Book Review: The Pact

Title: The Pact
Author:Jodi Picoult

Rarely has an author disappointed me so much in their books as Jodi Picoult.The first book of hers that I readMy Sister's Keeper(MSK) was engaging, funny and touching and I absolutely LOVED it. And then the quality of her books started going downhill. In simple terms, whatever I read after MSK seemed to fall into two categories: It Was Okay and Oh My God(not in a good way)

"So what category does The Pact fall into?" I hear you ask. Well, it falls into the It Was Okay category."But it's a book about a suicide pact made by two teenagers. Shouldn't it be more interesting or at least as good as My Sister's Keeper?" I hear you protest. Well, this book would have fallen into the Oh My God category, if not for one thing: Jordan McAfee, the lawyer(one of the two actually good characters in the book).

The rest is pretty much boring.The main romance in the book doesn't have enough zing(it seemed very one-sided, with Chris loving Emily more;she appears to have no interest in him other than using him as a tool to kill herseelf) and Picoult's used the formula of "one friend/sister is more lively, outgoing etc. and the other is quieter, more reserved etc." too many times.

Plus, I don't really understand why exactly Emily(one of the teenagers and the suicide pact initiator) wanted to kill herslf. The book states that she couldn't deal with not being able to live up to her parents' high expectations, so she decided to kill herself. Um, one small point: if you kill yourself, won't you be disappointing your parents even more? Just stop and think about that for a while before you decide to shoot yourself, okay Emily?

So this book wasn't good. However, it also doesn't fall into the category of bad. It's in-between and good for a one-time read. For multiple reads though, it falls flat. This is too bad, considering the very interesting premise.

Book Review: Murder, She Meowed

Title: Murder, She Meowed

Author: Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Synopsis: The annual steeplechase races are the high point in the social calendar of the people of Crozet. However, the festive mood disappears quickly once a jockey is found stabbed through the heart in the main barn. Soon, the post-mistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, finds herself in a desperate race to trap the killer. Aiding her is her wise tiger cat, Mrs Murphy. Using her feline genius, Mrs Murphy finds herself on a trail that leads to the truth behind the murder. But will her human companion catch up in time to beat the killer to the finish line?

Review: Sigh.... This book had so much potential. It could have been a good story with animals as detectives. Instead, it just keeps dragging on, giving unnecessary encounters between characters, aiming, I think, for greater character development. That may not be bad on its own. However, it isn't on its own. The animals, the supposed 'main characters' of the book don't even get to make the final revelation on their own. Instead, more attention is given to the humans.
Finally, what do you make of these lines?:
"He'd never felt so much pain in his life, and being the self- centered man that he was, it did not occur to him that what he had inflicted upon his victims was much, much worse."
Sigh.... Which killer actually bothers to think about his victims?