5 times.
3. I didn't feel the twist at the end was sufficiently explained. Maybe the abusive relationship she sort of showed between Matt and Josie explains it. She foreshadowed a bit that something big was up, but I didn't feel that what Josie ultimately did made a ton of sense in the situation. Perhaps a bit more backstory on the relationship, or at the very least, on Josie's feelings about the relationship, would have made more sense to me. As it was, I felt it was a bit out of place. Definitely twisty, though. So if that's what Piccoult was going for, then great.
November 19, 2023
When I initially started listening to Nineteen Minutes on audiobook, I debated about whether I was going to continue because it is a fictional account of a mass shooting at a high school. The grim reality of mass shootings throughout the US at schools, malls, stores, churches, movie theaters, etc is disturbing, depressing, and seems to be never ending.
I read several Goodreads reviews on Nineteen Minutes and decided to continue listening to the audiobook. It is narrated superbly by Carol Monda. The plot and story arc are woven masterfully. The relationships between parents and teenagers show how small fractures can turn into chasms. Character development is outstanding. Bullying is a critical theme.
The title is based on how many things can be done in a nineteen minute timeframe. Settle into this book, because it is over nineteen hours on audiobook but it is well worth the time.
I read several Goodreads reviews on Nineteen Minutes and decided to continue listening to the audiobook. It is narrated superbly by Carol Monda. The plot and story arc are woven masterfully. The relationships between parents and teenagers show how small fractures can turn into chasms. Character development is outstanding. Bullying is a critical theme.
The title is based on how many things can be done in a nineteen minute timeframe. Settle into this book, because it is over nineteen hours on audiobook but it is well worth the time.
July 3, 2009
When I read this book a few years ago, I had already gotten through four other Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper, The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Acts, and The Plain Truth, in case anyone cares. I feel that we had a good relationship. Sure, after the first exciting fling things got predictable pretty fast ("gee, I wonder if this one will have dramatic courtroom scenes?"), but Jodi was still able to keep me hooked. Then I read Nineteen Minutes, and decided it was time to call it off.
One big problem with the book is that I was expected to think - or at least consider - that a kid being bullied for years is an excuse to shoot up a high school, killing not only the cliche popular jerks but also several innocent bystanders. No. I'm sorry, no.
It didn't help that the bullied kid in question was utterly unlikable, as was his tragic friend with the abusive jock asshole boyfriend - every high school-related convention and cliche is used and run into the goddamned ground here, and it is unpleasant.
But here's the real reason the book gets one star, and I don't consider this a spoiler because I think people deserve to be warned about this: the morbid fascination of school shootings stems from, I believe, the mystery of why any kid would go to such an extreme. Since most of the people who commit this crime end up killing themselves, we never really know how or if they justified their actions.
With this in mind, pretend you're a writer working on a book about a school shooting, where the killer narrates some of the story. Wouldn't it be a good idea to have a chapter where the reader gets to be inside the killer's head during the actual shooting, so they could understand his thought process and logic?
If you answered "well, duh," then congratulations, you are not Jodi Picoult. Throughout the entire book, we never, ever get to see the shooting through the bullied kid's eyes. Why did he shoot the people who never harmed him, including a teacher who was kind to him and some random girl just walking in his line of fire? Did he feel any remorse during the shooting? What was he thinking? Why did he stop in the middle of his spree to sit down in the cafeteria and eat a bowl of cereal? We never find out, and this infuriated me so much Picoult might as well have ended the book with, "I'm Jodi Picoult and I get paid thousands of dollars to print out crap they sell in airport bookstores! I do what I want, so fuck you!"
Yeah, you know what? Fuck you, Jodi. People are only buying your damn book so they can get into the killer's head in the exact way I've described, and you're just screwing with them. Not cool.
One big problem with the book is that I was expected to think - or at least consider - that a kid being bullied for years is an excuse to shoot up a high school, killing not only the cliche popular jerks but also several innocent bystanders. No. I'm sorry, no.
It didn't help that the bullied kid in question was utterly unlikable, as was his tragic friend with the abusive jock asshole boyfriend - every high school-related convention and cliche is used and run into the goddamned ground here, and it is unpleasant.
But here's the real reason the book gets one star, and I don't consider this a spoiler because I think people deserve to be warned about this: the morbid fascination of school shootings stems from, I believe, the mystery of why any kid would go to such an extreme. Since most of the people who commit this crime end up killing themselves, we never really know how or if they justified their actions.
With this in mind, pretend you're a writer working on a book about a school shooting, where the killer narrates some of the story. Wouldn't it be a good idea to have a chapter where the reader gets to be inside the killer's head during the actual shooting, so they could understand his thought process and logic?
If you answered "well, duh," then congratulations, you are not Jodi Picoult. Throughout the entire book, we never, ever get to see the shooting through the bullied kid's eyes. Why did he shoot the people who never harmed him, including a teacher who was kind to him and some random girl just walking in his line of fire? Did he feel any remorse during the shooting? What was he thinking? Why did he stop in the middle of his spree to sit down in the cafeteria and eat a bowl of cereal? We never find out, and this infuriated me so much Picoult might as well have ended the book with, "I'm Jodi Picoult and I get paid thousands of dollars to print out crap they sell in airport bookstores! I do what I want, so fuck you!"
Yeah, you know what? Fuck you, Jodi. People are only buying your damn book so they can get into the killer's head in the exact way I've described, and you're just screwing with them. Not cool.
May 15, 2023
1.5 "would be ok as a 1990s television mini series by NBC" star !!
So I'm going to stop at 34 percent....
I tried Jodi...I tried...
For decades my IRL gal pals have been reading Picoult...reliable stuff they said....
I wanted very much to like this and for brief moments I did... but there are so many difficulties I had with this Chick lit book...so many difficulties
....way too many perspectives
.....way too many vignettes...a few were emotionally impactful...many were such a huge waste of time
.....the women are great vibe is so barf worthy here...really all of them...fuck off Jodi
...absolutely no psychological depth and plenty of small town cliche
-writing is clear and passable but some of the artistic flourishes are just not artistic...
....important topic here but just no... I will not be trying another Picoult...I will not
As a tv series I would likely watch but this book is way too long for a "poor to maybe if I'm lucky mediocre" reading experience.
So I'm going to stop at 34 percent....
I tried Jodi...I tried...
For decades my IRL gal pals have been reading Picoult...reliable stuff they said....
I wanted very much to like this and for brief moments I did... but there are so many difficulties I had with this Chick lit book...so many difficulties
....way too many perspectives
.....way too many vignettes...a few were emotionally impactful...many were such a huge waste of time
.....the women are great vibe is so barf worthy here...really all of them...fuck off Jodi
...absolutely no psychological depth and plenty of small town cliche
-writing is clear and passable but some of the artistic flourishes are just not artistic...
