Small Great Things in Pick-a-Shelf

Apr 17, 2017 Christa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ebook-arc

What a powerful and moving book! I think this was Picoult at her best. She tackled this difficult subject in a sensitive manner, and really shone a light on some of the intricacies of the situation. I stayed up last night until after 3:30am because I was so involved in this book and just had to finish it.

I loved Ruth, and hated the situation she was thrust into and the subsequent events she endured. She so obviously loved and cared for each of her charges, and my heart was broken for her when ba What a powerful and moving book! I think this was Picoult at her best. She tackled this difficult subject in a sensitive manner, and really shone a light on some of the intricacies of the situation. I stayed up last night until after 3:30am because I was so involved in this book and just had to finish it.

I loved Ruth, and hated the situation she was thrust into and the subsequent events she endured. She so obviously loved and cared for each of her charges, and my heart was broken for her when baby Davis died. I thought it said so much about her when she went to the morgue and cherished his little body. It was horrific that she was placed in a position where she would have lost no matter if she tried to save him, or followed the directive in his records of staying away from him. What a terrible place to be! I believe that her supervisor and the other nurse bore the overwhelming responsibility, if anyone did. They are the ones who ultimately left her when they knew it was violating orders.

I deplored the way Ruth was charged in the death so quickly and the manner in which she was arrested and her house searched. I thought she held up through the entire ordeal with much grace. I was a little shocked at one statement she made in court, but it was no wonder, after all of the stress she had been put through after a lifetime of tamping down her feelings.

There were some truly loathsome characters in this book. I thought Turk and Brit were despicable, so was kind of bewildered by how much they obviously loved baby Davis. I guess it never occurred to me before how people who are filled with such hatred could also feel that sort of love. I was shocked by some of the revelations that came out, and a few astonishing twists and turns. I was left sort of stunned by one of those at the end.

This was a great book, and one that will stay with me. I thought it was a fantastic work by Picoult. It was at times super uncomfortable to read, but it sure kept me enthralled. I loved some of the characters, hated others with equal fervor, and was completely shocked a few times. If you are a fan of Picoult, don't miss this one. It's difficult and uncomfortable, but so powerful and moving! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

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May 12, 2017 Carrie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: american, tear-jerker, death, contemporary, audiobooks, multiple-points-of-view, social-issues, lawyer, racism, 500

The book is told through multipule pov, with Ruth the main, Kennedy her lawyer and Turk the father of the deceased baby. Ruth is a neonatal nurse, who has been accused of the death of a new born baby. Same baby she has been told she is no longer assigned too because she is not white. The parents are both white supremacists and she is African American. The story line is fact moving and the whole book held my attention from start to finish. With twists and turns that I did not see coming and end t ...more

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Jun 16, 2017 Joanna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2017-read

I wanted this to be better than it was. The book was supposed to be a book that would get sheltered white people to understand better the perspective of the black nurse featured here. The book was supposed to be a breakthrough conversation about modern racism. But it didn't work. The story was too cute; the characters needed to be too big to work. Every single cliche of racism was included here. The characters just broke under the weight of all that history they were trying to represent. The end ...more

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Jan 18, 2017 Sunflower rated it really liked it

Shelves: e-books, fiction-read-2017

As you would expect from a book by this author, it has the potential to keep you up at night to find out what happened next. Jodi Picoult tackles not only racism but our inbuilt prejudices which are below the surface, using the flashpoints of a dead baby, a black neonatal nurse, and a white supremacist couple. Told from 3 different points of view, which never becomes intrusive, this book covers a lot of ground with well fleshed out characters. It is never in doubt who is on the side of right, bu ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 Sara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic-fiction

I found this book very hard to put down but at the same time, very hard to read at times. It moved me to tears. The author did a wonderful job of speaking for all the voices.

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Dec 22, 2016 Rebekah rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-book-club, genre-contemporary, genre-drama, genre-realistic-fiction, genre-novels, genre-adult, genre-adult-fiction, genre-womens-fiction-chick-lit, genre-fiction, nbrc-bom-br

This was a good read and a challenging topic for this author to address. Things moved a little into the unrealistic and schmaltzy area, but still interesting

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