Nineteen Minutes Reviews

• Picoult's best book yet! I've been rooting for her for a long time

  
  By A1ER5AYS3FQ9O3 on 2007-03-09
  This time around, Picoult finally lived up to my hopes and she did so by tackling a difficult subject, one that has been in many novels thus far...a school shooting, a look at both the victims' world and that of the shooter (who is also a victim, in his own way), the alienation of kids who are on the outside and the interconnection between the popular kids and those who aren't. Although the novel is graphic, it would certainly provoke plenty of discussion and understanding between parents and teens, although parents may want to consider how ready their teen is to read a book so detailed and so complex and with graphic sexuality (including rough sex).
  
  As a long-time reader of her books, my one disappointment with Picoult has always been how often her endings seemed to fall apart into stereotypical or "pat" solutions, when the rest of her writing, up to that point, would be so very, very strong. And yet, I KEPT buying her books, because she did everything else so well - solid, compelling characters, great plots (until those endings), riveting events. I kept rooting for her. I knew she had the chops to produce a solid book, from start to finish, without those letdowns at the end (and I'm sure others will disagree with me about the endings, as she IS a popular writer).
  
  This time,with Nineteen Minutes, she pulls it off, does everything right...and I'm delighted to be able to say so. I wasn't able to stop reading, except for short periods when I had to stop and think about WHAT I was reading. I have raised three teenagers and her portrayal of teenage life, the cruelties of the bullies, the fears and insecurities suffered by even the most popular kids, was eerily accurate.
  
  Buy this one, savor every word and take time to think about how you'd feel in a similar situation. This is the kind of book that can be life-changing and motivate readers to change things and make the world better for our children. How and why readers do that is up to them, of course but, at the least, they'll be haunted by this book long after they finish it.
  
  As for me, I'm going to reread it - and soon. It is simply that good.
  
  
  
  

• Much better than the last book...

  
  By A1YBVBU27AKJ1J on 2007-03-16
  After a very disappointing THE TENTH CIRCLE, Jodi Picoult rebounds with the excellent NINETEEN MINUTES. This book, which centers on a school shooting, is one of her best yet.
  
  Picoult really knows how to develop her characters. Each one is well defined and real. I totally believed the way the characters were portrayed, especially Lacy and Peter. And yes, I found myself having a great deal of sympathy for Peter. Some could say that the characters were a bit clichéd (Matt, the abusive boyfriend, Josie, the wanna-be, Lacy, the mother without a clue, etc.), but I think these characters are reflective of a great many people in the real world. I also liked the way Picoult used Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a defense for Peter. Wonderfully done. I give credit to Picoult for always addressing issues in her books that are topical and thought provoking.
  
  I've read some reviews that criticize Picoult for not having the character of Alex recuse herself as judge at the trial. This is totally becomes a non-issue as you will see as your continue reading. Also, regarding the "twist" ending I've seen some complaints about, it's not such a twist if you are paying attention as you read. It's actually quite obvious from very early on in the story.
  
  I enjoy the fact that Picoult brought back characters from previous books (Patrick from PERFECT MATCH and Jordan from SALEM FALLS and THE PACT.) I understand that Ian from KEEPING FAITH makes an appearance in her next book. I definitely look forward to it.
  
  

• Not Picoult's best work

  
  By A359U0JFFZ0Q04 on 2007-04-14
  The first problem I had with 19 MINUTES was the rampant author intrusion. For the uninitiated, author intrusion is when the author employs plot threads or has a character do things that would never happen in real life. For instance, on his first day of kindergarten, some fifth graders throw Peter Houghton's lunchbox off the bus. If through some miracle, this would happen, somebody would tell, or one of the many mother hens that accompany them would pounce on the offenders like Hulk Hogan on Kenny Jay. Picoult lets it happen at least three more times that year. The second example was Judge Cormier's unwillingness to recuse herself from the Houghton case. Even if the defense attorney had not called her daughter as a witness, Judge Cormier would've had more sense than that. Finally, there's the ending. Picoult must have been sick to death of the book is all I can say. The ending was totally unrealistic.
  
