The Pact

The Dallas Morning News says Jodi “Picoult has carved her own niche with her novels – one part romance, one part courtroom thriller, two parts social commentary,” and The Pact certainly fits. There are many similarities between this book and the other two of Picoult's that I've read, My

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Sister's Keeper and especially Nineteen Minutes. In the latter, the two main teenage characters (Peter and Josie) have also been friends nearly from birth like Chris and Emily, as have their mothers (Lacey and Alex respectively), and the mothers' friendship is negatively affected as is Gus' and Melanie's. Peter, like Chris, is also accused of murder. Jordan McAfee is the defense lawyer in both. And, in both, the book jumps back and forth between present and past.

The “pact” refers to the supposed botched suicide pact that is Chris’ defense when he is charged with murdering Emily. Trouble is, Chris really did shoot the depressed and (unknown to him) pregnant Emily, at her request. The reader learns this early on. The book is really more about the characters: the progression (through flashback) of Chris and Emily’s relationship from childhood friendship to sex, the dissolution of the parents’ friendships after Emily’s death, and Chris’ growing awareness of himself and that Emily was not all that he thought she was.

The weakest character is Emily. Her molestation in a men’s restroom at age nine is downplayed, both by Picoult and by Emily herself, but it’s never very clear why this teenager wanted to kill herself and take her supposed best friend with her. As one gets to know her mother, Melanie, one can see why Emily, her only child, did not confide in her. I really disliked Melanie. Probably what cemented it for me was the way she purposely misdirected the patrons at her library (pages 75-76) - being a librarian, that REALLY offended me.

This book did generate some good discussion in an online group, about whether or not one can be too close to a non-relative, parental and societal expectations of relationships, and the making and breaking of friendships.

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"The Pact" By Jodi Picoult

I would highly recommend this book to people who enjoy suspenseful page turners. If you are interested in how the justice system works, this is the book for you. This book's main theme is based on a young romance between Chris and Emily, and how the pressures of the

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friends growing up to be something more can affect the people you love. In one moment when Emily asks Chris to do a shocking request that could alter everyones life forever, what did he choose? Could he have said no?
I wouldnt recommend this book to people who are against flashbacks. The book starts out in the present and the next chapter is a flashback to give details about Chris and Emily's relationship, and how it all relate to the accident. This pattern contiues throughout the whole book. I feel like the flashbacks slow down the book and towards the end. I just wanted to know what happens in the present with the trail, not their past. Overall this is still a great book.

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As a fan of Picoult this book does not disappoint in that she remains true to her style. She completely draws you in to the story and her characters are well developed. She is amazing at bringing to you all of the emotion of the human struggle to make sense of it all. In the end you realize there

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are no true answers only a revelation of who we truly are. The subject is delicate and one can only imagine the extent of despair that a suicidal person goes through. It would seem that help is always available but only the soul can truly express what one feels. Excellent portrayal of the choices we make, some to our own demise.

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Picoult's story of teen angst is an accurate portrayal of those years which can be so very miserable.

Chris Harte and Emily Gold have been inseparable since they were babies and it seemed inevitable that they would eventually become boyfriend and girlfriend – they seem so right together. But all is not well between the two and one day Emily is found dead and Chris injured – both apparent

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victims of a suicide pact. Now both sets of parents, once best friends, are struggling with the aftermath of Emily’s death and all involved are wondering just how well they knew Emily.

The entire time I was reading Jodi Picoult’s “The Pact” I was conflicted as to what type of book it was. My first thought was that it was chick lit, but the more I read the book I progressed from thinking it was glorified chick lit, to thinking it was a soap opera, to thinking it wasn’t bad, to thinking it was compelling, back to not bad, and finally thinking it was chick lit disguised as literature.

The premise of the book isn’t a bad one – two people who literally grow up together trying to live up to what their parents want from them. Picoult sets the book in both the past and the present and takes her time letting readers get to know the characters, including both sets of parents and Emily and Chris, especially Chris. This works best in the present day scenes, especially in the aftermath of Emily’s death. Chris is the best written of all the characters, especially as he begins to realize his relationship with Emily may not have been what he thought it was.

