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11th out of 22 books
—
1,100 voters
Vanishing Acts
by
Jodi Picoult (Goodreads Author)
Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a sec...more
Paperback, 426 pages
Published
November 15th 2005
by Washington Square Press
(first published January 1st 2005)
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I'd never read any Jodi Picoult before. I read the first 100 or so pages of this one and didn't want to read any more. I found it very uneven, and the character of Delia just ran around being shrill, unreasonable, and oblivious, while there are three men in her life who seem to live only to please her. Jeez.
Also, I could tell the answer to the "mystery" of why the father did what he did was going to be a long time coming--there seemed to be a lot of secrets conveniently being kept, which I thin...more
Also, I could tell the answer to the "mystery" of why the father did what he did was going to be a long time coming--there seemed to be a lot of secrets conveniently being kept, which I thin...more
Okay, I got to disk 10 and could not listen to this nonsense anymore! There's so much to this book that coulda been left out! I'm annoyed w/ all the Hopi Indian stuff and the gruesome prison scenes .. and the skirting around the truth crap ... I liked this book in the beginning and the way it was set up switching perspectives but then when it got to Fitz' charachter and everytime thereafter I felt ill .. what man is really like this? I thought I was listening to a female w/ all this unrequited l...more
15 likes · like · see review
I have sort of a love-hate relationship with Jodi Picoult books. I really enjoyed Plain Truth and My Sister's Keeper, but there are definitely things about her writing that irritate me. It seems they were more apparent in this one. I personally think metaphors would be more effective (and part of a beautiful written piece) if they are few and really well woven into the book. In Vanishing Acts, Picoult tended to bash the reader over the head with meaningfulness and metaphorical irony.
So basicall...more
So basicall...more
19 likes · like · see review
I have been working my way through Jodi Picoult's books for the last couple of weeks and was really disappointed by this book. I had previously read My Sister's Keeper and The Pact and although I didn't love them I thought they were very well written and the multiple character angle worked in them. My main problem with this book was that there was too much going on, from start to finish there were just too many story lines (I felt the relationship between Delia, Erik and Fitz was pointless an...more
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I'm in a Piccoult zone. THis is the second book of hers that I've read and I"ve just started a new one. I appreciate the depth of the topics she writes about, this one, the ethics of a father's decision to kidnap his daughter from a staggering, alcoholic mother. Was the daughter better off never knowing her mother? Was losing her daughter what the mother needed to get clean, the ultimate tough love test? Did the father have the right to make that decision for everyone based on his fears and disc...more
7 likes · like · see review
This is a pretty formulaic Picoult book. She tackles many issues in this book including kidnapping, alcoholism, memory, being a parent, etc. The novel is told from multiple perspectives: Delia, who finds out her father kidnapped her as a four-year-old; Eric, Delia’s alcoholic fiancé who happens to be a lawyer and defends her father; Andrew, Delia’s father who spends a majority of the novel in jail; Fitz, Eric and Delia’s best friend; and Elise, Delia’s mother who has not seen her daughter in twe...more
"The Only Way Someone Can Leave You Is If You Let Them."
Vanishing Acts is yet another well told tale by Jodi Picoult, who is a master at character development. Once again telling the story through first person accounts of the main characters, she weaves together a family drama centered on a "kidnapping" that had occurred 28 years earlier.
Thirty-one year old Delia Hopkins, aka Bethany Matthews, discovers her loving and devoted father, took her away from her alcoholic mother and her childhood in S...more
Vanishing Acts is yet another well told tale by Jodi Picoult, who is a master at character development. Once again telling the story through first person accounts of the main characters, she weaves together a family drama centered on a "kidnapping" that had occurred 28 years earlier.
Thirty-one year old Delia Hopkins, aka Bethany Matthews, discovers her loving and devoted father, took her away from her alcoholic mother and her childhood in S...more
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3 likes · like · see review
Jul 01, 2012
Tima
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Current Jodi Picoult die hard fans, my Mom
Recommended to Tima by:
Goodreads
Shelves:
read-in-2012
Page 70, review: I've just barely cracked into this book but I already needed to comment on something. I really dislike Picoult's use of different fonts for each character. (she does the same in My Sister's Keeper If you cannot write a character well enough that it can't stand alone in generic font..you ought to start writing from one perspective only. Barbara Kingsolver writes almost all her novels from the view of 3-4 different people per story and keeps the same font. She gives them such dept...more
I don't know why Jodi copied her first book's concept about having a 5 different person's point of view. But it only differs to the topic that Jodi wanted to be enjoyed by the reader, unfortunately I never enjoyed it. The positive side, it was an easy read and it doesn't takes your whole day scourging your eyes from leaping undesirable pages. Compared to her first book, this one is better but I'm not really into comparing her works and she really improves in her past few books.
