Seamlessly, Jodi Picoult has pulled me out of my too-long reader's block and back into the track of hard-hitting emotions, too-often hushed issues, and one hell of a ride in Perfect Match.Nina Frost is a prosecutor in Maine who tries to balance being a mother to her five year old son, Nathaniel, and a lawyer seeking justice to help ease the pain of molested children. But her world tilts precariously on its edge when they find out that their sweet little boy was a victim of the crime she so desperately works to eradicate. Quite the opposite of her husband's, Caleb's, stonework job, they find that the lives they've built are slowly crumbling around the trauma this might bring to the balance they've managed to form in their routine. The Frosts become one of those families raising their fists whilst hiding their faces for justice, putting their trust in the system Nina knows too well. She knows it will take years before the perpetrator, if Nathaniel ever chooses to name, will be sent to jail for an amount of time unequal to the amount of trauma and hurt he has managed to wedge in their family. So, when her son finally says a name, when they find his soiled underpants with dried semen and matched it to a man she thought they could trust, she took the matters into her own hands and did what every parent was wont to do: she protected her child the way she thought best. But with this action came a price she wasn't ready to face. The man she killed for her child's safety was innocent. What transpires next is a story of love so strong it changes who we are at the core.I am not ashamed to admit that this story has brought me to tears more times than any of hers did at first read. Perfect Match has this resounding quality to it that stays with the reader, long after s/he has closed the book and left the Frost to live with that ending. I think one of the main reasons why this novel hit me so hard is that I believe any crime committed against a child can never be forgiven, especially abuse. To take one's innocence, to take a child's purity, to change a kid's awe-struck wonder to fear-filled and untrusting gazes, is the worst thing anyone can do. It taints someone so pure, so trusting and malleable, and convinces them that it was their fault, that they were wrong, that everyone would think they were bad. How can anyone look into a child's eyes and want to hurt them and traumatize them?I have felt for Nina from the beginning. She knew the odds of obtaining justice: she knew the loops of the bowels of the system. She knew it too well that she knew it never works. But what she decided to do wasn't because she was a prosecutor. She was a mother, an instinctive role that commits to the protection of her child, no matter the consequence. She never wants her child, twice rendered mute by this experience, to feel that again, to relive all those moments over and over. She just wants everything to go back the way things were; before this incident swallowed them whole like a black hole and sucked everything into it. She just wanted it to stop. And stop it she did.She was prepared to face the consequences of what she'd done. After seeing so many people stand in the shoes she's filling now, she knew she had a way out. But when the staggering truth falls on her shoulders and the weight of the burden makes her question, not only her sanity but also, her actions, things take an interesting, albeit a grim, turn.I cannot even begin to fathom the way Nina felt. Or any of the characters did. To watch the foundation of everything just turn to dust is certainly not easy. But shots had been fired and there are consequences to face, just not the ones they were willing to face.As I was reading awhile ago, I had to stop when I reached the part when Nina took matters into her own hands. I sympathized with her and understood her actions after spending so much time watching, through a mother's eyes, the changes that has befallen her lovely child. I was in a moral dilemma, one I never thought I'd face before, just like she probably didn't, too. But it was there, staring at me with its ugly face. "Would I do what she had done?" And the answer is, yes. Without question, without hesitation.As parents, humans have instincts to protect and preserve their offsprings. And crudely, that's what Nina did. It may not serve as an excuse for her actions but it explained it pretty well. And I guess, that's where Picoult draws her writing prowess from. She takes these questions we try so hard not to think about and presses them onto us from all sides, forcing us to swallow the bitter truth that the world isn't black and white. We do not let ourselves think these thoughts, afraid of what they'd reveal about us, but when we do let these permeate through us, we'd know we'd be reduced to our instincts, to make the source of pain stop forever. I cannot bear to think the fate that has befallen Nathaniel would happen to anyone I love. But the truth is, they happen all around me, whether I know it or not. And try as I might to protect those I love, there exists that statistical probability that it might happen to one of them. Even if I shelter them to the best I could. Even if I teach them how to protect themselves. And if it happens, I could not tell you I would do what she did. I don't know if I have the guts. But, at the same time, I could not tell you I wouldn't do what she did. I don't know if I have the power to stop myself.Ms. Picoult writes with a clarity that shakes self-doubt in place of self-realization. Although the ending shocked me, a greater part of me was glad it ended the way it did. Maybe, just maybe, some families got their temporary happily-ever afters.