....important topic here but just no... I will not be trying another Picoult...I will not
As a tv series I would likely watch but this book is way too long for a "poor to maybe if I'm lucky mediocre" reading experience.
September 15, 2022
The creation of a mass murderer!
Peter Houghton would hardly be considered a typical seventeen year old teenager. Because one morning, he loaded his backpack with four guns, went to school and killed nine students and a teacher. Jodi Picoult's enthralling best-selling novel Nineteen Minutes, titled to portray the astonishingly brief period of time that Houghton took to complete his brutal spree, examines the genesis of that event and the people affected by it from every conceivable perspective - families, victims, survivors, witnesses, parents, friends, police and the law.
Picoult expertly examines a myriad of issues - teenage angst; "in" crowds; drug use; bullying; teen sexuality; peer pressure; privacy; parenting - and creates a gripping fictionalized version of a tragic event that no thinking reader could possibly put down. At the end of this astonishing tale, many readers will actually feel sympathy for a convicted mass murderer. Certainly many also will not but, at the end of the day, all readers will realize that Picoult's amazing ability to present an issue from a wide variety of perspectives without herself being judgmental will at least give readers an understanding as to how such a horrific tragedy might come to pass!
Many potential readers may have heard the criticism of the endings of Picoult's novels. Somewhat out of character and different in flavour than the entire novel that led up to it, the ending for Nineteen Minutes is certainly not exempt from this criticism. While it is somewhat Hollywood in nature, it provides a twist ending that will snap the reader's eyelids wide open. Maybe it was a little too pat, maybe it wasn't ... but at the very least, it will provide a whole new layer of provocative thought that will keep the reader puzzling over the issues that Picoult raises for a long, long time after the last page closes.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Peter Houghton would hardly be considered a typical seventeen year old teenager. Because one morning, he loaded his backpack with four guns, went to school and killed nine students and a teacher. Jodi Picoult's enthralling best-selling novel Nineteen Minutes, titled to portray the astonishingly brief period of time that Houghton took to complete his brutal spree, examines the genesis of that event and the people affected by it from every conceivable perspective - families, victims, survivors, witnesses, parents, friends, police and the law.
Picoult expertly examines a myriad of issues - teenage angst; "in" crowds; drug use; bullying; teen sexuality; peer pressure; privacy; parenting - and creates a gripping fictionalized version of a tragic event that no thinking reader could possibly put down. At the end of this astonishing tale, many readers will actually feel sympathy for a convicted mass murderer. Certainly many also will not but, at the end of the day, all readers will realize that Picoult's amazing ability to present an issue from a wide variety of perspectives without herself being judgmental will at least give readers an understanding as to how such a horrific tragedy might come to pass!
Many potential readers may have heard the criticism of the endings of Picoult's novels. Somewhat out of character and different in flavour than the entire novel that led up to it, the ending for Nineteen Minutes is certainly not exempt from this criticism. While it is somewhat Hollywood in nature, it provides a twist ending that will snap the reader's eyelids wide open. Maybe it was a little too pat, maybe it wasn't ... but at the very least, it will provide a whole new layer of provocative thought that will keep the reader puzzling over the issues that Picoult raises for a long, long time after the last page closes.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
July 4, 2018
3.5 Stars
The oldest book on my TBR is finally complete!! My sophomore year of high school, a classmate of mine gave a presentation on this book saying it was her favorite of all time, and ever since then I've been interested in what she loved so much about it. Books about school shootings have always intrigued me, but they're especially relevant today. I'm glad I read this book after I read A Mother's Reckoning because that gave such an insight to being in the critical spotlight as the mother of a school shooter and a lot of Sue's experiences were echoed in this book.
My lasting impression of this book rests on two things:
1. It reads kind of like an episode of law and order--just a little bit too cookie cutter and predictable in a way that reminds you that what you're reading/watching is fictional.
2. This book is now a bit dated. This shooting in the book occurred in 2007, and the media and technology have evolved so much now that parts of this felt antiquated.
This was still worth the read after owning it for 4+ years, but I can't say it's one of my new favorites.
The oldest book on my TBR is finally complete!! My sophomore year of high school, a classmate of mine gave a presentation on this book saying it was her favorite of all time, and ever since then I've been interested in what she loved so much about it. Books about school shootings have always intrigued me, but they're especially relevant today. I'm glad I read this book after I read A Mother's Reckoning because that gave such an insight to being in the critical spotlight as the mother of a school shooter and a lot of Sue's experiences were echoed in this book.
My lasting impression of this book rests on two things:
1. It reads kind of like an episode of law and order--just a little bit too cookie cutter and predictable in a way that reminds you that what you're reading/watching is fictional.
2. This book is now a bit dated. This shooting in the book occurred in 2007, and the media and technology have evolved so much now that parts of this felt antiquated.
This was still worth the read after owning it for 4+ years, but I can't say it's one of my new favorites.
August 21, 2013
The only other Picoult book I read was My Sister's Keeper, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Nineteen Minutes is a favorite among most people, so I had this one slated to read whenever I wanted a quick summer read.
For the last 100 or so pages, I could hardly put it down. Her formula for keeping the reader engaged works very well.
But I had some issues with this book that annoyed the hell out of me. Firstly, I have never come across so many stupid and needless analogies. Or are they similes? Whatever...
Here are a few:
This is from a funeral scene:
Loud, noisy sobs - the kind that splattered against the walls of the church like paint.
I wonder how long it took her to think that one up.
Or this one:
If you were uncertain in the decisions you made as a father, could you patch over your insecurities with the confidence you had as a professional? Or would the fix always be flimsy, a paper wall that couldn't bear weight?
Or this Picasso:
Bruises bloomed on her skin where he held her fast, as if she were a canvas and he was determined to leave his mark.
How about this gem?
and the way the stars were pricking at her skin, like inoculations for a terminal disease
I could go on and on, but I'll stop with one more:
In the upper right-hand corner were the lunch ladies, slopping food onto plastic trays as students came through the line one by one, like drops through an intravenous tube.
Yes! Exactly like that!
Ugh. You know, for the most part, this was a pretty solid read, formula-wise. But every time I came upon one of these ridiculous analogies, it took me out of the story and I'd think, why the hell was that needed??
Okay, Let's do one more for the description of Alex's eyes:
Hers were the pale gray that made you think of nightfall and silver bullets and the edge of winter.
O-Kaay.
This is a writer that is trying way too hard.
Furthermore:
Alright, so that's it for Jodi Picoult. See ya...
