Book: Leaving Time
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publication: October 14th, 2014
Source: Publisher for Review
Read: September 27th - October 11th, 2014
Summary (from Goodreads):
Throughout her blockbuster career, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in her highly anticipated new book, she has delivered her most affecting novel yet—and one unlike anything she’s written before.
For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe that she would be abandoned as a young child, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.
Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest. The first is Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons—only to later doubt her gifts. The second is Virgil Stanhope, a jaded private detective who originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.
As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish. A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.
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My Thoughts:
* I received this book free from the publisher for review. I did not receive any compensation for this review. All thoughts and feelings about this novel are my own.*
I was so lucky to receive an early copy of Leaving Time. I'm so excited for the rest of the reading world to dive into this book. This book had me interested from page one to the last page. I was so excited to have time to read this book at the end of the day and would stay up late at night to get a few more pages in. This book also almost made me late for class more than once. This book was truly a page turner.
The book switched viewpoints between, Jenna, her mother Alice, Virgil the detective, and Serenity the physic. At first I was really interested in Jenna's parts, but as the book went on Alice's chapters became my favorite. I liked her chapters most because she talked about Elephants. I learned so much about elephants and elephant grief through this book. The elephants in this book were characters all on their own and I became connected to them just like I did with the humans. Another part I liked about Alice's chapters is that she slowly revealed more about her life with Thomas and Jenna's early years of life at the Elephant Sanctuary. Serenity's chapters were probably my next favorite. Although I don't really believe in physic's it was interesting to see how her mind worked and what she was thinking in regards to solving the mystery of Alice's disappearance. I admire Jenna's courage. She never gave up hope that she would find her mother.
The ending of this novel was truly jaw dropping. Towards the end I was starting to put the pieces together, but I never expected the twist Picoult put in at the end. Picoult wrote another winner with this novel. I loved this book from the beginning to the end. I'm so excited to share this excitement with the rest of the Picoult community. There has not been a Jodi Picoult book that I have read that I haven't liked and Leaving Time is no exception. I learned so much about Elephants through Leaving Time. I watched relationships develop and go through tough times. This book was such an interesting, trilling ride. I absolutely recommend this book to Picoult fans. This book was truly amazing.
Happy Release Day Leaving Time! I hope everybody that reads you loves you as much as I did!
