Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Mar 27, 2008

Erin rated it:

OK, I generally like Jodi Picoult. I think she's usually a thinking person's beach read. But this was CRAP. First, she owes Stephen King part of her royalties from this book, because the first quarter or so is a shameless ripoff of THE GREEN MILE (what, she couldn't have picked a more obscure text? Because, I mean, hardly ANYONE has read THE GREEN MILE, right?). Second, she also owes at least a small debt to John Grisham's THE CHAMBER, in that they are both incredibly heavy-handed indictmen More...

26 comments like (44 people liked it)

Feb 16, 2008

Kevin rated it:

This is the fourth Jodi Picoult novel I've read and they all follow pretty much the same formula : A vunerable child/teenager. Loving parents/parent. Concerned professionals i.e. cops, doctors, lawyer,and or teachers. And a kind stranger.
And while Jodi uses a basic formula, her novels are anything but simple or predictable. The other novels I've read have covered stem cell research, teenage date rape, and school shootings.
What makes me such a fan of Jodi's novels is that rath More...

0 comments like (20 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2008

Britta rated it:

"...I knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. You didn't get past something like that, you got through it..."

"In the space between yes and no, there's a lifetime. It's the difference between the path you walk and one you leave behind; it's the gap between who you thought you could be and who you really are;"

"When you're different, sometimes you don't see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the one per More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

Jessica rated it:

I read this book in less than 48 hours. It was so good I could only put it down when it was time to go to bed. It is told from the viewpoints of 4 people: A Catholic priest, a mother who has lost her daughter and husband, a convicted murderer, and an ACLU lawyer. I usually don't like that style but it was really nice and this story kind of needed it.
A mother's 7 year old daughter and husband are killed and the man who was convicted of their murders is now on death row. He wants to donate More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2011

Debby rated it:

Well, I gave it a valiant try, but...no go. If you like to follow stories about things like images of Jesus Christ showing up on grilled cheese sandwiches or someone claiming to have seen a statue of Mary cry real tears, or those healer/dealer people that desperate suffering people flock to with their hearts full of hope and anticipation, then you'll probably like Change of Heart. I'll just say I couldn't take the idea of the protagonist in this book for one more page.
I'm a Christian and More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2009

Tracy rated it:

A total disappointment considering Picoult is a great writer and does not need to borrow ideas from other writers. This was too much like "The Green Mile".

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

May 01, 2008

Hunter rated it:

This book was a little on the disappointing side for me. I eagerly awaited it's released but I was very let down. I had a really hard time getting into this book which is very unusual for me when I read any book written by Jodi Picoult. I had a hard time connecting with it because I thought that it was just a little too far fethced. There was a lot of talk of Shane Bourne being the messiah and all sorts of stuff and I thouhgt it was a little too closely related to Keeping Faith (which she did ha More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2008

Nicole rated it:

This book was incredible. I knew before reading it that it dealt with religion (one of the many subject matters that Picoult handles with grace) but I had no idea how and to what surprising extent. It amazes me (as always) that Picoult can handle a myriad of topics and characters, that require such care and research, so deftly. You read it and believe it without it ever seeming forced. It made me question my beliefs about life itself. This book encompasses the following topics- the death penalty More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Mar 30, 2008

Malissa rated it:

Thought provoking to say the least. What if God is incarnate in each of us? What if there is no God? What if there is only a hope that there is a God? What if there is no heaven or hell? What if this life on Earth is both heaven and hell? Why does religion serve to divide us rather than unite us? Why does life have to be such a conundrum? Or is it really simple? Do we make it more difficult than it is because we are blessed with freedom of choice? Is it a blessing or a curse? After I fin More...

