Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

It would be realistic to say that I'm loathe to "review" a Jodi Picoult book. I feel like a broken record. Since I was first introduced to her in 1998, she's been what I've considered my only true guilty pleasure when it comes to reading. Handle With Care marks the 16th Picoult book I've read, so I knew what to expect when I picked it up.

It would be harsh to say that she's formulaic, but she is....alternating voices of narration, New England setting, moral dilemma, "shocking" turn of events, and an emotional reaction to the conduct and/or integrity of at least one character....while the jig may be up on Picoult's writing style and plot, it is still somewhat addictive. She is virtually the only author that I will, guaranteed, always pay full price for when a new book hits the shelves. She has her craft and her niche down, and I'm a sucker for 2 days of care-free "pleasure" reading.

All of that said, this was typical of her work, but this time I put my finger on something that I struggle with, due to the market to which she panders. While the main theme of the book might be explored to a deeper degree, there are multiple ideas and conflicts that are merely presented, then dropped. There is a passage of no more than 20 lines of dialogue that I read aloud to 4 separate people, simply posing the question, "What do you think about that?," and I received 4 totally different answers. The topics my friends chose to address ranged from abortion to marriage; from divorce to predestination. All of those things were brought up in the conversation the characters were having, but not one was ever fully inspected.

While I admire her ability to write about such weighty issues, I'm bothered by the fact that I don't ever know where she stands on any of them. However, I still plan on reading House Rules.