  Then there are the cliches: Most jocks are bullies; even smart girls would do anything to be popular; computer fanatics are geeks. From my experience, athletes are too fixated on their sport to care about harassing some puny freshman. Besides, bullies generally are looking for validation, and athletes get plenty of that. Smart girls are more concerned with ACT scores and getting into the right college. Finally, just about every kid who goes to school these days knows computer programming.
  
  Picoult also has the irritating habit of starting her book with seven or eight different viewpoint characters. I found myself paging back and forth trying to figure out who I was reading about. She also fools around with time. Throughout the novel, she moves from the school shooting to before the school shooting to after the school shooting. There were times when I didn't know where I was in this time sequence.
  
  The above may sound like I didn't enjoy the book. I did, right up until the forced ending. Picoult kept me turning pages, and that's the test of any novel. I also liked the characters. Picoult visited many of the schools that have been traumatized by school shootings, one of them being Cold Spring, Minnesota, which is only thirty-five miles from where I live. Peter Houghton sounds a whole lot like Jason McLaughlin, the perpetrator behind the Rocori tragedy.
  
  

• "they started it"

  
  By A27OBJA1YDQFZI on 2007-03-15
  These are the words that seventeen-year-old Peter Houghton says when he is found after a school shooting spree huddling with a gun in his hand by Detective Patrick Ducharme. An outcast who had been bullied since kindergarten, Peter kills ten, including a teacher, and injures many more.
  At first glance, it looks like a straightforward act of revenge, but things are revealed to be more complex. One of his victims is Matt Royston, the boyfriend of his former childhood friend, Josie Cormier, and others are members of the in-crowd, but others have seemingly no relation. In the days before the trial, and in the days leading up to the shooting, we are given the backstory, told mostly from Josie's, Peter's, and their mothers' viewpoint. We learn of the incessant teasing this boy received, adults' unsuccessful attempts to help him fit in, and of the stormy relationship between Josie and Matt. During the trial, we hear from the victims who survived and the devastation the crime has wrought on their lives. In the end, the reader may still be undecided whether Peter is primarily a victim, perpetrator, loyal friend, or all three, but that is the point.
  
  What this book has that others like it often don't is compassion not just for the bullying victims, but for the "in-crowd" as well. It is more complex than "We Need to Talk About Kevin" because Peter is capable of love and not just a run-of-the-mill sociopath. The end is a little odd, but not as jolting as the one in "My Sister's Keeper." Highly recommended.
  
  
  
  
  

• Nineteen Minutes, 400 pages too long

  
  By A1BVZA94DHH60X on 2007-09-16
  Jodi Picoult, an author of teenage fiction, does not know what a teenager is. Her most recent book, Nineteen Minutes, is five hundred pages of stereotypes, sex, abuse, abortion, bullying, school shootings, single mothers, homosexuality, and suicide. How does she fit all of these issues into one book? The answer is, with unnecessary and dropped plots. It is the story of a girl, Josie, and of an ex-friend, Peter, and how he grows up to become the resentful killer he is. Jodi Picoult tries to give an insight into the mind of a murderer, how he was affected by those around him and how he influenced others. But she took on too great a task, carried too heavy a load, and her arms have fallen off leaving nothing but awkwardly scattered words bound together between two covers.
  Jumping back and forth between past and present, Nineteen Minutes looks through several peoples lives who have connections to the school shooting. Every chapter opens with a small part of a cliche letter, assumed to be from Peter, the shooter. It goes slowly through Peter's life, Josie's life, and the lives of several other students affected. While surprising the reader at the end of the book, most of the book can be easily surmised before it happens.
  Picoult wastes no time getting down to business with what she thinks every teenager is going through. By the tenth page she has already introduced the idea that Josie is going to commit suicide, but she drops this plot quickly. There are several subplots that are also quite irrelevant. The love interest between the detective of the school shooting, Patrick, and Josie's mother, Alex, does not affect the author's purpose or the main story. It doesn't add to the book in any way, except for adding to the amount of stories and people you need to follow and remember.
  Nineteen Minutes tries to use the vernacular of teenagers in the present setting so they will relate to it, but no one honestly uses "Brangelina" or thinks that the most popular music is "Dashboard Confessional and Death Cab For Cutie". Picoult tries too hard to connect to those reading her book. What she doesn't realize is that it is overwhelming to read a book so packed full of difficult issues.
  Nineteen Minutes is possibly a bad introduction to Jodi Picoult. Perhaps some of her other novels such as The Tenth Circle and Vanishing Acts don't include an overpowering amount of plots and ideas to deal with. But the first impression of Jodi Picoult is a woman in over her head with issues and feelings that she doesn't understand.
  