The thing is, at f...more
The thing is, at f...more
8 likes · like · see review
This book relates the circumstances leading to and resulting from a father kidnapping his 4-year-old daughter and being caught and tried for it 28 years later. The story is told through the eyes of each character as events unfold. A section may contain the first person account of any combination of the father, the daughter, her fiancée, their childhood friend, the mother or a few other minor characters. The author throws in alcoholism, adultery, child abuse, loss, suppressed memory, deception, u...more
I have decided to create a new genre of fiction: Missing Child Fiction. This category will include such titles as The Lovely Bones by Alice Seybold, The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, How to Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward, The Bright Forever by Lee Martin, and this book, Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult.
Having recently read so many books with plots that revolve around a missing child I began to consider what about this topic inspires so much powerful fiction and compels so many of us to read these boo...more
Having recently read so many books with plots that revolve around a missing child I began to consider what about this topic inspires so much powerful fiction and compels so many of us to read these boo...more
3 likes · like · see review
For the most part I enjoyed the story, but I found the changing viewpoints distracting. Because of this it was impossible for me to sit down and just read. I kept having to remind myself of "who" I was and what the circumstances were at the time.
Personally having a niece and 4 nephews that I adore, I have a hard time seeing the gray here, but I know legally he was wrong. I hope that I could put their lives above my own if it was needed.
On to the positive. The discussion of memories and how they...more
Personally having a niece and 4 nephews that I adore, I have a hard time seeing the gray here, but I know legally he was wrong. I hope that I could put their lives above my own if it was needed.
On to the positive. The discussion of memories and how they...more
1 like · like · see review
I usually really like Jodi Picoult books. She has a great, easy readable style that still leaves you really pondering the circumstances and her character's choices. However, this was not one of her best.
One of the characters really bugged me, it was the boyfriend Eric. He did too many things that didn't make sense, and left me thinking "nobody would've done that", and that can really ruin a book. Why did he agree to defend the dad? He shouldn't have done it. It didn't make any sense.
Also, all t...more
One of the characters really bugged me, it was the boyfriend Eric. He did too many things that didn't make sense, and left me thinking "nobody would've done that", and that can really ruin a book. Why did he agree to defend the dad? He shouldn't have done it. It didn't make any sense.
Also, all t...more
3 likes · like · see review
This is my first Picoult, and I have to say, the woman knows how to weave a story, if this is any example. All the characters are detailed and real, the situations believable, and the research about the Arizona prison system (and the people in it) impressive in scope, scale, and focus. I'm not usually much into court drama, but the courtroom scenes in this one definitely take second place to the intricate weave of the lives and relationships of the characters.
The book has more than one protagon...more
The book has more than one protagon...more
2 likes · like · see review
this was my 2nd jodi picoult. i hadn't been so thoroughly engrossed in a book in quite some time. its a quick and enjoyable read that will make you laugh, cry, and keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. i love the way picoult questions morally complicated situations. the plot was one of the most interesting ideas i have every read and i found myself emotionally, intellectually, and morally challenged throughout my reading.
i have heard complaints about the way jodi picoult does not ma...more
i have heard complaints about the way jodi picoult does not ma...more
Jul 07, 2007
Lia
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
someone on a planetrip looking for interesting but not challenging.
I bought this book to read on a plane trip, whilst it was OK, once the whole trip ended and my normal routine recommenced the book did not hold enough to warrant me picking it up to complete it.
I read about 3/4 of the book and found it interesting, it was just a little too predictable. Of course the protagonist was going to leave the fiance and fall for the best friend, of course the father was going to suffer.
The imagery and language were both lovely, just the story not compelling enough for me...more
I read about 3/4 of the book and found it interesting, it was just a little too predictable. Of course the protagonist was going to leave the fiance and fall for the best friend, of course the father was going to suffer.