For the last 100 or so pages, I could hardly put it down. Her formula for keeping the reader engaged works very well.
But I had some issues with this book that annoyed the hell out of me. Firstly, I have never come across so many stupid and needless analogies. Or are they similes? Whatever...
Here are a few:
This is from a funeral scene:
Loud, noisy sobs - the kind that splattered against the walls of the church like paint.
I wonder how long it took her to think that one up.
Or this one:
If you were uncertain in the decisions you made as a father, could you patch over your insecurities with the confidence you had as a professional? Or would the fix always be flimsy, a paper wall that couldn't bear weight?
Or this Picasso:
Bruises bloomed on her skin where he held her fast, as if she were a canvas and he was determined to leave his mark.
How about this gem?
and the way the stars were pricking at her skin, like inoculations for a terminal disease
I could go on and on, but I'll stop with one more:
In the upper right-hand corner were the lunch ladies, slopping food onto plastic trays as students came through the line one by one, like drops through an intravenous tube.
Yes! Exactly like that!
Ugh. You know, for the most part, this was a pretty solid read, formula-wise. But every time I came upon one of these ridiculous analogies, it took me out of the story and I'd think, why the hell was that needed??
Okay, Let's do one more for the description of Alex's eyes:
Hers were the pale gray that made you think of nightfall and silver bullets and the edge of winter.
O-Kaay.
This is a writer that is trying way too hard.
Furthermore:
Alright, so that's it for Jodi Picoult. See ya...
August 24, 2019
Read this years ago — gripping towards the end!!! I thought it was very engaging - disturbing- honest - and the situations of how things unraveled were thought provoking
Still remember it....
Not sure why I never wrote a review-
But I was inspired by having just read a review by KAS who recently read it.
We are NEVER LATE TO READ A BOOK ....
older books are rock!!!!
often better than recent books!
Dedicated to KAS ...
Enjoyed her reaction to this book - her NOT being late to the party!!!
The story has stayed with me all these years!
Still remember it....
Not sure why I never wrote a review-
But I was inspired by having just read a review by KAS who recently read it.
We are NEVER LATE TO READ A BOOK ....
older books are rock!!!!
often better than recent books!
Dedicated to KAS ...
Enjoyed her reaction to this book - her NOT being late to the party!!!
The story has stayed with me all these years!
April 12, 2024
Catching up…
I am obviously on a Jodi Picoult read and re-visit phase of getting my reviews to Goodreads. I remember our Library book discussion group loved her, and so we discussed her books a lot. And, because she always had such compelling themes to her stories, one of her books was usually easy to select for a discussion.
With this story, published in 2007, and me re-visiting it in 2024, it almost felt like as a generation, we aren’t learning anything. We just keep repeating history.
Nineteen minutes makes reference to the duration of a high-school shooting rampage perpetrated by a teenager named Peter. Picoult’s intention is to tell this story in healing mode, emphasizing the slights, taunts and oversights that brought Peter to this point – that would create these devastating 19 minutes.
How did Peter begin? Was it his home life? Was it his first day of kindergarten? Was it him being a bullied kid? Was he a victim of his circumstances?
As readers are we led to be compassionate towards Peter? More understanding to his breakdown? His pain?
What about the victims of the shooting?
As a writer, Picoult is articulate. She is clear. She is a soap-opera with twists but providing a thoughtful closure. How else are we to interpret the book cover of hands being held?
There are so many ways of looking at this story, that readers become judge and jury. Will we be sympathetic overall? There is so much to feel here.
I am obviously on a Jodi Picoult read and re-visit phase of getting my reviews to Goodreads. I remember our Library book discussion group loved her, and so we discussed her books a lot. And, because she always had such compelling themes to her stories, one of her books was usually easy to select for a discussion.
With this story, published in 2007, and me re-visiting it in 2024, it almost felt like as a generation, we aren’t learning anything. We just keep repeating history.
Nineteen minutes makes reference to the duration of a high-school shooting rampage perpetrated by a teenager named Peter. Picoult’s intention is to tell this story in healing mode, emphasizing the slights, taunts and oversights that brought Peter to this point – that would create these devastating 19 minutes.
How did Peter begin? Was it his home life? Was it his first day of kindergarten? Was it him being a bullied kid? Was he a victim of his circumstances?
As readers are we led to be compassionate towards Peter? More understanding to his breakdown? His pain?
What about the victims of the shooting?
As a writer, Picoult is articulate. She is clear. She is a soap-opera with twists but providing a thoughtful closure. How else are we to interpret the book cover of hands being held?
There are so many ways of looking at this story, that readers become judge and jury. Will we be sympathetic overall? There is so much to feel here.
August 28, 2016
This is a powerful read. After an act of violence is perpetuated at the local high school, those 19 minutes change a New Hampshire town forever. The writing is riveting and poignant. We are reading about the events leading up to the climax. The history of the individuals involved. Their mindset. It's a lot to take in. Especially because the good aren't all good and the bad aren't all bad. I think as readers, it puts us in a unique and introspective position as we are not shown only the parts that are convenient. The big picture isn't simple either. It's messy. It's emotional. It's heartbreaking. There are no winners. It makes you think about the signs you are possibly not seeing. The things you are saying or not saying for that matter. It makes you think about things done to you or things you may have done to others. Although I predicted some of what turned out to be the twist in the story, I found myself utterly drawn in by the story. The characters were dynamic and complex. Layered very well. The plot dealt with a sensitive situation gracefully not taking short cuts and offering a well rounded perspective. The writing was just stellar. An absolute win. Safety: There is abuse and sex that doesn't always appear to be consensual. There is a lot of physical violence.
June 17, 2009
This is what I have come to understand about Jodi Picoult. She takes a controversial or emotionally-charged topic. School shootings. Childhood leukemia. Amish people. Then she centers that topic around terribly cliched characters and cranks the schmaltz meter to 11. The novels alternate between characters' points of view so quickly that Picoult rivals most TV news stations in offering endless shallow ten-second bits of information. Each little section, offered at a rate that would overwhelm even the worst case of ADHD, ends with a cutesy phrase that is a thin attempt at instilling a flimsy motif. Then, near the end of the book, there's a surprise twist that I can only guess is meant to titillate the unsuspecting reader in the midst of their mindless revelry of such crappy writing. Of course, that little plot twist is so ridiculous, at least when offered at the rate that Picoult spews them up for the delight of her idiotic claque of bovine "readers," that any central issue that once may have been considered almost sacrosanct is reduced to senseless drivel that makes for easy ridicule, as evidenced above.
School shootings or bullying are topics that should not be mismanaged to the point of hilarity, and they certainly shouldn't be used by hack writers cashing in on the public's worst fears to make a few (thousand) bucks. Either that's the case here, or Picoult is just a terrible writer.