  
• Powerful Addition to Her Previous Work
  By A1M8PP7MLHNBQB on 2007-03-06
  In 'Nineteen Minutes' Jodi Picoult takes on the subject of school shootings. In it she spins a tale of hatred so deep that it can only be called mental illness. She describes the killer, a high school student who has been bullied since kindergarten by his peers and his atheletic older brother.
  
  In Ms. Picoult's story the child is captured (by a detective from one of her earlier stories) rather than killed as is more usual. This gives her a chance to investigate his motives, his thinking. The story is complicated by the interaction of the Judge in the case and the Judge's daughter being a key witness to the killings but who can't or won't remember what she saw. (Wouldn't that cause the judge to recuse herself - but if she did where's the story?)
  
  'Nineteen Minutes' will continue to boost Ms. Picoult's reputation as it makes it to the Best Seller List.
  
  
• Drivel.
  By A28CCIJES8SMX4 on 2007-08-12
  This was a complete waste of time; I only suffered through all 455 pages because I kept hoping against hope that it would somehow redeem itself at the ending. I read on other reviews about the "surprising twist" at the end, but I figured this out about 3/4 of the way through the book. Not much of a twist. Not only does the author lack basic knowledge of the legal system, she also doesn't know very much about teenagers. The characters are cartoon-like, and the entire novel is episodic, like a bad TV crime show.
  
  I should have heeded my usual prejudice against buying books with huge glossy pictures of the author on the back cover! This book is manipulative in so, so many ways (and not even cleverly so!)
  
  
• Readable But Not a Barn Burner!
  By A105E427BB6J65 on 2007-06-27
  Jodi Picoult is generally a good storyteller. She does not let us down in her latest novel, Nineteen Minutes. This is solid writing and gives the reader one glimpse into the minds and lives of some young folks who wind up on the cutting room floor. Jodi deftly shows how its not always the ones you think will wind up in trouble that often get overlooked and in the process run adrift of the world, winding up in terrible circumstances that even the most vigilant parent may not see coming.
  
  I felt Josie's mother's character seemed a bit shallow for a judge and didn't symbolize the career woman that she was representing--changing her clothes three times before her first day on the bench and then throwing up twice before going to the courthouse. No one knows what she's wearing under her robes! She's supposed to be an accomplished attorney who has tried hundreds of cases! Also, not immediately recusing herself from this case was another stretch too far. And, what about Peter's brother? This was an area that could have been delved into deeper and may have helped with the overall understanding of Peter's actions. Since it was not developed, it may have been better let out??
  
  The stereotypes of the various cliques were probably a bit pedantic but characteristic of what goes on in schools. I can still remember the ones who were picked on and made fun of when I went to school. But I actually believe, with all the litigation and the restraints on teachers, children today could actually be crueler than in years gone by. And, with all the blended families and dysfunction in general, it's fortunate that children are more resilient than we truly know or this could be an even greater problem than it already is.
  
  I almost felt that the added twist near the ending was a plot device constructed to provide a "shocking" turn of events. It seemed a bit forced. While it may have been alluded to, it was not developed enough to be believable and therefore probably could have been eliminated for the sake of flow and consistency. Also, it was incongruent with Josie's actions before and after the shooting, as well as her character generally. While she was always Peter's protector, this act was way out of character for her and just didn't fit.
  