The imagery and language were both lovely, just the story not compelling enough for me...more
This was my first experience with Jodi Picoult and unfortunately, I was not impressed. I felt the story was contrived and a predictable once the "secret" is exposed. There were parts of the story that were unnecessary and I felt that she was trying to manipulate me to "think" about other possiblilties, when the outcome was obvious. I did, however, enjoy the first person account and the different perspectives presented on the same topic, but at times, felt that it was prolonging a story that I wa...more
I love Jodi Picoult, and for the most part her intricate plot lines blend together in a way that is cohesive and makes sense. Hwoever, I think she was trying too hard with this novel to blend one too many storylines. I was lost to the significance of much of her side plots. Her editor should have just vetoed them completely. And the ending seemed like a deadline needed to be met, so she dumped multiple revelations onto her readers' laps and expected them to accept them. Unlesss you are a die har...more
I now know that I read way too many books. Thankfully Goodreads can now help me keep track of them. I read this book about a year ago, but didn't remember until I started to read it again this week. I enjoy Picoult's writing style. I enjoyed the different points of view the story is told from.
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
What better title than Vanishing Acts to describe a search-and-rescue worker who turns out to be a missing person herself, as well as the daughter of an amateur magician who makes people disappear? Reviewers praise Picoult (My Sister's Keeper ***1/2 July/Aug 2004) for her cleverness and her abilities as a storyteller, but her tendency to hang her narratives on Issues-with-a-capital-I has limited appeal. Her 12th novel seems particularly overcrowded with themes and subplots addressing the nature
...more
I certainly loved this book enough to want to keep getting back to it. Some reviewers complained about having to keep track of so many characters. I listened to this on CDs where each of the main characters had their own voice making it easier to differentiate. I loved the character of Ruth Ann who gave a real flavor for the area where the story was taking place and shared insights that you couldn't argue with. This book wasn't about whether you could figure out what would happen or how it would...more
I really like how Jodi.P writes and love how she captures the court hearings( I feel like I am part of the audience). Having read two of Jodi Picoult's books (My Sisters Keeper, The Tenth Circle), and having loved those two books, I was eagerly looking forward to reading this third book.
However, Vanishing Acts was painful to read. I had to force myself to go through the book. It was cliched, and very, very predictable. The character of Delia was not well portrayed and the book just kept going r...more
However, Vanishing Acts was painful to read. I had to force myself to go through the book. It was cliched, and very, very predictable. The character of Delia was not well portrayed and the book just kept going r...more
Overall, Vanishing Acts is not as strong as some of Jodi Picoult's other books. Although I generally enjoyed it, it was not a page-turner. Her other books, like The Pact and Nineteen Minutes, were much more insightful and thought-provoking.
All of the characters' narratives sounded the same, to the point where I often lost track of who was speaking. There were too many subplots, like the Hopi woman's suicide, Andrew's meth production, and the love triangle between Delia, Eric, and Fitz (which bel...more
All of the characters' narratives sounded the same, to the point where I often lost track of who was speaking. There were too many subplots, like the Hopi woman's suicide, Andrew's meth production, and the love triangle between Delia, Eric, and Fitz (which bel...more
A really interesting story unfolds in this novel: a little girl has been kidnapped. By her father! The protagonist was taken from her mother when she was four years old by her own father, and she does not find out that she has been living under a fake identity with the man who kidnapped her until she is in her late twenties! Now, not only is she a mother herself, and ironically works as a missing-person rescuer, but she also finds herself confronted with two truths: the man that she has always c...more
"Vanishing Acts" is a quest for self and meaning when a woman discovers that, due to no fault of her own, she has completely misread her life. Peeling back the years and the layers, Delia is forced to confront her lost self and the truth hidden within her past. As with all of Picoult's books, there is a moral dilemma and complexity: on the surface of things, her father's actions would be judged reprehensible but as the saga unfolds, it is clear that the choice which Andrew made was one driven no...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who did you want Delia to end up with? | 10 | 84 | Apr 08, 2013 07:53am |
Picoult was born and raised in Nesconset on Long Island, New York. Her first story, at age 5 was "The Lobster Which Misunderstood." She studied writing at Princeton University, graduating in 1987, and had two short stories published by Seventeen magazine while still in college. Immediately after graduation, she took on a series of miscellaneous jobs, from editing at a textbook publishing company t...more
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“It takes two people to make a lie work: the person who tells it, and the one who believes it.”
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“You make yourself strong because it's expected of you. You become confident because someone beside you is unsure. You turn into the person others need you to be.”
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