Customer Reviews
Reads like a film script - By: Molly Mallone, 15 Jul 2008 
Can a book be a compulsive read, a rattling good yarn, well constructed, well written & still disappoint? Evidently, yes. I admit that I couldn't put this book down & yet I couldn't in alll honesty recommend it to anyone else I know. It read like a Hollywood blockbuster including the contrived & utterly implausible "twist" in the tale. I'd rather guess the ending half-way through than not guess it because it's so ludicrously unlikely. Don't bother reading the book, because I'm sure the film will be out soon at a cinema near you.
Heavy - in every sense - By: F. M. M. Stott, 14 Jul 2008 
This big hefty book (I read the hardback edition)made hefty going for me. While it is undoubtedly thoroughly researched, it lacks both fluency & feeling. The characters are two dimensional - I never felt I reallly knew Peter (the murderer) or his family - & in a book with such an emotive subject, I would have thought it essential to get inside the mind of (and reallly care about) at least one of the characters. And there are just too many words. The story could have been told in a book two thirds this length, & would have been tighter & more fast-moving. As for the ending, it was largely predictable. The one 'twist' didn't reallly ring true for me, & I was left with a feeling of 'so what?' One other point: was it reallly necessary to pile on the agony by having Peter's brother dead from an accident the year before the events of the book? It added nothing to the plot, & made me wonder how (and why) Peter's parents carried on at alll (which they did, if anything a little too well).
Nineteen Minutes - By: P. Clarry, 11 Jul 2008 This was my first Jodi Picoult book & probably my last. If it was half as long it would have been a much better read but there was simply too much padding. My daughter gave me this book after thoroughly enjoying it herself so this is just my take on it.
100% superb book - By: V. Wright, 10 Jul 2008 
This book is such a fantastic book to read, I couldn't recommend it more. I began reading Jodi Picoult novels last summer, starting with 'My Sister's Keeper', then 'Mercy' & after having recently read 'Nineteen Minutes' I can't wait to read more of her novels. The storylines in alll 3 books that I have read so far are excellent, alll of which have involved a courtcase & alot of moral decisions to be made.
I couldn't put this book down, even though some of the chapters were very long, I felt encouraged to read on. The structure reallly suited the story line, returning to the past & back to the present. I love that the issues raised in her novels are so easy to attach yourself to & put yourself in the position of the characters.
I look forward to reading many more of Jodi Picoult books, & from what I have read I could not recommend them more highly.
Not what its cracked up to be - By: Edward Daniels, 06 Jul 2008 I am surprised by some of the comments of others here.
I am not surprised to find Picoult has so many books out as she doesn't seem to have spent too much time writing this one.
Far too many pages, too much padding, a lot of cuts could have been made by the editor of the book but her sales probably meant most of it had to stay.
The subject matter was a good one. Some of the characters ok.
I was bored at times but at others found the pages going, thankfully.