School shootings or bullying are topics that should not be mismanaged to the point of hilarity, and they certainly shouldn't be used by hack writers cashing in on the public's worst fears to make a few (thousand) bucks. Either that's the case here, or Picoult is just a terrible writer.
November 20, 2023
Has it ever happened that you have been spellbound by a book, only to be terribly let down by its ending? I took up this Jodi Picoult with a lot of expectations, and of the almost 600 pages, I really enjoyed the first 570! Not a bit of reduction in pace and an optimum interest level maintained by the parallel past-present storyline. But the last chapter seemed in such a hurry to bring everything to a satisfactory close! It was like an art film had turned into a Bollywood potboiler. I mean, there are PLOT twists, and there are plot TWISTS! This was definitely in the second category. Anyone else who has read this and shared a similar feeling? I am still making up my mind about what rating to give the book.
PS: This is the second time this is happening to me with a Jodi Picoult book, the first being the popular "My Sister's Keeper".
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Join me on the Facebook group, " Readers Forever! ", for more reviews and other book-related discussions and fun.
PS: This is the second time this is happening to me with a Jodi Picoult book, the first being the popular "My Sister's Keeper".
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Join me on the Facebook group, " Readers Forever! ", for more reviews and other book-related discussions and fun.
February 21, 2009
I tend to rate books by how much they make me think, how much they make me feel, and how much they draw me into their world. With an almost obsessive interest in Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Nineteen Minutes gets high marks from me. The book starts with the scene of a school shooting where you feel a disgust for the kid doing the shooting and sorrow for the victims but as you glean settings from flashbacks you come to sympathize with everyone in the book as a victim, each experiencing loss of different degrees. I can almost exactly correlate my feelings with the timeline of Columbine grief. In that sense the raw emotions were very real. But in the exaggerated small outcast boy, the popular snotty girls, the stupid cruel jocks, the overprotective parents, and all the other stereotypes I found myself resisting relating to the characters. Sometimes it felt very real, but occasionally it felt like statistics (especially with the random foreign last names).
As your emotions are pulled to sympathize with one person then the next, you're left with the questions of who to blame, who to feel sorry for in the wake of a tragedy. For me I have a natural tendency to defend the underdog, to want to understand what put the perpetrator over the edge, while still reserving a small amount of accountability for them. It was obvious that Picoult seems to share the same allegiance to the bullied, but I would have liked to hear a little more about the stories of those who were shot and understand their motivations. I wanted to feel just as ashamed and saddened for them instead of focusing on aligning emotions with the ones the newscasters want to blame. I enjoyed the forum of different voices in the stories, but where were the voices of the victims who were also causes? Why does somebody bully? Tell their story too. I wish Picoult had put me just as much inside the head of the bulliers as the bulliee to optimize the circle of tragedy.
I kept thinking about those people we all knew and know on the fringe of high school society whom you just hold your breath for in hopes that they make it through without disaster. Some people you just don't know will survive high school. Any lethal combination of triggers could have just as easily brewed a tragedy at any high school. When tragedy does occur, it's human tendency to want to find the triggers and signs that could have made it avoidable, but can anyone really say what is too much for anyone to handle? It makes you wish everyone could live high school with the empathy and understanding we receive later in life, or at least a glimpse of how we will someday overcome it.
As your emotions are pulled to sympathize with one person then the next, you're left with the questions of who to blame, who to feel sorry for in the wake of a tragedy. For me I have a natural tendency to defend the underdog, to want to understand what put the perpetrator over the edge, while still reserving a small amount of accountability for them. It was obvious that Picoult seems to share the same allegiance to the bullied, but I would have liked to hear a little more about the stories of those who were shot and understand their motivations. I wanted to feel just as ashamed and saddened for them instead of focusing on aligning emotions with the ones the newscasters want to blame. I enjoyed the forum of different voices in the stories, but where were the voices of the victims who were also causes? Why does somebody bully? Tell their story too. I wish Picoult had put me just as much inside the head of the bulliers as the bulliee to optimize the circle of tragedy.
I kept thinking about those people we all knew and know on the fringe of high school society whom you just hold your breath for in hopes that they make it through without disaster. Some people you just don't know will survive high school. Any lethal combination of triggers could have just as easily brewed a tragedy at any high school. When tragedy does occur, it's human tendency to want to find the triggers and signs that could have made it avoidable, but can anyone really say what is too much for anyone to handle? It makes you wish everyone could live high school with the empathy and understanding we receive later in life, or at least a glimpse of how we will someday overcome it.
October 12, 2019
Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult
The story begins on March 6, 2007 in the small town of Sterling, New Hampshire, tracking the lives of a number of characters on an "ordinary day." The characters include Alex Cormier, a superior court judge; her daughter Josie, a junior in high school; Lacy, Lewis, and Peter Houghton; Detective Patrick Ducharme; and several victims-to-be. At the local high school, Sterling High, the story follows a routine day of students in classes, at the gym, and in the cafeteria. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard from the parking lot, which turns out to be a bomb set off in Matt Royston's car. As the students are distracted by the noise, gunshots are fired. When Patrick, the only detective on the Sterling police force, arrives at Sterling High, he searches the school to seek out the gunman, who is alleged to be a student. After passing several dead and wounded victims, Patrick traps and arrests the shooter, Peter Houghton, in the locker room, where he finds two students, Josie Cormier and Matt Royston, lying on the floor surrounded in blood. While Matt is dead, having been the only victim shot twice, Josie is not seriously injured, but only shocked: she cannot remember what happened. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش نسخه اصلی: روز دوازدهم ماه اکتبر سال 2017 میلادی
عنوان: نوزده دقیقه؛ نویسنده: جودی پیکلت؛ مترجم: کتایون ناصح؛ تهران: کتاب کولهپشتی، 1394؛ در 420 ص؛ شابک: 9786007642641؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21 م
داستان از روز ششم ماه مارس سال 2007 میلادی در شهر کوچک استرلینگ در نیوهمپشایر آغاز میشود ، دانش آموزان در کلاسها ، سالن بدن سازی و کافه تریا هستند. ناگهان صدای بلندید از پارکینگ شنیده میشود ...؛ ا. شربیانی
The story begins on March 6, 2007 in the small town of Sterling, New Hampshire, tracking the lives of a number of characters on an "ordinary day." The characters include Alex Cormier, a superior court judge; her daughter Josie, a junior in high school; Lacy, Lewis, and Peter Houghton; Detective Patrick Ducharme; and several victims-to-be. At the local high school, Sterling High, the story follows a routine day of students in classes, at the gym, and in the cafeteria. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard from the parking lot, which turns out to be a bomb set off in Matt Royston's car. As the students are distracted by the noise, gunshots are fired. When Patrick, the only detective on the Sterling police force, arrives at Sterling High, he searches the school to seek out the gunman, who is alleged to be a student. After passing several dead and wounded victims, Patrick traps and arrests the shooter, Peter Houghton, in the locker room, where he finds two students, Josie Cormier and Matt Royston, lying on the floor surrounded in blood. While Matt is dead, having been the only victim shot twice, Josie is not seriously injured, but only shocked: she cannot remember what happened. ...