  I haven't decided if I really liked all the bouncing around the book did. While this often works for plots that cover long periods or different timeframes, it was almost distracting in this storyline. However, I believe Jodi did her research and I imagine that a story of this kind would be hard to tell. Unfortunately, we'll never know in many cases what actually leads up to final shoot outs because the shooters generally do not live to stand trial. But human nature wants to know why and we'd also like it to be a BIG why, (physical abuse, sexual abuse, deranged parents, religious zealots with misguided beliefs, etc.) not the seemingly "usual" harassing climate that permeated Nineteen Minutes.
  
  Overall, this was a tragic story and worth the read, especially for high school and junior high students who might not recognize the long term effects of their everyday actions. I can't quite express what it is about this book that made it less than the sum of its parts, but I wasn't as impressed with the writing as I would have expected considering the topic. However, while this is not my favorite Picoult book, I admire Jodi's willingness to tackle contemporary, relevant, and highly charged themes with compassion.
  
  
• Nineteen Minutes is too long to spend on this book.
  By A1KL8EY6OD5UW3 on 2007-08-07
  I have read quite of few of Picoult's books, but this will be my last. Her style has become too predictable - a tragedy occurs, we flash back to find out how it happened, and a shocking twist at the end. These characters were not believable. Could the boy's mother really have been that clueless? Is the girl's mother so in need of approval that she condones the sexual practices between her daughter and her jock boyfriend in their own living room? Could every teacher been that unobservant and uncaring? Is every popular kid a monster and bully?
  
  This topic is too serious to be treated in this fictional account. Shame on Picoult for manipulating her readers. She should know better, and the readers deserve better!
  
  
• People have lost their minds
  By A2DIVACQU3XJ3E on 2007-11-20
  I cannot fathom how so many people gave Nineteen Minutes good reviews. It is complete emotionally manipulative trash. This story was nothing more than an attempt to pad Jodi Picoult's bank account than give us something thought-provoking to read.
  
  I did read it through to the end and was absolutely **disgusted** at its completion. There was no resolution. There was nothing new to think about. It was pointless telling of tragedies just to make a buck.
  
  Let's also talk about the formulaic storylines. Jodi picks a tragedy that is sensitive to most people, exploits it in a story, throws in some "good" parents and troubled kids to increase the emotional manipulation and then ends it with a completely unbelievable quick tie-up.
  
  I'm sick of hearing about jail, prison life, court room dramah, kids killing eachother, raping eachother or being raped. There are people who say she "tackles" serious issues. I don't agree. She uses serious issues to fatten up her wallet.
  
  This book is a waste of paper. I have read four total now of her novels. The first being My Sister's Keeper which I enjoyed thoroughly. The rest were garbage. I won't be reading anymore. Apparently My Sister's Keeper was an anomaly.
  
  
• I'm surprised by the great reviews.
  By A3OBUM5O087EJO on 2007-03-25
  Jodi Picoult's books are all starting to run together in my mind. Her best, I believe, was My Sister's Keeper. But I kept feeling while reading Nineteen Minutes that she covered this material elsewhere. Her stories are becoming formulaic. If you want to read a haunting novel about school shootings, read "We Need to Talk About Kevin", a truly amazing, memorable, gut wrenching book.
  
  
• Picoult is Amazing
  By AG2IEP1MJQHFS on 2007-04-08
  Jodi Picoult's latest novel, Nineteen Minutes, begins on a normal morning in a normal town on what would appear to be a normal day. Alex Cormier leaves her daughter Josie to finish getting ready for school as she rushes off to the courthouse where Alex serves as a judge. Families begin their days and children settle into another day of school tedium. That is until gunshots tear through Sterling High School. Chaos ensues, fear is palpable in the air, and when all is said and done, 10 students are dead and the town of Sterling, New Hampshire, must pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.
  
  Jodi Picoult is one of my absolute favorite authors. The way she constructs images and detail is amazing. Nineteen Minutes was fantastic. Picoult's best work since My Sister's Keeper. The plot was gripping. I had trouble putting this book down. In a post-Columbine world, I think the reader is searching for an answer as to why something like this would happen, even if it is a work of fiction that provides it. I cannot praise this novel enough. I highly recommend this novel and all of Picoult's works.
  
