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Dec 08, 2014Chapel_Hill_KenMc rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Picoult tackles some complex issues here--children with severe disabilities, "wrongful life" lawsuits, the prohibitive cost of health care, teenage eating disorders, and moral conflicts between motherhood, marriage, and friendship. She pulls it off well for the most part, creating strong and memorable characters involved in a basically no-win situation. Imagine a child born with seven bone fractures--and several more in the birth process...and hundreds more to come in the course of her lifetime. Picoult has led us to feel the pain and the miracle of this child's life, and the anguish experienced by her family. She fails to make the five-star mark for me because her writing is a bit over the top, and she has a rather annoying habit of trying to end each chapter with a profound/ironic/wry statement. Sometimes these hit the mark, but more often just seem too obvious.