تاریخ نخستین خوانش نسخه اصلی: روز دوازدهم ماه اکتبر سال 2017 میلادی
عنوان: نوزده دقیقه؛ نویسنده: جودی پیکلت؛ مترجم: کتایون ناصح؛ تهران: کتاب کولهپشتی، 1394؛ در 420 ص؛ شابک: 9786007642641؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21 م
داستان از روز ششم ماه مارس سال 2007 میلادی در شهر کوچک استرلینگ در نیوهمپشایر آغاز میشود ، دانش آموزان در کلاسها ، سالن بدن سازی و کافه تریا هستند. ناگهان صدای بلندید از پارکینگ شنیده میشود ...؛ ا. شربیانی
August 14, 2016
A minha opinião em vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlicM...
Simplesmente adorei este livro.
Toda a história à volta do bullying e do massacre que aconteceu na escola, o desenvolvimento e depoimento das personagens, a maneira que está contado...perfeito.
Mais um excelente livro da Jodi Picoult.
Simplesmente adorei este livro.
Toda a história à volta do bullying e do massacre que aconteceu na escola, o desenvolvimento e depoimento das personagens, a maneira que está contado...perfeito.
Mais um excelente livro da Jodi Picoult.
April 1, 2011
I can't stop loving this book, if you guys only have the chance to read this. Sometimes I find her works destructing, annoying and a good sleeping pill for those people who suffer from insomnia. I might be too judgmental but swear, you can take my words after reading her earlier works. This time Picoult wanted to portray a community, a school, where innocent students were bullied by the jocks. The reality of a typical American school environment for students who suffer to stand out in the crowd and to those people who feed in to gain their desires.
In a small town of New Hampshire, Sterling, the people were shattered by an act of violence. A violence that no one expected, a massacre that kills ten students and injured nine. The unforgettable event that widen the understanding of every witness that touches and experience such violent event. From the eye of a seventeen year old boy, Peter Houghton, the act of killing is just the beginning of everything and the act of killing himself to free from his past.
Josie Cormier, lying in a blood bath, nobody knows if she was dead or alive but the simple glitch of her body she was discovered to be the only survivor who never injured totally. She can be the witness of the killing, but the down side is, can she ever remember what happened? Besides her, two shots found in the body of the most popular jock and Josie's boyfriend, Matt Royston, no pulse, blood flows and dead on the spot.
For the eyes of the two mother, Lacy and Alex, both were good mothers, they tried to be with their son and daughter and their friendship that they thought will last long. How can they even manage the situation when they needed each other again for so long? Sometimes, being a good mother takes a lot of sacrifice for the safety of others.
I really liked Jodi's concept of applying bullying on one of her books, this one affected me so much. Not because I bullied others, it is because I've been bullied ones. School is a place where most of the students thought that can protect them or us, but this time, a school can only be as dangerous as what Peter thought. A place where bullies, jocks, queens and the cheerios lived and reign.
Nowadays, computer games, social networking or the online life itself can be a tool to gain freedom from the outside world. Some people talk much online or just being friendly to others but personally they are just puppet of the real world. This place is just a place were outsiders come and a place where people thought they are safety. But online, can be a tool to bullying - cyber bullying. You don't know their are people who are talking at your back, trying to send private messages, hiding their faces or they wanted you to be like them. There is no age limit and everyone can do such little creepy crime. When you discovered it, you'll realize their is no such place as safe. For Peter and the other people who read the book, it will be a lesson to us.
The medical (psychology) and law factor of this book, indeed a great success form her other books. It has a stronger structure than her past novels except Plain Truth which also have the same strong medical and law factor plus she also included great conflict between two cultures. How can she manage to write such book, pact with exciting events? I don't know, maybe she extended her research not only the part of the bullied but also the effect of the simple crime to a child plus her experience.
How many people died everyday? How many kids suffering from bullying? How many lives do we need to destroy? or How many kids died of bullying? Wish this book will be a great inspiration to everyone. Everyone have their own role in the society.
Rating - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, 5 Sweets and the ugly bullies! (What to do with bullies? Keep them alive? I don't know. Flagged them? Blocked them? I don't know. I think they are just trying to bully you to sustain their popularity or they are just wanted attention from others. Attention seeker! Or they are just wanted you to be like them. Anyway, I don't know maybe we just leave them alone.)
Challenges:
Book #53 for 2011
Book #6 for Jodi Picoult Reading Challenge 2011
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can back scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold for family of five... In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.
In a small town of New Hampshire, Sterling, the people were shattered by an act of violence. A violence that no one expected, a massacre that kills ten students and injured nine. The unforgettable event that widen the understanding of every witness that touches and experience such violent event. From the eye of a seventeen year old boy, Peter Houghton, the act of killing is just the beginning of everything and the act of killing himself to free from his past.
Josie Cormier, lying in a blood bath, nobody knows if she was dead or alive but the simple glitch of her body she was discovered to be the only survivor who never injured totally. She can be the witness of the killing, but the down side is, can she ever remember what happened? Besides her, two shots found in the body of the most popular jock and Josie's boyfriend, Matt Royston, no pulse, blood flows and dead on the spot.
For the eyes of the two mother, Lacy and Alex, both were good mothers, they tried to be with their son and daughter and their friendship that they thought will last long. How can they even manage the situation when they needed each other again for so long? Sometimes, being a good mother takes a lot of sacrifice for the safety of others.
I really liked Jodi's concept of applying bullying on one of her books, this one affected me so much. Not because I bullied others, it is because I've been bullied ones. School is a place where most of the students thought that can protect them or us, but this time, a school can only be as dangerous as what Peter thought. A place where bullies, jocks, queens and the cheerios lived and reign.
Nowadays, computer games, social networking or the online life itself can be a tool to gain freedom from the outside world. Some people talk much online or just being friendly to others but personally they are just puppet of the real world. This place is just a place were outsiders come and a place where people thought they are safety. But online, can be a tool to bullying - cyber bullying. You don't know their are people who are talking at your back, trying to send private messages, hiding their faces or they wanted you to be like them. There is no age limit and everyone can do such little creepy crime. When you discovered it, you'll realize their is no such place as safe. For Peter and the other people who read the book, it will be a lesson to us.