  
• Waste of reader's emotion
  By A2G9II2LB30SRY on 2007-03-08
  This book takes a serious issue (the cause of school shootings) and trivializes the suffering of the families involved by battering the emotions of the reader, then doing a "bait and switch" ending that concludes nothing.
  At first, the book appears to be a worthy fictionalized study of the possible causes of these shootings. But the ending yanks all meaning from the book by devising an ending that is neither believable nor on target with the emotions that have been pulled from the reader. ( I am 58 years old.)
  
  
• Picoult is back on form again
  By A3KC7IV73IF2Q3 on 2007-03-07
  I was curious to read this book as I have enjoyed most of Picoult's other novels except her recent the 10th Circle which I was really disappointed with.
  
  I am pleased to say she is well back on form with this latest novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't put it down. It brings up some very sensitive but very real issues of today's society and the struggle that both teenagers and parents can have.
  
  I would highly recommend 19 minutes to anyone who enjoys Picoult's novels.
  
  
• Another excellent exploration of human character by Picoult...
  By A2IPC51HL9UUYF on 2007-03-07
  I'm a fan of Picoult's and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yes, Picoult has a formula and there were no big surprises here. However, the book was thoroughly engaging.
  
  Like a number of Picoult's books, the plot is fairly straightforward- the meat of this book lies in how the lives of her characters intertwine in the small town of Sterling. The plot centers around a tragic school shooting. How did they all come to be where they were during those 19 minutes?- the victims, the girl that was marked to "let live", the shooter, the detective who feels responsible for letting this happen in his town, the judge. As in real life, Picoult's characters are three-dimensional, showing their less than admirable traits while being sympathetic, as well. What happens when the tables turn and the victim becomes the agressor and turns his agressors into victims?
  
  This book is a study in reality and had me asking where is the line? and why do some people cross it while others continue to play by the rules of society?
  
  I stayed up way too late to finish reading this book. Easy to get into and hard to put down. A definite should-read especially if you are a fan of Picoult's more introspective work.
  
  
• 19 minutes. . .
  By A19EWYR4T91RCQ on 2007-03-08
  I have never read Ms. Picoult before but gave here a try after picking up my wife's advance copy (she has been pestering for awhile to try this author). The plot is straight forward but the center of the book are the characters and how there lives intertwine. It takes on the heartbreaking subject of school shootings and how those involved came to be where they were during the 19 minutes of tragedy. The author can write and is extremely talented drawing real flesh and blood characters. It made me think about this issue in a new way. There are nothing but victims here.
  
  
• Not one of Picoult's bests
  By A38O2RJYEBV0MY on 2007-03-12
  I am a Picoult fan, a parent and a teacher. Perhaps that makes me easier to disappoint.
  
  This novel seems less researched than most of her works, and often takes the easy route. Perhaps she and her editor were not enamoured with the conflicts or characters of Nineteen Minutes, and therefore rushed to finish. It may be due to my familiarity with her writing style/patterns, but I was able to predict the course of the plot and its denoument quite early in the book.
  
  A deft and meticulous editor could have made this a more successful novel. At one point, Picoult writes that the Houghton family bought a dog when their youngest son was THREE. Two pages later, there is a memory of the same dog and son playing when he was TWO. Even tiny errors make an editor and author appear lazy.
  
  Nevertheless, I was riveted. Picoult's insights regarding human nature and the bonds we form (or fail to) are persistent and potent. I will continue to read Picoult's work, and I will pass this book along to friends and family.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By A19OEEDGUV1DXY on 2007-03-20
  I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult and have loved many of her earlier works, especially My Sister's Keeper and Plain Truth. However, I found this book to be very disappointing. It reads as if she had taken a dare to work as many current adolescent issues as possible into one book: bullying, abusive boyfriends, etc. (I also think she took a dare to try to work the name Whit into a book-not one but two characters with this unusual name.)The story seems mostly a rehash of the Columbine incident, many situation mirror things that happened there almost exactly. I don't want to spoil the ending but I will say it came right out of left field and then, even though it shouldn't have been, everything was fine for Judge Alex Cormier. If you want to read a truly terrific book on the same topic try We Need To Talk About Kevin.
  
