I almost put this one down halfway through but skimmed through it and I will say I did like the ending as strange as it was. Put them all together with the excerpts on elephants, weave a story and the blow it out of the water with an unexpected ending. Throw in a young girl looking for her mother who disappeared when she was a child, a psychic who has fallen from stardom and an ex cop who prefers a drink,not to mention a murder, elephant stampede and dad in the mental institution. To me it was like putting a nonfiction learning experience into the middle of a novel. Maybe if I was an elephant fanatic I would of found it more interesting. Leaving Time was such a mixture of characters, stories and subplots that for me just didn't flow. This being said, I'm not really sure what direction Picoult has been going recently. Picoult used to be one of my sure bets for a great read and no one quite wrote like her. This newest Jodi Picoult left me a little dazed and confused. The ending, in my own opinion, was atrocious and manipulative and like so many have already said, a complete rip-off of The Sixth Sense.įor the other side of the coin, here's a link to an excellent 4 star review.

I have to respectfully disagree, however. Thanks!Īddendum #2: I can't believe I'm saying this but I went back and finished this book at the urging of some very good folks who believed that the conclusion of the story would justify all the pain it takes to get there. I hate to delete comments (yes, even the mean ones.), but I will delete a comment if it contains a spoiler that is not hidden. Please use a spoiler tag if you'd like to comment on anything that could ruin someone else's reading experience. MESS.Īddendum: As much as I disliked this book, I would never want to spoil the ending or give away too much of the plot for any reader wanting to take it on. I'm sure my little one-star review will get completely lost in the shuffle of 5 and 4-star raves. I know that she is very popular, which is one reason why I'm not holding back my feelings. I've never read this author before and now I have no plans to ever, ever read anything by her again. I know there is supposed to be some sort of amazing twist ending to this story, but honestly: these characters were so unlikable and so completely unbelievable that I truly couldn't care less what twisty ending I'm missing here. Avoid this mess of a book, which was about elephants, psychics, and who knows what else, because I got to page 170 and threw the thing across the room.

But honesty is my highest priority here on Goodreads, and I have to say it. I have never used this phrase before and I hope to never use it again. But there is just one way to describe this book. You know I'm not one to write slam-type reviews.

Mercy jodi picoult ending