The medical (psychology) and law factor of this book, indeed a great success form her other books. It has a stronger structure than her past novels except Plain Truth which also have the same strong medical and law factor plus she also included great conflict between two cultures. How can she manage to write such book, pact with exciting events? I don't know, maybe she extended her research not only the part of the bullied but also the effect of the simple crime to a child plus her experience.
How many people died everyday? How many kids suffering from bullying? How many lives do we need to destroy? or How many kids died of bullying? Wish this book will be a great inspiration to everyone. Everyone have their own role in the society.
The bully, the bullied, and the bystander are three characters in a tragic play performed daily in our homes, schools, playgrounds and streets. - The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander Barbara Coloroso
Rating - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, 5 Sweets and the ugly bullies! (What to do with bullies? Keep them alive? I don't know. Flagged them? Blocked them? I don't know. I think they are just trying to bully you to sustain their popularity or they are just wanted attention from others. Attention seeker! Or they are just wanted you to be like them. Anyway, I don't know maybe we just leave them alone.)
Challenges:
Book #53 for 2011
Book #6 for Jodi Picoult Reading Challenge 2011
April 5, 2023
From the blurb: “Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.”
After reading Mad Honey, my first book by this author (although it was written with the collaboration of another author, Finney Boilan), I realized that I was missing a terrific storyteller.
So here I am, finished reading my 6th book by this author.
I wasn’t planning on reading a Picoult’s book anytime soon, but I was at the public library and found this book sitting on the shelf and what I noticed immediately was that the cover (a turned over desk table and a chair) was not the standard cover associated with this author’s books, you know, the ones with a couple holding hands or a child playing, those covers that suggested the book belongs to the romance genre section, a genre that I do not read (yes, I do judge a book by its cover), and I started flipping the pages and became completely enthralled, so I had to take it with me.
This is a remarkable work of fiction.
The storyline and the development of the characters was terrific!
And I absolutely loved the dynamic between the characters.
The story is quite heartbreaking and it did bring me memories from my childhood and teen years, when I was constantly bullied.
I found everything believable and the courtroom drama was well done. How riveting!
But I confess that I wasn’t a fan of the conclusion, although acceptable. Regardless, I still think that this book deserves my 5 stars ratings, as I was completely hooked and didn’t want to stop reading.
I think that I will be reading this book very soon, as I want to make sure that I did not miss anything.
Hardcover (published 2007): 464 pages (15-16 hours)
e-book (Kobo): 694 pages (default), 188k words
Audiobook Narrated by Carol Monda: 21.1 hours (normal speed)
After reading Mad Honey, my first book by this author (although it was written with the collaboration of another author, Finney Boilan), I realized that I was missing a terrific storyteller.
So here I am, finished reading my 6th book by this author.
I wasn’t planning on reading a Picoult’s book anytime soon, but I was at the public library and found this book sitting on the shelf and what I noticed immediately was that the cover (a turned over desk table and a chair) was not the standard cover associated with this author’s books, you know, the ones with a couple holding hands or a child playing, those covers that suggested the book belongs to the romance genre section, a genre that I do not read (yes, I do judge a book by its cover), and I started flipping the pages and became completely enthralled, so I had to take it with me.
This is a remarkable work of fiction.
The storyline and the development of the characters was terrific!
And I absolutely loved the dynamic between the characters.
The story is quite heartbreaking and it did bring me memories from my childhood and teen years, when I was constantly bullied.
I found everything believable and the courtroom drama was well done. How riveting!
But I confess that I wasn’t a fan of the conclusion, although acceptable. Regardless, I still think that this book deserves my 5 stars ratings, as I was completely hooked and didn’t want to stop reading.
I think that I will be reading this book very soon, as I want to make sure that I did not miss anything.
Hardcover (published 2007): 464 pages (15-16 hours)
e-book (Kobo): 694 pages (default), 188k words
Audiobook Narrated by Carol Monda: 21.1 hours (normal speed)
December 12, 2021
Ein ganz klares Jahreshighlight und das spürte ich schon nach den ersten Minuten/der ersten Stunde.
Jodi Picoult schafft es mich nach nur kurzer Zeit zu fesseln und dass mir bei einem Hörbuch das erste Mal tatsächlich die Tränen kamen. Nachdem wir direkt zu Beginn den Amoklauf von Peter an seiner Highschool mitbekommen, springen wir zwischen der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart hin und her, um die gesamte Geschichte aus mehreren Sichten beleuchtet zu bekommen.
Peter selbst, seinen Mitschülern, dem ermittelnden Polizistin, die Familienangehörigen, der Staatsanwalt. Viele Personen, die man aber trotzdem sehr gut auseinander halten kann. Alle sind wahnsinnig authentisch und realistisch gezeichnet, dass ich nicht einmal das Gefühl hatte, diese Geschichte könnte nicht genau so passiert sein.
Sehr bewegend wie die Autorin es schafft ohne selbst zu werten, so viele Perspektiven aufzuzeigen und den Lesenden in seiner eigenen Meinung wie ein PingPong immer hin und her zu werfen.
Sehr bewegend und ein super wichtiges Buch. Ich würde mir wünschen, dass es zur Schullektüre gehört! Denn es zeigt ganz wunderbar auf, dass unsere Handlungen und Aussagen etwas bei anderen Bewirken kann. Und das nicht immer nur positiv :/
Und auch wenn ich einen großen Plotttwist schnell vorhergesehen habe, war das überhaupt nicht schlimm, denn dieses Buch ist auf keiner Seite bzw. in keiner Minute langweilig und ich konnte immer nur schwer aufhören weiterzuhören.
Die Sprecherin Gergana Muskalla ist grandios und vertont die Geschichte fantastisch gut!
Jodi Picoult schafft es mich nach nur kurzer Zeit zu fesseln und dass mir bei einem Hörbuch das erste Mal tatsächlich die Tränen kamen. Nachdem wir direkt zu Beginn den Amoklauf von Peter an seiner Highschool mitbekommen, springen wir zwischen der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart hin und her, um die gesamte Geschichte aus mehreren Sichten beleuchtet zu bekommen.
Peter selbst, seinen Mitschülern, dem ermittelnden Polizistin, die Familienangehörigen, der Staatsanwalt. Viele Personen, die man aber trotzdem sehr gut auseinander halten kann. Alle sind wahnsinnig authentisch und realistisch gezeichnet, dass ich nicht einmal das Gefühl hatte, diese Geschichte könnte nicht genau so passiert sein.
