Originally Published On My Review BlogIn Jodi Picoult's "Second Glance", ghost hunter Ross Wakeman just wants to get in contact with his dead wife Aimee, but then stumbles accidently into a complicated family feud in a small town in Vermont.I devoured this novel shockingly fast. I went in with the expectation to read a ghost story, but what it actually is could be rather paraphrased by paranormal thriller. It is very difficult to get into this novel, because Picoult introduces basically all characters after another, seemingly completely randomly. It's not until the end of the book that you're actually able to make the connection between the actions in the beginning and that's why I had tremendous problems to get the novel started. While I do love that Picoult obviously took her time to create diverse and non-clichéd characters, they are just too many.There are at least ten main characters, another ten side characters and also about five random people that make an appearance once or twice. But once you get into the story, have understood who is who and memorized the backstories, it is impossible to stop. I finished it in roughly three or four hours of reading, and that is mainly due to her writing style. Picoult is able to put many, many characters into a single chapter and still connect the whole thing to that extent that you want to know what's going on. Her style is a bit peculiar but it definitely creates tension and is an easy read. An easy read while still using very eloquent language and having meaningful conversations though! (Writing 4/5)Each of the main characters has a back story that connects to the plot, has also a family history, and at some point will meet the other characters. My head hurts! I had to go back a few pages sometimes because I forgot the names. She often even only mentions the characters by their last names, especially when somebody else is talking about them. You can't risk not paying attention for a single second up until the middle of the novel, because you're probably going to miss something. I also had difficulties with the shifts in point of view. While I do love my omniscient-narrator-perspective very dearly, Picoult is overdoing it. At some point, every single character gets their own three or four paragraphs and to me, these aren't even relevant to the plot. Yeah, I get it, building diverse characters isn't easy, but this belongs in the rough draft and not in the novel. Another problem you're always facing when there are so many main characters is that your plot gets very predictable very easily. It is at no point difficult to guess who's related to whom and to solve the mysteries, and frankly I think she's just trying too hard to shock the reader. I mean, come on, giving us pages and pages of reflection and dialogue and having a reoccuring character that hasn't contributed ANYTHING of importance so far for the plotline, just makes you think that this person might be the one guy that's a bit sleazy, huh? Aside from the fact that there are just too many people, I really have to give it to Picoult, she is an amazing character developer. Just after a few pages it got very easy to understand the mindsets of her characters and I rooted for Ross to finally be with Aimee so hard that it hurt. His fate in the end made me laugh though and I wish she had really went for the dramatic ending that was foreshadowed, but I'm not complaining. After all I loved, loved, loved the storyline of Grey Wolf and Cecilia and I wouldn't mind reading an entire novel about them. (Characters 4/5)Picoult is able to make the flashbacks fit perfectly into the present happenings and I think I rarely saw an author pull flashbacks off this well. Kudos. The main storyline is a bit thin if you think about it and I am actually quite angry that I was mislead into thinking that this is a horror/ghost story novel. Well, there's certainly ghosts in it but it is by no means scary. It's a family drama. Bit of a thriller, but not so much either. A thing that bothered me and maybe correlates to the fact THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY DARN CHARACTERS is that you coudl basically leave out the last hundred pahges before the finale. Picoult tries to wrap up all the characters' storylines (Ugh, that annoying Shelby/Eli story, did anybody actually care about that, or?) by making every. single. character. react to the resolutions of the plot. I'm serious. She retells it probably three or four times and it just felt like she is praising herself for having pulled off such a smart ending. Uhm, no, stop it. When the plot gets resolved, the novel should end right there. The finale felt just like unnecessary, uncalled for drama. (Plot 2/5)Overall: Do I Recommend?I don't know, I wouldn't tell anyone specifically to read this because there are a lot of issues with this novel. It's not easy to get into it and when you're into it and get invested into the whole story, the ending is just lame and predictable. Although you can see that a lot of research and work went into writing this novel, from a reader's perspective I don't think that it is really worth reading. But now that I have read the novel and know all the signs that I have to look out for, I'm probably going to give it a second shot so I'll get all the lines of foreshadowing. Still, I wouldn't recommend reading this one explicitly.Rating: ★★★★☆- See more at: http://thebookavid.blogspot.de/2014/1...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6...Having only discovered the work of Jodi Picoult just over two years ago, this is already the eighth title that I have read. I think it is therefore safe to say that I enjoy her novels.This one is a ghost story and although I do not disbelieve in them I am somewhat sceptical. Seeing is believing so you never know, maybe one day. I think therefore that my scepticism was the reason that I was long way into the story nearly two hundred pages before I really began to appreciate properly what was going on. Once the storyline made sense I began to enjoy it much more, although I would not say it was amongst my favourites. Although the author herself said in August 2008, that Second Glance her tenth novel wrritten in 2003, to date was her personal favourite.Although the book is a work of fiction the work of the Vermont Eugenics Project actually exsisted as did the Sterilization Law of 1931. A disturbing practice to prevent problem citizens reproducing, similar to the plans of the Nazis for racial cleansing! Once again Jodi Picoult impresses me with her choice of a controversial subject to base a novel on.Ghosts, Abenaki Indians and Eugenics Research link the characters and the periods of 1932 and 2001 together in an excellent example of mixing fact and fiction and the past with the present.There are so many twists and turns in the story that I was never quite sure what was going to happen next. I am only sorry that it took me so long to sort all the characters out in the early part of the book as once it all slipped into place it was a great read. I may well have given up if I had not already been a fan of Jodi Picoult and that would have been a shame.