  
• EMOTIONS ARE EXPLORED WITH PINPOINT ACCURACY
  By A3M174IC0VXOS2 on 2007-03-07
  
  The fragility of life and mysteries of hearts are revealed as Jodi Picoult unfolds her story of tragedy in small town America. A devastating event, its immediate consequences and its long term effects are presented in her compelling narrative. The fact that such a violent act occurs with increasing frequency in our country today renders the story even more chilling.
  
  Sterling, New Hampshire is a quiet town, peaceful almost as if captured in a Norman Rockwell painting. However, Rockwell never painted a school shooting which is the frightening springboard for Picoult's story. Peter Houghton is obviously a troubled youth. In flashbacks his mother, Lacy, recalls him as a "challenging baby" unlike his older brother, Joey. Peter would "cry, collicky, and have to be soothed by putting his car seat on the vibrating clothes dryer. He'd be nursing, and suddenly arch away from her."
  
  Lacy never dreamed that some day he would walk into his high school carrying guns and kill ten of his classmates." What could have driven him to this?
  
  One who survived his rampage is Josie Cormier, a girl unsure of who she really is. Popular? Yes. Good student? Yes. Yet she kept a quantity of Ambien hidden because she felt the time would come when no one would want to be around her any more. When that happened, "It stood to reason Josie wouldn't want to be around herself either."
  
  Her mother is Alex, the youngest superior court judge in the state, and the presiding judge at Peter's trial. Josie's boyfriend, Matt, was one of the victims, and Josie maintains that she can remember nothing of what she saw. It's difficult for Alex to be impartial in this case.
  
  Author Picoult explores the emotions of teenagers and adults with pinpoint accuracy just as she raises important questions about the problems many of us face. Readers will find themselves caring deeply for both Peter and Josie and the families that nurtured them. Law would tell us that there was one villain and all others were victims. But, is that truly the case? Many will shed a tear as the story reaches its inexorable conclusion.
  
  - Gail Cooke
  
  
• I don't understand
  By A334O95WT2HQLO on 2007-03-08
  How can the judge also be the Mother of one of the victims/star witnesses of the trial. Wouldn't this be a major conflict of interest? Can someone please explain this to me?
  
  I understand that many of you feel that I should read the book first before posting this comment, but my point (to the publisher and author) is that I personally would not purchase this book because of the book jacket blurb which brought up my point above. I can't suspend my disbelief when something fictionally portraying reality as this book is trying to do brings up such a basic question. Sorry to all of you who disagree with me, but this is MY OPINION and only mine.
  
  
• What Happened?
  By A2MJ4G74MYJ233 on 2007-07-11
  Ms. Picoult used to be so good, but now her books are so formulaic. I really didn't like this one either--go back to Songs of the Humpback Whale, please.
  
  
• Focus! Focus!
  By A36F2LI5CQ9GWW on 2007-12-04
  Ever know someone who starts out to tell you a story you want to hear and they keep getting distracted by what they've said and repeatedly tell you background stories that wander off aimlessly, never able to stay on track to tell you the story you care about? If you enjoy that, I recommend this book.
  
  Me? I had to scream, "Enough!" after getting about three quarters of the way through "19 Minutes."
  
  The consolation was that the background stories that the author dredged up served to make each of the key characters in the book so thoroughly unlikable for me that I no longer cared whether good things or bad things happened to them and I lost interest in whether or not there was an upcoming twist in the plot that would reveal that not all was as transparently obvious as it first seemed.
  
  
• Well written but nothing new
  By A1J2U22A054O0M on 2007-03-07
  I am a big Jodi Picoult fan but I have been disappointed with several of her books since Salem Falls, especially The Tenth Circle. When I read the advance reviews for this book, I thought it would be a return to the great plotting and writing of The Pact and Plain Truth. I was only half right. The writing is, as always, excellent. However, if you have read any of Ms. Picoult's recent books, you will know where this one is going almost from the beginning of the story! I know when an author finds a winning formula they stick with it, but I guess I just was expecting more and was ultimately disappointed.
  