Sehr bewegend wie die Autorin es schafft ohne selbst zu werten, so viele Perspektiven aufzuzeigen und den Lesenden in seiner eigenen Meinung wie ein PingPong immer hin und her zu werfen.
Sehr bewegend und ein super wichtiges Buch. Ich würde mir wünschen, dass es zur Schullektüre gehört! Denn es zeigt ganz wunderbar auf, dass unsere Handlungen und Aussagen etwas bei anderen Bewirken kann. Und das nicht immer nur positiv :/
Und auch wenn ich einen großen Plotttwist schnell vorhergesehen habe, war das überhaupt nicht schlimm, denn dieses Buch ist auf keiner Seite bzw. in keiner Minute langweilig und ich konnte immer nur schwer aufhören weiterzuhören.
Die Sprecherin Gergana Muskalla ist grandios und vertont die Geschichte fantastisch gut!
May 21, 2020
This was such a difficult novel to read.
I'd never been bullied in school, or maybe I had been and I just never noticed. I was a straight A's student with no social life outside the classroom and whose idea of fun consisted of staying up all night reading a vampire fantasy. I suppose I felt proud of myself and so any criticism went by mostly unnoticed.
That's probably why it was so shocking and appalling to realise that some people suffer the way Peter did, and that the perpetrators usually get away with it.
This was my first Jodi Picoult novel, and it won't be the last. The writing was smooth; several passages struck me as poignant and memorable. The characters were each unique and reaslitically portrayed; however, I couldn't get attached to any of them, except maybe Jordan and Selena. Diversity-wise this book does a very good job. Moreover, I greatly enjoyed the various discussions on gender expectations and sexual identity, as well as domestic violence, gun control, and mental illness.
That being said, Josie's character was beyond irritating. I get that she is only a teenager and obviously not expected to make all the right decisions, but her interactions with Peter and her relationship with that asshole Matt -I'm glad he's dead, as awful as that may sound- made me want to throw the book into the nearest trash can. She was always whining about something or crying or telling herself that she had no other choice, which is definitely not true. I was actually glad whenever Alex did not live up to her expectations, and when things started getting better for Josie I was intensely displeased. I'd liked Alex up to the point when she decided to put her daughter first, not because that's fundamentally wrong but because Josie did not deserve it.
-Rant over-
The other thing that threw me off was the pace, which started lagging somewhere around the middle of the book and remained turtle slow until the last 40 pages or so. I was really praying for an earth-shattering plot twist to make up for this agonizing wait but sadly, no such thing happened. The final reveal was something I'd expected all along and which anyone with half a brain could have seen coming a mile away.
Overall, I think this is a book worth reading. The message is powerful, both through its content and its way of delivery. How humans behave under pressure (whether internal or external) was masterfully handled. Even Josie's infuriating personality seemed rather authentic. The struggle of Lacy and Lewis and how people treated them afterwards was heartbreaking, and Joey's unperceived cruelty towards his own brother was simply hideous. These and so many other small details serve to make Nineteen Minutes a horrific yet necessary read.
So despite any reservations I may have, I think it deserves 4 stars.
"They started it."
I'd never been bullied in school, or maybe I had been and I just never noticed. I was a straight A's student with no social life outside the classroom and whose idea of fun consisted of staying up all night reading a vampire fantasy. I suppose I felt proud of myself and so any criticism went by mostly unnoticed.
That's probably why it was so shocking and appalling to realise that some people suffer the way Peter did, and that the perpetrators usually get away with it.
“When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself. - A Chinese proverb”
This was my first Jodi Picoult novel, and it won't be the last. The writing was smooth; several passages struck me as poignant and memorable. The characters were each unique and reaslitically portrayed; however, I couldn't get attached to any of them, except maybe Jordan and Selena. Diversity-wise this book does a very good job. Moreover, I greatly enjoyed the various discussions on gender expectations and sexual identity, as well as domestic violence, gun control, and mental illness.
That being said, Josie's character was beyond irritating. I get that she is only a teenager and obviously not expected to make all the right decisions, but her interactions with Peter and her relationship with that asshole Matt -I'm glad he's dead, as awful as that may sound- made me want to throw the book into the nearest trash can. She was always whining about something or crying or telling herself that she had no other choice, which is definitely not true. I was actually glad whenever Alex did not live up to her expectations, and when things started getting better for Josie I was intensely displeased. I'd liked Alex up to the point when she decided to put her daughter first, not because that's fundamentally wrong but because Josie did not deserve it.
-Rant over-
The other thing that threw me off was the pace, which started lagging somewhere around the middle of the book and remained turtle slow until the last 40 pages or so. I was really praying for an earth-shattering plot twist to make up for this agonizing wait but sadly, no such thing happened. The final reveal was something I'd expected all along and which anyone with half a brain could have seen coming a mile away.
Overall, I think this is a book worth reading. The message is powerful, both through its content and its way of delivery. How humans behave under pressure (whether internal or external) was masterfully handled. Even Josie's infuriating personality seemed rather authentic. The struggle of Lacy and Lewis and how people treated them afterwards was heartbreaking, and Joey's unperceived cruelty towards his own brother was simply hideous. These and so many other small details serve to make Nineteen Minutes a horrific yet necessary read.
So despite any reservations I may have, I think it deserves 4 stars.
"They started it."
January 10, 2018
This was an incredible book! I was so engrossed in it and the ending..Oh my! I absolutely find this book devastating and fascinating. This is easily my new favorite Jodi Picoult book. It is sad and eye opening on the truth and expanse of bullying. Once again Picoult weaves in a story of more controversial topics and slays it.
My quick and simple overall: sad but it is incredibly interesting to read. Fantastic story that touches the reader.
My quick and simple overall: sad but it is incredibly interesting to read. Fantastic story that touches the reader.
December 27, 2018
I picked this up not reading the synopsis and thought it was a book about teen pregnancy. I have liked some of Jodi Picoult's books and felt weary about investing time in a 400+ book. As I started it it was startling to discover it is a book about a high school shooting. The story goes back and forth, sometimes I lost track of where I was but kept reading. The story centers around the mothers of the main characters and the kids involved.
Peter is an outsider, a loser, a nerd, a cast off picked on since Kindergarten. Josie, his first best friend changes crowds and doesn't defend him even as he gets bullied by her friends.
I didn't like Peter at all the whole story but couldn't help feeling so sad for him. No one listened or did anything to help him even the adults that are supposed to be there to intervene and investigate. He felt he had to do something outrageous to send his message. As the trial went on he did get creepy and I'd go back and forth about what I felt about him. Josie has no backbone. Being popular meant more to her than being a decent human being. Her story also involves physical abuse...