What do You think about Second Glance (2004)?
I read this book awhile ago so I can't remember enough to write a very detailed review. However, I can say that I enjoyed reading it, and found it very engrossing and easy to read.One thing I did want to comment on that I particularly loved about the book and still remembered was the controversial subject matter it handled. Picoult is known for weaving controversial subjects into her books and I feel this was one of her best examples at doing this. She took eugenics which is generally agreed upon as a horrible thing, and juxtaposed it with genetic counseling in in vitro fertilization, something that has definite positives but also some scary parallels with eugenics. it certainly causes you to pause and think. I also think its great that she works eugenics into such a mass market format. I feel eugenics is one of those dark periods of US history that has largely been swept under the rug. I only learned about it myself through a single college genetics class. Obviously its important that we remember our history to not repeat our mistakes, so I love that Picoult is exposing this period to a large audience.
—Tammy
This book was an unexpected delight. I really enjoyed the fact that it was different. The paranormal aspect of the story added flavour which I enjoyed even though at times it felt a little far fetched. The story of the Abernaki Indians had great mileage and I could see a second book devoted to solely to their plight. I have read a number of books by Jodi Picoult and this book highlights just what an accomplished writer she is. She can sometimes be called formulaic but no so here, with no discernible pattern and hidden depth this book was a joy from start to finish. Jodi Picoult chooses subjects that challenge, quite often hitting you right between the eyes. Her research is impeccable weaving fact with fiction seamlessly. Eugenics, I have learnt so much about this programme that I wanted to read more. The characters were good the main protagonist flawed and I didn't see the attraction of Lia. Having said that they kept the story alive and therefore had considerable intrinsic value even if I didn't always like them. The ending is why I haven't given this book 5* it could have been a bit riskier. I felt the author had decided to play safe and therefore the ending was predictable. A highly recommended read, go with it and enjoy.
—Kim
Ross Wakeman became a ghost hunter after he lost his fiancee, Aimee, in a terrible car accident. He has never really believed in the paranormal, but he forces himself to take on the career so that one day he could be reunited with his lost love. He moves in with his motherly older sister Shelby, along with her son Ethan who is suffering from XP (xeroderma pigmentosum), in Comtosook, Vermont. There have been rumors floating around of supernatural activity in Comtosook. Several people believe it is due to a land dispute over a sacred Indial burial ground that is causing the strange occurrences. One day while Ross is investigating during the night he meets the mysterious Lia, who truly wakens him from his depressed mindset after Aimee's death. Her appearance causes Ross to discover startling revelations about Comtosook and its' ancestry.Jodi Picoult is a talented author. All the information in Second Glance is presented nicely and accurately, even if it must have required months to research each painstaking detail. I learned a lot about ghosts, and the most interesting nonfiction fact that I got from the book was the eugenics project going on in Vermont around 1930's. I thought only Hitler tried sterilizing humans he didn't see fit to live, but it turns out that people in the USA were doing the same thing. Go figure.Back to the book. Overall, I loved it. Jodi Picoult delivers developed characters, and interesting plot, and a completely original story. Like always. However, for some reason I felt as if the multiple point of views in Second Glance were a bit choppy, especially at the beginning. This isn't a problem that is prevalent in Picoult's other novels, but I don't know what happened here. Also, it took a while for the conflict to settle in. Still, I would highly recommend Second Glance, especially to Science Fiction and Paranormal Fiction lovers.
—Thomas