  
• A Wonderfully Written, Tremendously Touching Novel!
  By A3JU7N8X22ZZ67 on 2007-03-08
  Anyone who has enjoyed the previous work of Jodi Picoult is in for a treat. This is a fantastic novel that touches the heart while delving into several issues, centered on a tragic school shooting that twists and alters the lives of the characters.
  
  Set in a small New Hampshire town, a town with only one detective on the police force, a run-of-the-mill Northeastern U.S. town. On a day that seemed like every other, the book opens with a number of vignettes that establish a sense of the ordinary. People are going to work, a student studies for a science test, a mother worries about her daughter, a policeman readies himself for work, and one student finishes his plans to unleash a blitzkrieg at school. This initial context sets the pace for the entire book that narrates the interrelated lives of these people living in a small-town world dealing with a national crisis.
  
  Like most of Picoult's previous books, this novel's real gift to the reader is the development of character. While the horizon of the story is relatively clear from the start, the plot is enhanced one hundred fold by the intricacies of the people about whom the story is written. Perhaps what I find most engaging about Picoult's work, and likewise this book, is that there is always at least one character with whom I can easily identify - making the reading of the text much more interesting.
  
  While this is not a Pulitzer-prize winner (and I doubt Picoult has the slightest belief that it will be), this is really a nice book and one that is not afraid to tackle a tough issue while also showing the human response to tragedy that most of the world doesn't witness once the television media tires of a story, packs up its equipment and leaves town.
  
  Pick this book up today.
  
  
  
• Interesting premise, Clichéd characters
  By A1T0IBE80EG4VT on 2007-04-13
  As a fan of Picoult`s work, I admit to being a bit disappointed in this book. The book starts off with an interesting premise: How does a community deal with the aftermath of a Columbine-style school shooting? The adult characters, particularly Judge Cormier and the detective are well-developed and make the story interesting.
  
  However, the high school characters were disappointingly shallow and stereotypical. The jocks and pretty girls make up the popular, overly cruel group. The shooter, a geeky and sensitive computer nerd, is constantly harassed. While there is some truth to the stereotypes, real life is never so cut-and-dry. The book loses its realism by following these character clichés so closely - it begins to feel more like a B-list teen angst movie.
  
  The twist at the end was interesting, but very unrealistic. A twist should be an "ah-ha!" moment, but instead I was left wondering how it fit with the story. Overall, the book was a quick and interesting read that was a little disappointing in character-development.
  
  
• Unrealistic at times
  By A1V7EIPHGCJY5Z on 2007-06-29
  The book was gripping in some parts. It could have used some tighter editing. At times the narrative lacked crispness and clarity. The judge not immediately recusing herself was unrealistic. Although I saw the twist coming because of all of the not so subtle hints, it wasn't reasonable given the personality and background of the character. The older brother's wasn't developed as well as I would have liked. All in all an average read. Not a book I'd recommend.
  
  
• Not Picoult's Best
  By AYUVY8YLOT8T3 on 2007-07-05
  I have read the majority of Jodi Picoult's novels and have loved most of them. This book, however, was extremely disappointing. I feel as if Jodi has narrowed her audience to middle school teenagers, and therefore leaving out the adult audiences who have treasured some of her other novels such as "The Pact". This novel had numerous pop culture references such as..."She pulled a Hillary Duff on me"...and "they were the Brangelina of Sterling High." Unnecessary silliness. In a few years, people will say...Brangelina...who? The ending was unrealistic and was not a twist at all...it was evident throughout the whole novel.
  
  
• fascinating (in a macabre way) family drama
  By AFVQZQ8PW0L on 2007-03-08
  It takes nineteen minutes to kill nine students and one teacher and wound 18 students to the extent that they need to be hospitalized. On March 6 2007, Seventeen year old student Peter Haughton put a pipe bomb he constructed n a student's car as a diversion than went to Sterling High School where he shot a student on the steps, went into the cafeteria wounded and injured a few more, walked the hallways leading to the gym and into the locker room where his killing spree ended when police detective Patrick DuCharme ordered him by gunpoint to drop his weapon.
  