The story flowed nicely and it makes one think about their own kids... what didn't I see? Could I have stopped it? Did I create this monster?
"When you look into your baby's eyes," Lacy said softly, "you see everything you hope they can be.... not everything you wish they won't become." This to me hit hard, as a mother... could I ever stop loving my kid?
It is definitely an emotional story that I think applies to what's going on today in schools and mental illness added on top of that. It shouldn't be normal that schools ignore bullying and then you are forced to homeschool. It shouldn't be normal to get easy access to 2 handguns and 3 rifles. I know that part is controversial.. It was a heartbreaking story.
Peter is an outsider, a loser, a nerd, a cast off picked on since Kindergarten. Josie, his first best friend changes crowds and doesn't defend him even as he gets bullied by her friends.
I didn't like Peter at all the whole story but couldn't help feeling so sad for him. No one listened or did anything to help him even the adults that are supposed to be there to intervene and investigate. He felt he had to do something outrageous to send his message. As the trial went on he did get creepy and I'd go back and forth about what I felt about him. Josie has no backbone. Being popular meant more to her than being a decent human being. Her story also involves physical abuse...
The story flowed nicely and it makes one think about their own kids... what didn't I see? Could I have stopped it? Did I create this monster?
"When you look into your baby's eyes," Lacy said softly, "you see everything you hope they can be.... not everything you wish they won't become." This to me hit hard, as a mother... could I ever stop loving my kid?
It is definitely an emotional story that I think applies to what's going on today in schools and mental illness added on top of that. It shouldn't be normal that schools ignore bullying and then you are forced to homeschool. It shouldn't be normal to get easy access to 2 handguns and 3 rifles. I know that part is controversial.. It was a heartbreaking story.
June 10, 2016
This was my first Piccoult novel. I really liked it. Reflecting on this has made me think I need to re visit some more of her writing. This I look forward to. Sometimes I need a reminder.
August 23, 2015
Wow! This book really makes you think!! I suggest it to everyone!
November 18, 2021
the thing about jodi picoult is she always manages to write breathtaking, captivating novels that make you feel.
at the beginning of the book, you think you’ve got it all figured out. you know who the victims are, and you know who the killer is, and you think it should be easy to pick a side in a courtroom. but throughout the book, picoult works on changing those assumptions and stereotypes, works on altering them in subtle ways you never see coming until you realise your moral compass has seemingly been overturned — you don’t know which side to choose anymore. the shooter who calculated his killing of ten people, or the bullies who tormented him to that breaking point? you become starry-eyed and admire the popular kids like the others in the book do, and yet chapters told from the shooter’s perspective help you realise that they are openly malicious to outcasts, and the girl who exists in both worlds — the main character — reveals to us the shallow, insipid lifestyle they lead, and how popularity is something that can always slip through your fingers.
writing this review was cathartic for me in a way. because for a long time after, i couldn’t stop thinking about this book. and after a while, i figured maybe putting my thoughts on paper (technically, a review site) would help me make some headway with my roiling thoughts. everyone seemed to understand why the ending played out the way it did. but without spoiling too much, i had been rooting for them, and i didn’t feel good about the ending because it hurt.
picoult excels in characterisation. she writes character-driven stories, weaving together many threads in the form of side stories until they all collide at the end. she’s very masterful in the way she fleshes out every character and gives each of them an important role to play. there are some characters i liked, some i acknowledged, some i despised. this book has it all.
and the ending. i can’t say i agreed with it, but try as i might, i couldn’t think of a more fitting way to end the book. picoult’s books always involve some sort of purge, or a plot twist that you don’t see coming, and although sometimes i’ve called them out on being there purely for the shock factor, this one didn’t feel that way.
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn; color your hair; watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five.
In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world; or you can just jump off it.
at the beginning of the book, you think you’ve got it all figured out. you know who the victims are, and you know who the killer is, and you think it should be easy to pick a side in a courtroom. but throughout the book, picoult works on changing those assumptions and stereotypes, works on altering them in subtle ways you never see coming until you realise your moral compass has seemingly been overturned — you don’t know which side to choose anymore. the shooter who calculated his killing of ten people, or the bullies who tormented him to that breaking point? you become starry-eyed and admire the popular kids like the others in the book do, and yet chapters told from the shooter’s perspective help you realise that they are openly malicious to outcasts, and the girl who exists in both worlds — the main character — reveals to us the shallow, insipid lifestyle they lead, and how popularity is something that can always slip through your fingers.
writing this review was cathartic for me in a way. because for a long time after, i couldn’t stop thinking about this book. and after a while, i figured maybe putting my thoughts on paper (technically, a review site) would help me make some headway with my roiling thoughts. everyone seemed to understand why the ending played out the way it did. but without spoiling too much, i had been rooting for them, and i didn’t feel good about the ending because it hurt.
picoult excels in characterisation. she writes character-driven stories, weaving together many threads in the form of side stories until they all collide at the end. she’s very masterful in the way she fleshes out every character and gives each of them an important role to play. there are some characters i liked, some i acknowledged, some i despised. this book has it all.
and the ending. i can’t say i agreed with it, but try as i might, i couldn’t think of a more fitting way to end the book. picoult’s books always involve some sort of purge, or a plot twist that you don’t see coming, and although sometimes i’ve called them out on being there purely for the shock factor, this one didn’t feel that way.
A mathematical formula for happiness: Reality divided by Expectations. There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality or lower your expectations.
June 22, 2008
Picoult writes books that are easy to read, yet usually compelling topics that are presented in a way that easily spark thought and discussion. If you read enough of them (I've read 4 and picked up on this trend in the second book), you can see that they are forumulaic in plot design and pace. This makes it easy to guess what the "big twist" at the end of her book will be. For instance, I suspected very early that Josie shot Matt, really as soon as it was mentioned that he had two bullet wounds where all the other victims had one. Confirmed when the Detective indicated his discoveries about "Gun B" and further cemented at the first mention of Matt's abuse of Josie (that added to her constant unease with her place in the popular group). I don't see myself giving any more of her books that I read more than 3 stars, because whereas I typically give the books credit for broaching difficult topics and presenting them is such a way to make the reader think, I don't think they're written in a particularly creative style. The first book of hers I read, "Sister's Keeper" I thought was GREAT - because I hadn't read anything like it before. The subsequent books, as mentioned above, were JUST like the previous is form...and admittedly function. The three stars is solely credit for tackling the difficult topics and because her writing isn't BAD, it's just not original anymore. How many times can you see the same magic trick, and still be surprised at the end?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2018
Exceptionally written novel that shows us what's in the mind of a fictional school shooter, what led him to commit the crime, and how his actions affect the lives of his family and friends. Picoult is a master at character development.
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