All of this should have been more compelling than it ultimately turns out to be. Picoult early on eliminates any mystery as to whether or not Emily and Chris really had a suicide pact. One of the main reasons for Emily being suicidal was almost a throwaway moment in the book instead of being the terrifying moment it should have been. The two families being pulled apart by this tragedy didn’t work for me like it should have and turned soap opera-ish. Lastly, without giving anything away, the final part of the book, especially Chris’s fate, just didn’t seem believable to me.

“The Pact” could have been a compelling read but ultimately turns out to be glorified chick lit.

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How far would you go for the one you love? How well do you know your child? Which is worse - that your child is victim or killer? As always Jodi Picoult has us searching our souls for answers to impossible questions. By alternating between past and present, or between one character and another,

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Jodi never fails to inspire empathy for both victim and accused, and the outcomes are never what we expect. Best of all, Picoult causes us to explore and expand our own world views, and leaves us changed long after the book is done.

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First off this was not a Love Story to me, omg, in the hospital room when Emily is born they put Chris right next to her, he was 3 months old. They were so close from birth, they were each others world, it was truly beautiful to everyone except Emily. So maybe I'll consider it to be everyone's

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"Love Story" in their mind but definitely not Chris and Emily's.

I had a hard time continuing this book but was intrigued I just had to find out what really happened, The Truth. Because I enjoyed the characters I think that is what helped me to finish it but the ending was TERRIBLE. First it took me 2 long weeks to slowly get through this book only to read the ending and it sucked. Can you say Disappointed....

I did enjoy the style of the book being in III parts - The Boy Next Door, The Girl Next Door and then The Truth. Also the story continued with the back and fourth style, Now and Then, I didn't love this part of the book but I think many will enjoy it.

If you love Jodi Picoult you will enjoy this, she makes you think about your own morals and how you would deal with a situation etc. There is so much I could say but I feel like the small parts of interest should come from your own reading.

This book just didn't do it for me and I really wanted it to. So unfortunately, I cannot recommend it but at the same time I wouldn't put it in don't waste your time category, some would love it i'm sure.

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This is a story of teen depression and suicide. Emily and Chris were extremely close childhood friends who became teenage lovers. Their parents were next door neighbors and best friends. The book opens with Emily dead of a gunshot wound to the head and Chris soon after indicted for first degree

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murder. I enjoyed the author's style of moving back and forth between the past and present to present all elements of the story to the reader. However, the author never manages to pull it all together for a satisfying conclusion. What exactly was it that drove Emily to suicide? The author never effectively makes the case. Instead, I was scratching my head asking myself what was wrong with both of these kids. Were they both clinically depressed? It didn't appear so. Chris at least seemed quite mentally healthy. The author's contention was that Chris' love was so deep that he would do anything Emily asked of him, including killing her. The problem was Chris didn't understand what Emily was so upset about because she wouldn't tell him. He knew there was a "secret" which Emily would not divulge. And we are to believe he just accepted that and went along with her suicide plans due to an inability to say no to her? Wouldn't a normal person,even a teenager, seek help elsewhere before committing such an irreparable act?? While I wouldn't describe this book as exactly a page turner, it definitely kept my interest as I eagerly anticipated finding out what had actually happened the night Emily died. Unfortunately, the ultimate explanation is unrealistic and not believable, leaving the reader unsatisfied and disappointed.

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this book turned me on to Jodi Picoult's books and I haven't stopped reading them since. Everytime I think to read a book by another author, I gravitate back to Picoult.

My first Jodi Picoult was My Sister's Keeper. I was blown away by the richness of its character development and deft handling of ethical issues. I would rank it as 4 1/2 or 5.
The Pact was published six years and six novels before My Sister's Keeper, and I think that while it foreshadows Picoult's

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later efforts, it disappoints in comparison. The pace is at times plodding and the more interesting relationships seem not to be between the principals, but among their parents.