  He was carrying two handguns, two shotguns, and some incendiary devices. Peter tells his lawyer that he killed those who made his life hell since he was in kindergarten when one of the bullies threw his lunchbox out of the school bus window. Peter has been systematically abused verbally, emotionally and physically for the last twelve years because he was a misfit who didn't fit in. His only friend Josie, the daughter of Judge Alex Cormier, was the catalyst that drove him over the edge. His only friend Josie dumped him to be one of the in-crowd and be Matt Reyson's girlfriend. Matt is the last person that Peter killed. His defense attorney Jordan McAfee has to plan a defense even though his client was caught on tape killing students and there were hundreds of witnesses who saw him do the shooting.
  
  Jodi Picard blends a legal thriller with a family drama and comes up with a fascinating (in a macabre way) work of mainstream fiction. The author doesn't ever excuse what Peter did but through the use of flashbacks and rotating perspectives shows how years of torture erupted in a killing spree. Although readers will loathe Peter for what he did, they will understand that it takes a village to raise a child and in the case of Sterling, New Hampshire, everyone, including his own parents, failed in some way.
  
  Harriet Klausner
  
  
  
  
• Jodi Picoult Outdoes Herself!
  By A3QY27FQHK453B on 2007-03-14
  This may be the most important contemporary novel of the year. The author addresses a topic that has become unfortunately all too familiar--school shootings. Like the rest of Picoult's books, however, this is a complex story, and it is important not to jump to simplistic conclusions. The boy who shoots 29 people, killing ten of them, as part of a detailed premeditated plan was the victim of bullying all through his school years. This does not necessarily mean that bullying is the cause of a shooting rampage. Almost all kids recall being bullied at some time (so do I), and they might think, "I wish I could kill him (her)," or fantasize about doing it, but very few actually carry it through. Not only that, school shootings are committed by others for other (often unknown) reasons, sometimes by total strangers or adults. The author picked one very realistic example of how this could happen, resulting in a totally believable story.
  
  You can't assume that having guns in the house will do it either. Picoult bends over backward to show that not everyone who owns a gun has it for the purpose of committing a crime. People hunt for sport, in the area in which the book takes place, people hunt for food out of necessity, people collect firearms or have antiques that have been in the family. Lewis, the boy's father, does everything to teach his kids about the responsible use of guns, to have respect for them, to follow safety rules. He supervises his son when they go hunting. Ironically, the guns that the son, Peter, uses to shoot up the school, aren't even those belonging to his father, but stolen.
  
  In a bullying situation, where someone like Peter may be pushed over the edge, often adults seem clueless or simply don't know how to handle it. Often adult intervention makes the situation worse. Teachers at the school admit this and Peter's mother, Lacy, one of the densest people in the book, does her best to illustrate it. Adults also sometimes actually punish the kid who is being bullied, which Lacy also does. Peter learns quickly to expect no protection from adults.
  
  The character I am sorriest for is Josie, the judge's daughter, who seems to be a victim of mixed signals and miscommunications all the way through. I can't give away the ending, but it might have made a real difference if her mother had just once been able to get through to her before it was too late.
  
  Finally, I liked the author bringing back certain characters from other novels, Jordan, Selena, Patrick--but I think Nina should have been left to rest in peace. Her story and its ending (I'm not saying which one) were so horrific that there is no purpose in mentioning her again. With that one the end is the end.
  
  Nineteen Minutes is a powerful title of an up-to-date, thought-provoking book. This should be THE book everybody's talking about this year. Not to be missed!
  
  
  
• Threw it in the trash
  By A1LLPJVXOKLDD4 on 2007-04-24
  I thought this book was TERRIBLE, not only the subject matter but it was BORING nothing original. I really threw it in the trash I was going to give it away but with the way the world is now I thought best to get rid of it for good.
  
  

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