2 comments like (12 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2008

Erin rated it:

Oh how I love this author. But not this book! It seems that Jodi is getting a little too political in recent novels and spending too much time focusing on her own religious and political questions instead of an actual story. Don't get me wrong... a little of that stuff is essential to make a book smart and worth reading but I found myself wishing to be to the end of a chapter and hoping for a better one in this book. The idea was great, but I could see where it was headed from the start and it s More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 04, 2008

Leslie rated it:

I couldn't even finish this book! I gave it 150 pages to get me hooked, and it just didn't... It had way too much political crap in it - one of the main characters is a lawyer who works for the ACLU and is against the death penalty, so the author goes on about that... In addition, there was a lot of religion that I didn't necessarily agree with. All in all, I really just didn't like the book. I wanted to finish it because I feel like once I start something I should finish it. But I just co More...

6 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 14, 2008

Doralyn rated it:

It's sad for me to have to give a Picoult book 1 star, but I was heartily disappointed with this read. The plot was so thin to accommodate the anti-Christian and anti-religion propaganda. Picoult has definitely shot arrows at religion in the past, but this book went beyond that. In the past, I was always able to say that it was fiction, not necessarily the author's viewpoint or something she was trying to make us believe in, but I don't know how you couldn't believe some of the notions in this b More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

May 29, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2008

Lisa rated it:

I read this in a day and a half. I could not put this book down for ANYTHING, even knowing how badly I didnt want it to end. The torture of Jodi Piccolt's signature character changing chapters was torture waiting to get back to a person's chapter again. It was thought provoking as all her topical issues are, and seeing this situation through all her characters perspectives truly demands consideration and stayed with me for days afterwards. Absolutely gripping. Another smash hit for Jodi Piccolt- More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 08, 2011

Thomas rated it:

Change of Heart is about Shay Bourne, a man who is on death row for murdering a young girl named Elizabeth Nealon and her stepfather Kurt Nealon. Kurt's husband and Elizabeth's mom June, has been left behind with eleven year old Claire now, who is in desperate need of a heart. Other characters in this novel are Michael, a priest who is becoming confused and questioning his own faith, and Maggie, a somewhat big-boned ACLU lawyer who is determined to take on her case, and her own family person lif More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2009

Becky rated it:

Jodi Picoult is an interesting author. For some reason she writes books where I struggle with the characters, don't really like the book yet read the whole thing and then pick up another one of hers, hoping it will be better.

Right away I had problems with Change of Heart. Can a person who is currently serving time in prison even be an organ donor? Somehow, the environment they live in makes me think that they cannot due to being exposed to so many blood-borne diseases and question More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2008

Sezin rated it:

This was, quite simply, one of the best books I have ever read and the first time I have seen someone take a Stephen King idea and make it so much better than the original. I honestly haven't cried so much over a book since reading Alice Hoffman's "Blue Diary" years and years ago. I was completely overcome.

The story is beautifully crafted, and Jodi Picault has an amazing way of weaving different lives together to describe the moments in which they intersect. It also got me More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 29, 2008

Julie rated it:

This reminded me a lot of another Picoult book, "Keeping Faith," the ending of which disappointed me. So I was wary as I listened, wondering where the author would take this. I saw the plot twist coming long before it happened. Although the USA Today reviewer called it contrived, the twist did not bother me, probably because of the way it was handled. (It's hard to write about this without spoilers!) Meaning that I thought this end was more as it should have been than "Keeping Fai More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 16, 2008

Lisa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2008

Marika rated it:

"I believe a good person can do bad things, Father Michael had said. Like make the wrong decision for the right reasons. Sign your daughter's life away, because she can't have a murderer's heart."

Jodi Picoult's most recent novel, like many of her books, explores a profound ethical dilemma. After her husband and daughter are murdered by a man hired to do work in their home, June is left alone to care for her second child, Claire. Claire is in desperate need of a heart trans More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2008

Liv. rated it:

-from flap-

Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?

