A Spark of Light in Around the World in 80 Books

Dec 21, 2020 Ginger rated it liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was a hard read, and hard to review. I’m decoupling my own feelings on the abortion debate as much as possibly and reviewing only the book here.

Jodi Picoult is a good writer, but I sometimes think she bites off more than she can chew with her heavy hitting topics. I was concerned she wouldn’t be able to pull off a book that combines gun violence, abortion, multiple characters, and an unconventional timeline but I think she mostly did.

I do think she gets a little sloppy with her argumen This book was a hard read, and hard to review. I’m decoupling my own feelings on the abortion debate as much as possibly and reviewing only the book here.

Jodi Picoult is a good writer, but I sometimes think she bites off more than she can chew with her heavy hitting topics. I was concerned she wouldn’t be able to pull off a book that combines gun violence, abortion, multiple characters, and an unconventional timeline but I think she mostly did.

I do think she gets a little sloppy with her arguments at times (it’s hard not to slide into the pro-life/pro-choice debate in this story), but even there mostly managed to write a story and not a sermon disguised as a story. Which is hard to do with such a hot-button topic at the center.

In the end, she wrote a pro-life story, which I found surprising considering her own pretty clear pro-choice point of view evident through most of the characters in the story—the pro-choice characters got significantly more “screen time” and the pro-life characters’ arguments were mischaracterized (either deliberately to serve the story or not simply because the author is a human with her own biases, I sometimes couldn’t tell) at best, and violent at worst.

I was impressed with her choice to reveal that the hero of the story was himself given life under some difficult circumstances. For the record, I don’t buy into the argument that we shouldn’t abort babies because they might turn out to be doctors or presidents or hostage negotiators who save hundreds of lives. If we shouldn’t abort babies, it’s because they are lives and they’re valuable regardless of what they accomplish in life, but it was a brave twist to make as a writer.

Now here is where my own views come into play, because I am a subjective reader with my own beliefs and experiences involving Planned Parenthood and other pregnancy centers (which are far too lengthy, not to mention personal, for a book review on Goodreads). I’m staunchly pro-life and she made me think and question. I praise this in a writer. It’s tricky to do with a deft hand when you stand to potentially alienate about half of your readers. This book did not change my opinion. In fact, I noticed a few new flaws in a pro-choice argument I hadn’t before. I’m pro-life for multiple reasons: scientific, philosophical (ethically and religiously), and personal. But this book did make me think, research, empathize in each of those areas. And for that, it was a worthwhile read for me, though it’s not one I would recommend widely.

If you had a really brave book club, this would be an excellent read because I did find her story to be more nuanced than I expected. ...more

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Aug 20, 2019 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-books-read, fiction, mississippi

AUTHOR Picoult, Jodo
TITLE A Spark of Light
DATE READ 08/20/2019
RATING 4/B
FIRST SENTENCE The Center squatted on the corner of Juniper and Montfort behind a wrought-iron gate, like an old bulldog used to guarding its territory.
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Fiction/2018/Random House/356 pages
SERIES/STAND-ALONE #
CHALLENGE Good Reads 2019 Reading Goal 128/111;
GROUP READ RCR
CHARACTERS Wren and her father Hugh
TIME/PLACE 2018/ MS
COMMENTS I used to love Jodi Picoult … she really gave you both ...more

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Nov 02, 2019 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: female-author, feminism-women-s-issues

This book tells the story of a hostage situation at an abortion clinic from the perspectives of several characters: patients and employees of the clinic, the man who took them hostage, and the hostage negotiator. The story is told backwards in time, with each chapter starting an hour before the last. I found this structure to be a little gimmicky and it didn't work for me.

I think Picoult does a good job explaining things from the perspectives of the women who are at the clinic as patients and t ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Tanya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: format-audiobook, 2019

For me, this was a 3.5 book-I thought the various perspectives and circumstances really flushed out a variety of reasons people come to a clinic such as this. And as a result it underscored the need for dialogs and listening. It would be a tough novel to discuss at a book club and likely wouldn’t persuade readers to a different point of view than s/he already has. Bit if it could move the dialog to other preceding events and a look at society dynamics, such as having access to adequate birth con ...more

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