Yang saya sukai dari karya Jodi Picoult adalah kemampuannya membawa pembaca ke dalam ceritanya,meskipun sudut pandang dalam buku ini kadang berpindah dari Nina Frost ke orang ke tiga tunggal,buku ini sukses membuat saya merasa bahwa dunia ini tidak sekedar hitam dan putih, benar dan salah, ada banyak hal yang menjadi pertimbangan kita dalam memutuskan suatu hal, dan perbedaan benar dan salah bahkan bisa berupa garis tipis saja. Buku ini bercerita tentang ikatan batin antara ibu dengan anaknya, yang dalam hal ini digambarkan bagaimana perjuangan Nina Frost dalam menghadapi kasus pelecehan seksual yang dialami anaknya, misalnya:1. Nina berkata bahwa menolong anak-anak lain adalah pekerjaannya sebagai jaksa, tetapi menolong anaknya sendiri adalah kehidupannya;2. Nina rela menukar kebebasan dirinya demi keselamatan anaknya;Ada satu momen dalam buku ini yang paling berkesan bagi saya adalah ketika Nathaniel memungut anak burung yang jatuh dari sarangnya,begitu melihat perbuatan anaknya, Nina langsung berkata bahwa apa yang dilakukan anaknya adalah justru menjauhkan anak burung itu dari induknya sebab begitu anak burung itu bersentuhan dengan makhluk lain maka induknya tidak mengenali anaknya karena induknya mengenali anaknya dari bau khas anaknya.mendengar hal itu, Nathaniel kemudian bertanya lagi kepada ibunya,"apakah ibu juga tidak mengenali aku lagi bila aku juga terjatuh seperti anak burung itu?"yang dijawab oleh Nina, "kalau aku jadi induk burung itu, aku tidak akan membiarkan kau terjatuh."
What do You think about Perfect Match (2003)?
Nearly all of Picoult's books present a moral dillema without a clear way to work your way out of. This book deals with a young boy who is sexually molested, and his mother's vigilante response to the situation.I first expected the court drama to revolve around the molestation trial, but it very quickly becomes a moot point and shifts instead to the mother. Picoult, as usual, brings in a scientific twist - this time with DNA testing - that is usually something fairly educational.This book introduces a character who later appears in book: Nineteen Minutes, Detective Patrick Ducharme. It also suffers from the Picoult patented 'irrelevant love story in pursuit of humanizing an otherwise obnoxious character.' I really did not care about the prosecutor or his estranged son, nor were they developed enough to even be particularly relevant.I'm not a mother, so this book did not speak to me in quite the way it could to someone else, but you can see that Picoult is really writing from her heart. I have seen her speak and she is very upfront about stealing conversations from the dinner table for her books. I believe this was written while her sons were roughly the age of Nathaniel, making it read that much more true.At any rate, this book is still in the top five of the Picoult books I've read. The "mystery" was interesting, the moral dillema was intriguing, and the characters were fairly likeable.I had like 10 pages left when I got to work this morning, and those are of course the most stressful pages in Jodi Picoult books. I had to sneak a peek at the last pages so that I didn't go crazy!
—Lani
Perfect Match was one of Picoult's earlier works. Like in many of her books, she writes from the perspectives of a number of the character and flips between these throughout the book. One thing I like about her newer books is that each chapter states which perspective it's written from, but this book didn't do that which was a bit hard to follow at times. One paragraph would be in the perspective of Nina's 5 year old son Nathaniel and then next thing you know it's back to Nina's perspective or her husband Caleb's without announcement. That was actually pretty much the ONLY thing I didn't like about the book.The rest of it was pretty outstanding really. Like all of Jodi Picoult's books it starts off with a situation and ends up in a court room drama, however this one was probably more based in the court rooms than any of her other books that I have read. Probably because the main character Nina is a prosecutor herself, who ends up finding herself in court on a charge of murder.I really enjoy that these books force you to think about issues in shades of grey instead of black and white which is how most of us tend to think about things we are passionate about. Picoult humanises these situations and makes you think "what if this was me?" which honestly, not many other authors have done to me before. Probably why I just can't get enough of her books!Highly, strongly recommend this book as a read. That being said, I strongly recommend ANY of her books to read. But this one was definitely one of her good works.View more of my reviews at http://www.booknerdreviews.com
—Melissa (Book Nerd Reviews)
Precis: The story follows the reaction of a family to finding out their child has been abused.I found this book quite disturbing, for all the wrong reasons. I mean for reasons probably not intended by the author.First, the US judicial system and it's disadvantages for children victims of abuse, was detailed. It sounds medieval. Modern technology, used to help these children in Britain is not used at all in America. Children have to give evidence like adults. I found myself repelled by the method
—Manda