One moment June Nelson was happily looking forward to years full of laughter and adventure with her family, and the next, she was staring into a future that was as empty as her heart. Now her life is a waiting game. Waiting for time to heal her wounds, waiting for justice. In short, w More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 30, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

Welp,let me start by saying that I'm a huge Jodi Piccoult fan. She's an excellent writer and has captures the voice of her characters beautifully. Her device is to stir the pot, make you think, and examine difficult situations where you find yourself sympathizing with people you'd never believe was possible.

But it appears that Piccoult has gone the way of mega popular writers that bang out books once a year for the sake of, well, banging out books once a year. The formula she always More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 26, 2008

Sarah rated it:

I actually *read* this book, despite the fact that for some reason the above title is listed as an MP3 type thing.
I'm up and down with Jodi Picoult and this latest novel certainly reminded me why I sometimes can't stand her writing. It's very stereotypical (almost offensively so). Let's be serious Jodi, you are just not meant to write about life on 'death row' in prison in a serious manner. The characters were very one sided and if she was trying to make a point about religion, the death p More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Apr 14, 2009

Alyssa rated it:

Jodi Picoult has become known for writing books on controversial issues, and Change of Heart is no exception. This time, she brilliantly builds her story around Shay Bourne, who is convicted of murdering a police officer and a young girl, and is sentenced to death. Picoult tears back the curtains of mystery and secrecy that surround the death penalty, and intertwines this major topic with the equally powerful topic of religion, exploring what religion means to different people and raising the qu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2008

Cyndi rated it:

If I could have given this book more stars, I would have. I don't know how Jodi Picoult continues to come up with moral dilemmas that are so heart-wrenching, and how she so beautifully crafts both sides of every dilemma so that the reader is as baffled as the characters about what is "the right thing" to do. I admire Picoult for the amount of research she does into the worlds of her characters. She manages to weave in a great deal of educational detail without it becoming tedious.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2010

Betsy rated it:

Fans of Jodi Picoult will want to read this just because she wrote it. I had to stop at page 125 after the death row inmate reanimated a bird, healed another inmate's AIDS and made his desire to donate his heart to the half-sister of the girl and the daughter of the man that he was convicted of killing. I'm pretty sure that I know what the denouement/surprise ending will be but I wasn't curious enough to actually wade through another 400 pages to find out if I was right.

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2011

Kwesi 章英狮 rated it:

Every Sunday we went to the church to attend a mass or sometimes we do contemplate ourselves to communicate with God through prayers. Even you are hiding in the dark or in deep spiritual unconsciousness; God will show you the way and give you strength to overcome darkness by his pure light. Nobody knows when or where we will be disappear in this world or how far can our faith help us to conquer evil, it is ourselves who can choose what path we will take it's either the path of evil or the goodne More...

68 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jun 21, 2011

Amy rated it:

I've read a lot of Jodi Picoult (although not all of them... yet) and I've recommended her to people, too, but in a casual way. Although her books are incredibly well researched and not exactly badly written, I still think of them as junk food for the brain. It's not literary, it tries too hard to make you feel emotional and it can get a bit too happy ending for my liking.

This book was fine and fun, but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone as a starting point for Jodi Picoult. It More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2010

Julie rated it:

As much as I liked this book and have always enjoyed everything Jodi has written, I found some flaws in Change of Heart. The premise was good: man (Shay Bourne) convicted of murdering a little girl and her cop father is on death row and wants to redeem himself by donating his heart to the victim’s ailing sister eleven years later. However, I found many of the characters unsympathetic. I liked the perspective of Shay’s fellow inmate Lucius, who chronicled the miracles that Shay allegedly perf More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2009

Michelle rated it:

As always with Jodi Picoult's books, it was an emotional read for me. I had always been pro death penalty until several years ago when I read John Grisham's novel The Chamber. That book made me look at the death penalty in a whole new way and this book gave me another look at why I changed my mind. I felt cheated in a way at the end. Not because I didn't like the ending of the book, but because I just wanted more. I wanted to know lots more about Claire's life and Maggie's and Father Michael's a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

reviews