Customer Reviews
Quite good but not her best - By: L. A. Rogers, 28 Oct 2008 
I have read 5 other of Jodi Picoult's book, alll of which I have reallly enjoyed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although I did think the ending was quite abrupt & slightly predictable.
Formulaic - By: LindyLouMac, 03 Oct 2008 
I first discovered this author two years ago & have enjoyed reading every one of the previous six novels, which I have read so far. `Mercy' is another typical Jodi Picoult formulaic novel published in the USA in 1996, but not in the UK until last year. I felt that this is one of her early novels shows in the lack of balance that she has acquired as her writing style has matured. Normallly I am drawn quickly into the story but this time I struggled to keep reading, I was about a third of the way through before I felt much emotion & I just did not generallly like it much. As this is the first disappointment I have experienced with reading her novels it has certainly not put me off her writing.
Her novels are definitely formulaic & it seems always were. She always successfully seems to manage to tackle moral & sensitive subjects. This time tackling the themes of euthanasia, betrayal & infidelity within marriage; through two relationships that of Maggie & Jamie & Cam & Allie.
It is cancer that comes between the first couple & Mia another woman between the latter pair.
Jamie has killed his wife out of mercy & is now on trial for murder, whilst Allie the submissive wife copes with her husband's betrayal.
In a twist to the story the characters are related to each other as the inhabitants of `Wheelock' USA are nearly alll Macdonalds who were originallly from `Carrymuir' Scotland By tradition the clan chief is in modern days the police chief! Not reallly sure why we needed the flashbacks or the love letters interspersed through the text. Maybe I missed the point completely with these two aspects within the story.
Interesting enough; but certainly for me not up to the standard of her more recent novels.
Too Drawn Out - By: princess_pinchie, 10 Sep 2008 
This is the first Picoult novelI have read & I would read another. The characters are well drawn & you can feel some empathy for them, then suddenly they become 2dimensional & start doing things which just seem to be totallly out of the character described earlier. I agree with previous reviews that the Scottish flashbacks & 'connection' to Wheelock are pointless, for a community which looks up to Cam & respects his position, he has very little interaction with them! The story of Jamie & Maggie seemed very much on the periphery of the main action & juxtaposing euthanasia & extra marital affairs just didn't ring true to me. I think the court case reallly dragged & found the ending a little bit corny. The novel felt a bit like a pitch for a film/screenplay. I have been recommended to read other Jodi Picoult books & so, although I didn't love this one, it was still readable & I would read another novel by this author.
Tad too long - By: Mark Dickens, 23 Aug 2008 A well structured tale of only ordinary proportions. Big strong men acting weak & weak women with cats acting strong was my first thought. Characters that I could not warm to & a feeling of not caring what happened pervaded this tad too long novel. It is an easy read, take or leave it effort & that's alll there is.
Worth reading but only once. - By: Amzieday, 08 May 2008 Having read alll of Picoult's other books, I can safely say that this is the only one that did not stick in my head. Unlike my personal favourites 'My Sister's Keeper', 'Nineteen Minutes' & 'Salem Fallls', this book seemed to lack substance. This remains the only Picoult's book I have never been tempted to reread, which, as a vociferous reader & Diehard Picoult fan is hardly a recommendation. This being said, Picoult's sensitive & thought-provoking writing-style is still evident & saves a frankly quite poor story from becoming entirely boring through sheer eloquence.