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hs book club selection for Jan. 2007. Emily and Chris are two wealthy high school seniors who have literally grown up together in New Hampshire. They start dating, but things go awry. Emily ends up dead from a gunshot to the head, Chris is injured but alive and is charged with Emily's murder,

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bringing severe changes to their families/

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A chilling tale that is guaranteed to make you cry. Years after my initial reading this book still remains at the top of my "best" list. (Do not judge this book on the Lifetime TV movie...its 100x better.)

This was a great book. Picoult really picks difficult subjects and tugs at you with them. The only thing I don't like is how the books tend to mimic each other in obvious ways- like pitting parent against parent in the court room. I've read two of her books and it's happened in each. Otherwise, I

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enjoy her storytelling style.

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An emotionally wrenching novel. Do you love someone enough to do anything for them--even the unthinkable?

Interesting read.
Two teens are rushed to hospital, one of them dead from a gunshot wound. The questions about who did it and why just generate more and more issues. The story moves between past and present so you find out more and more about where the characters come from. The problems with being

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a young man and in jail waiting to find out whats going to happen to him next.

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Excellent book! I was kept in suspense until the very last few pages!

A great book that I couldn't put down! It was a mystery all the way to the end.

Chris and Emily were in love. Their families were extremely close. But then one day, Emily was found dead of a bullet wound, and Chris ends up living. The two had a suicide pact...but why is one of them alive? Why did they decide to make a pact in the first place? This book was gripping and

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powerful, one of Picoult's best. Not my favorite by her, but definitely up there.

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First off I have to admit that JP's style just isn't for me. I love much of women's fiction, but this sort of slow-paced, introspective, every-moment-revealed style doesn't hold my interest well.

I made it 2/3 thru this book before giving up. I just didn't care enough to keep going.

The central

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question - what happened the night Chris's girlfriend died? - is revisited over and over, and holding off the answer (which I guess I'll never know) seems sort of pointless after a while. I suppose the parents' emotions and responses are best evaluated when the reader knows only what they know. Still, JP has to go to awkward lengths to enter Chris' POV *without* revealing what happens, detracting from his credibility, I thought.

JP shines at getting in the parents' heads. (The teens, less so - but it is very difficult to get teens right.) Their responses, words, emotions all rang true for me. However, the whole situation was so depressing that I often found myself flinching and wanting to put the book down. Also I wondered at times how I was being led toward a greater truth - it is interesting to consider how we as parents evaluate, defend, and forgive our children, but I don't know if this plot is the right vehicle.

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She is perhaps the best writer ever. I love her books. Two teenagers make a pact to commit suicide; the girl dies and the boy survives. It is a real on the edge of your seat, page-turner of a book. I can't wait to read more by her.

Although not one of my favorite Jodi Picoult books....I love her! She still manages to captivate me every time! I just wanted someone to know what was really going on with the girlfriend!! You truely felt how much he loved her, and how much that suffocated her.

I found this book to be interesting however I was left with a few questions. I don't understand how a girl so in love with her boyfriend could possibly be so selfish as to ask him to not only witness her suicide but to participate in it. I also was wondering about her diary. How could her mother

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burn the last words her daughter had written? How could she possibly get rid of her daughter's inner most thoughts and not even think twice about it? Hm...this book def. got me thinking.

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The first book I read of Jodi's. I was hooked. I have read every one of her books, some twice. I totally love the way she writes.

Interesting the way the author deals with the questions of what love is and how we show it. Mainly, though, I thought this story pointedly showed the dangers of parents who abdicate parenting once their children enter adolescence. Compounding the trauma of sexual abuse was a tacit encouragement of

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sexual activity by her parents when their daughter was obviously not equipped to deal with all the emotional fall-out of such an intense relationship. Instead of protecting their daughter and allowing her to be a child, they pushed her to be an adult. A lot to think about.

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